[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 154 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2425-E2426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 INTELLIGENCE FAILURE AND MANIPULATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 18, 2005

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, today I and my Democratic colleagues on the 
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence publicly discussed a 
critical item of unfinished business for this House--specifically, the 
need for the committee to undertake a detailed examination of the Iraq 
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) intelligence failure.
  We need to undertake this inquiry because this is not the last time 
that we will need intelligence that's based on good methods, critical 
thinking--in fact, skeptical thinking that really looks at the 
uncertainties in the intelligence.
  We have to learn to get this right. There will be other times when we 
need it.
  Now, the President has said that those who are raising questions 
about the war in Iraq and how we got there are trying to rewrite 
history. Actually, that's not true. History is not being

[[Page E2426]]

rewritten. History cannot be written because no one has allowed the 
facts to be assembled.
  That is what we are talking about here. We have tried, but we have 
been blocked repeatedly in our attempts to do so.
  This matter is of critical importance. And it is, of course, ironic 
that at a time when we are fighting a war in the name of democracy and 
the freedoms, including freedom of speech and freedom of inquiry, that 
here we are stymied in our freedom of inquiry.
  And it is freedom of inquiry not for political points or our personal 
curiosity. It is so that we can, for the future, have an intelligence 
system that is based on critical thinking, skeptical thinking and good 
methods. That is the point.
  Let me just say that the line that we hear is, ``There is not much 
that needs to be investigated, there is not much need for oversight, 
because you knew all this all along. And furthermore, it is 
unpatriotic.''
  It is unimportant, and yet if you ask for it, you are unpatriotic. I 
say to my friends on the other side of the aisle, you can't have it 
both ways.
  I wish I could say that the refusal to investigate the Iraq 
intelligence failure is an isolated case. It is not.
  For over 2 years, I've pressed this House to investigate how it was 
that the name and cover status of a serving CIA Clandestine Services 
officer made its way from the CIA to the White House political office 
and thence to the press.
  Eight separate times in eight separate votes, the leadership of this 
Congress shut down any effort to get the information about the release 
of the identity of an intelligence employee. Conducting oversight of 
this matter is something that is central to our responsibility to look 
after the wellbeing and effectiveness of those people that we ask to 
take risks for us around the world.
  Yet in eight separate votes, it was shut down.
  Mr. Speaker, it's time--indeed well past time--for this Congress to 
do its job and conduct oversight of these and other intelligence 
matters. We cannot protect our Nation from future threats if we do not 
learn the full lessons of conflicts past, and this is especially 
critical in the realm of intelligence. I urge my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle to join us in this effort.

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