[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 153 (Thursday, November 17, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H10789-H10790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the recent 7.6 
magnitude earthquake that struck Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan on 
October 8, 2005, and the Bush administration's response to that crisis.
  Mr. Speaker, the devastation wrought by the natural disaster has 
caused an unimaginable humanitarian

[[Page H10790]]

crisis, especially in Pakistan where approximately 90,000 people have 
lost their lives so far, and that number is expected to rise. In 
addition, over 3 million people have been left homeless.
  Given the magnitude, one would expect the Bush administration to have 
a response with a pledge of aid that matched the severity of the 
situation, especially given our current efforts to win the hearts and 
minds of that region of the world. What have we done so far? A little 
over $50 million. That is not an adequate response, especially since we 
spend almost $6 billion a month on the war on Iraq. We know that 
Pakistan has joined us in fighting al Qaeda.
  I think that we should actually have more of a concern for those who 
have joined us in this war on terror. I would like to add a March 17, 
2003, article for the Record, where the U.S. forced inspectors out of 
Iraq, which could have proved that there were no weapons of mass 
destruction.

                    [From USA Today, Mar. 17, 2003]

             U.S. Advises Weapons Inspectors To Leave Iraq

       Vienna, Austria.--In the clearest sign yet that war with 
     Iraq is imminent, the United States has advised U.N. weapons 
     inspectors to begin pulling out of Baghdad, the U.N. nuclear 
     agency chief said Monday.
       Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy 
     Agency, said the recommendation was given late Sunday night 
     both to his Vienna-based agency hunting for atomic weaponry 
     and to the New York-based teams looking for biological and 
     chemical weapons.
       ``Late last night . . . I was advised by the U.S. 
     government to pull out our inspectors from Baghdad,'' 
     ElBaradei told the IAEA's board of governors. He said U.N. 
     Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council were 
     informed and that the council would take up the issue later 
     Monday.
       U.N. officials have said the inspectors and support staff 
     still in Iraq could be evacuated in as little as 48 hours.
       No one has yet given the order for the inspectors to begin 
     pulling out, and they were working on Monday. Most of the 
     teams' helicopters have left Iraq because their insurance was 
     canceled, chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix said, and the 
     personnel level was low because of a scheduled rotation home.
       IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said the nuclear agency 
     would wait for Security Council guidance later Monday before 
     deciding whether to pull out its inspectors.
       The teams, which returned to Iraq on Nov. 27 after a nearly 
     four-year absence, drew up contingency plans to evacuate even 
     before their redeployment.
       ``A lot depends on the Iraqis,'' a senior U.N. inspector 
     told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. ``If 
     they let us use aircraft to get out, we could be gone in 48 
     hours or even less. If they won't let us fly out, we would 
     have to drive to a border, and that could mean an eight-hour 
     journey across hot desert. It would take longer, but we would 
     get out.''
       Inspectors have experience in getting out of Iraq in a 
     hurry: In December 1998, they pulled out on the eve of U.S.-
     British airstrikes amid allegations that Baghdad was not 
     cooperating with the teams.
       There have been some concerns that the Iraqis might hold 
     the inspectors as human shields in case of a conflict. But 
     Iraq's foreign minister appeared to play down those fears in 
     a live television interview on the al-Arabiya Arabic 
     satellite channel Sunday night.
       ``The inspectors came by a decision of the Security 
     Council, which decides on their departure,'' Naji Sabri said.
       EIBaradei told the nuclear agency's 35-nation governing 
     board Monday that he was worried about the safety of the 
     teams, yet still held out hope that war could be averted.
       ``Naturally the safety of our staff remains our primary 
     consideration at this difficult time,'' he said. ``I 
     earnestly hope--even at this late hour--that a peaceful 
     resolution of the issue can be achieved, and that the world 
     can be spared a war.''
       EIBaradei, who has been monitoring the situation day to 
     day, also confirmed that he and Blix had received an 
     invitation from Baghdad ``to visit Iraq with a view toward 
     accelerating the implementation of our respective mandates.'' 
     He did not say whether he or Blix had accepted.
       ``I should note that in recent weeks, possibly as a result 
     of increasing pressure by the international community, Iraq 
     has been more forthcoming in its cooperation with the IAEA,'' 
     he said, adding that inspectors still have found no evidence 
     that Saddam Hussein has revived his nuclear program.
       But with the United States, Britain and Spain making clear 
     that Monday would be the final day for diplomatic efforts to 
     avert a conflict, it appeared that the inspectors were 
     running out of time and could begin withdrawing at any 
     moment.
       In other signs that war could be imminent, the U.S. State 
     Department on Sunday night ordered nonessential personnel and 
     all family members to leave Israel, Kuwait and Syria in a 
     precautionary move.
       Germany closed its embassy in Baghdad on Monday after 
     calling on its citizens to leave Iraq ``immediately,'' and 
     Britain advised all its citizens except diplomatic staff to 
     leave Kuwait as soon as possible, citing a potential threat 
     from war in neighboring Iraq.

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