[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18170-18171]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 LETTERS FROM OHIO IN SUPPORT OF INDEPENDENT COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE 
         ALLEGED DISTORTION OF EVIDENCE OF IRAQ'S WMD PROGRAMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to be here and 
share the concerns in their own words from my constituents in northeast 
Ohio and other constituents around the rest of the great State of Ohio. 
As the gentlewoman from Illinois said, the previous speaker, this was a 
petition that was signed by literally tens of thousands, perhaps 
hundreds of thousands of Americans. I have with me tonight letters that 
accompanied the signing of the petitions, almost 3,000 letters just 
from Ohio, just one State, almost 3,000 letters alone. The petition 
said Congress should support an independent commission to investigate 
the Bush administration's distortion of evidence of Iraq's weapons of 
mass destruction programs. There were hundreds of thousands of 
signatures and tens of thousands of letters. Let me share some of them 
from Ohio.
  Reverend William Trego of West Jefferson, Ohio said:
  ``It is shameful that a Nation with the brilliant legacy of the 
United States would stand before the leaders of the world and present a 
case supported with distorted and at times outright false information. 
We were sold a bill of goods.''
  From Wadsworth, Ohio, Michael Kovack:
  ``As a mobilized reservist for Operation Iraqi Freedom, I implore you 
to create a committee to examine the basis for sending us into harm's 
way. We must ascertain how this happened and, if error is found, never 
allow it to happen again.''
  Tom Gentry Jr. of Akron, Ohio, in my district said:
  ``This is a scary time for our country. Never have we been in so much 
danger of violent attack from without and attacks on our liberty from 
within.''
  From Strongsville, Ohio, David Koch said:
  ``From the very beginning, the allegations about Iraq sounded too 
convenient and very fishy. Now it is widely coming to light that the 
Bush administration grossly exaggerated and fabricated many claims. 
When I tried to warn people at the beginning, I took the heat from 
friends and family who shunned me as an idiot. It is time for the truth 
about the Iraq war to be made known to the American public.''
  From Brecksville, Ohio, Aaron Clark wrote:
  ``The President used lies and half truths to convince the American 
people to go to war. This is serious and needs to be investigated 
without delay.''
  There are hundreds and hundreds, in Ohio 2,500 letters just like 
this; in Illinois, the gentlewoman from Illinois mentioned more than 
twice that number; in California and across the country, literally tens 
of thousands of letters like this.
  From Cincinnati, Ohio, on the other end of the State, Mark Light 
writes:
  ``As an elected Representative to your constituents, it is your 
obligation to back any efforts that will lead our Nation to the truth 
regarding such important matters. The citizens of this country have 
every right to know the truth when their lives and resources are at 
stake. Any actions other than total support of an investigation are 
essentially efforts to hide the truth from our citizens.''
  George Hennigin from Akron, Ohio, in my district said:
  ``The philosopher Baruch Spinoza once wrote: It has been the one song 
of those who thirst after absolute power that the interest of the state 
requires that its affairs should be conducted in secret. But the more 
such arguments disguise themselves under the mask of public welfare, 
the more oppressive is the slavery to which they will lead. Better that 
the right counsels be known to the enemies than the evil secrets of 
tyrants should be concealed from the citizens. They who can treat 
secretly of the affairs of a nation have it absolutely under their 
authority; and as they plot against the enemy in time of war, so do 
they against the citizens in time of peace.''
  Roberta Hunter from Columbus, Ohio said:
  ``The truth has never hurt a democracy. Since there are so many 
unanswered questions, an investigation will not hurt. It will once and 
for all end the questions of Americans and of many people around the 
world.''
  From Strongsville, Ohio, Sandy Fronius, a constituent of mine in 
northeast Ohio, writes:
  ``I am just a typical middle-aged, middle-class American, and I am 
deeply concerned about the possibility that

[[Page 18171]]

the young men and women of our Armed Forces were sent into danger for 
no good reason. If we were lied to, I believe Mr. Bush should be 
relieved of his office.''
  Jerry Lowe from Cincinnati:
  ``If you as my Congressman have nothing to hide, if the Republican 
Party has nothing to hide, if the Bush administration has nothing to 
hide, then I urge you to join the crusade for truth to which all public 
servants should subscribe. Your constituents are watching. Restore the 
faith of Ohioans and Americans in the dedication of our elected 
officials to seek the truth and serve our country with integrity.''
  There are literally hundreds of more of these in Ohio, thousands, 
tens of thousands more of these around the country. I think people are 
very concerned and want to see Congress pay attention to what really 
happened.

                          ____________________