[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19508-19509]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, last night the President gave a well-thought-
out speech about Saddam Hussein and the dangerous regime he has built 
in Iraq. I do not think there is any doubt that Iraq poses a danger to 
the world, to the United States, to the region, to its own citizens.
  But what occurs to me is that in the past year there have been some 
on the other side of the aisle who have repeatedly asked why the 
President was not able to prevent September 11; why did the FBI and the 
CIA not focus more on the threats of hijackings; why did the FBI and 
CIA not coordinate better; could September 11 not have been prevented?
  Well, now we have another threat. Saddam Hussein hates us enough to 
kill. He has weapons of mass destruction. He has shown a willingness to 
use

[[Page 19509]]

those weapons. He thwarts U.N. inspections while he seeks to develop 
nuclear weapons. We have a known threat and the opportunity to do 
something about it.
  Mr. Speaker, those who have been critical of our inability to prevent 
September 11 have a special opportunity to see to it that we prevent 
the next threat. The next threat is Iraq.

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