[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 30, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H2930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SYRIA AND NORTH KOREA CONSPIRE TO BUILD NUCLEAR WEAPONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, North Korea and Syria were working together 
with Pakistan rogue scientist Abdul Khan to build a nuclear reactor in 
Syria, capable of producing plutonium for two nuclear weapons within a 
year of when it was destroyed by Israeli jets in September of 2007.
  Israel, by the way, has not confirmed or denied the air strikes. But 
Israel acted in self-defense and self-interest because of the fact that 
Israel is so close to Syria.
  Mr. Speaker, here is a map of the area. We have Syria and, of course, 
we have Israel and Iraq and then, of course, Iran on the other side. 
And here is the location in Eastern Syria where the nuclear facility 
was being built, with the aid of the North Koreans. From that location, 
in Alkibar facility, it is only 450 miles to Tel Aviv, where the 
majority of the Israelis live.

                              {time}  2015

  This whole area, of course, is in somewhat of a turmoil because of 
the fact you have Syria and the rogue dictator in Iran working together 
with the North Koreans to facilitate the development of nuclear weapons 
for all three countries.
  The CIA has reported recently that North Korea is building Syria a 
reactor similar to the one that they have in North Korea. And North 
Korea then helped the Syrians cover up the results of the bombing after 
the reactor was destroyed.
  Here are four photographs that the CIA has released and declassified 
just this week. Over on the top corner here is a photograph of North 
Korea's nuclear reactor that is capable of producing plutonium. You 
will see right next to it Syria's nuclear reactor as it was being 
built. It was built with the same floor plan, the same design as the 
North Korean facility that is in North Korea. This photograph was taken 
of Syria's reactor shortly before it was blown up.
  Here is an aerial photograph of Syria's reactor, and you can see, Mr. 
Speaker, it's camouflaged to the extent that it looks just like a boxed 
building just in the eastern part of Syria with nothing anywhere close 
to it. And after Israeli jets came in and bombed the facility, this 
photograph on the bottom corner shows the results of the Syrian reactor 
after it was bombed by the Israeli jets.
  And what is interesting, after the Israeli jets came in and bombed 
this facility, the North Koreans and the Syrians started working 
together very quickly to destroy what was left of this facility and 
bury it in the desert and then put in its place another facility, a 
building that looks just like this one but obviously, based on 
intelligence, is just a shell and not really used for any purpose 
whatsoever.
  The purpose, of course, to build the second building was to let the 
world know that they didn't have anything in this area, but of course, 
we know that they buried all of their equipment and all of their 
nuclear devices or equipment, I should say, in the desert underneath 
the bombing that was done by the Israeli pilots.
  So it's important for us to be aware of the contact and the working 
of North Korea with Syria. It is not a recent development. North Korea 
started working with Syria to build this facility in 2001, and they 
have continued to work with them until they started actually building 
this facility that would be capable of producing plutonium and at least 
to be able to build two nuclear weapons within a year.
  North Korea is a nuclear threat and appears to help any nation with 
evil intentions, and the whole world needs to know about it. The 
countries of Iran, North Korea, and now Syria need to be known to all 
the world that they are nations with hearts that are fatally built on 
mischief and with malice aforethought. They build nuclear facilities 
with no redeemable, peaceful intentions. The normal, peaceful countries 
of our planet, especially those in the Middle East, cannot allow these 
three nations to have nuclear nonsense continue. They are on a path of 
destruction for at least somebody else, other than themselves, if their 
intentions are not stopped.
  As for the nameless Israeli bomber pilots who flew these missions to 
destroy this nuclear facility capable of later being able to build 
nuclear weapons, they are thanked for their job well done, and the 
world needs to be aware that North Korea, Syria, and Iran seem to 
continue to work together to thwart world peace by building facilities 
that are capable of destruction for other countries, especially their 
neighbors.
  And that's just the way it is.

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