[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 18713-18714]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          SUPPORT FOR INDEPENDENT COMMISSION ON WAR WITH IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I have come to the floor, once again 
tonight, to discuss the groundswell of support for an independent 
commission to discuss the administration's plans regarding Iraq's 
weapons of mass destruction. After hearing the administration's case 
for war, many Americans felt they were led to believe that Iraq had 
weapons of mass destruction ready to use against America and were on 
the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Mr. Speaker, we may yet find 
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but it is now clear to many 
Americans that the administration overstated and misrepresented the 
threat that Iraq posed to the United States. Those Americans can say it 
better than I can.
  Fred, from Ventura, California writes, ``I recently read an article 
that summarized the comments made by the President and members of his 
administration. I am deeply troubled by how incongruent these 
statements are with the realities after President Bush declared an end 
to hostilities.''

                              {time}  1700

  Susan from Solana Beach, California, compares the administration's 
untruths with recent corporate scandals, ``Enough is enough. Whatever 
deceptions corporate America perpetrated in the last few years, no one 
died and we continue to investigate. Washington must be held to a far 
higher standard because American lives were risked and lost on the word 
of the Bush administration. Without an investigation to answer these 
important questions about potential distortion of intelligence reports, 
all the tax cuts in the world will not buy my vote in future 
elections.''
  Steve from Bakersfield was more understanding: ``If we launch a 
preemptive war by mistake, God help America.''
  This is not God's responsibility, Mr. Speaker. It is the Congress's 
responsibility.
  Beatrice from Redondo Beach is upset with those of us here in 
Congress: ``I am angry at the lack of action by our representatives 
against this Bush administration on their manipulation of facts in 
order to take our country to war.''
  J. Lawrence of California seconds that and I will quote him: ``Of all 
things that a government does, the decision to go to war must be made 
openly and without manipulations. I urge you to support an independent 
commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding what we, the 
public, were told about the justification for our recent incursion into 
Iraq. We spent millions on a sexual dalliance but appear to have been 
ignoring what may have been a mass deception and manipulation of truth 
that in the end put U.S. citizens and soldiers in harm's way.''
  Stan and Sue from Sierra Madre support an investigation also. They 
say: ``Never should we harm another country nor put our own sons and 
daughters in harm's way under false pretenses. An inquiry is one of the 
tools to make sure this does not happen in the future.''

[[Page 18714]]

  Mr. Speaker, other Americans want to remind us, in the Congress, that 
they do not care about partisanship. They only care about getting to 
the truth.
  Steve from Moorpark writes: ``In the interest of preserving the 
freedoms and liberties inherent to our Constitution, I ask you to 
support an independent investigation of the Bush administration's 
distortion of evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program. 
No matter which political party affiliation any American favors, it is 
detrimental to our country, our Constitution, and our democracy to have 
our leaders mislead all Americans for reasons yet unknown.''
  It is time to get the facts. I urge all of my colleagues to support 
H.R. 2625, the gentleman from California's (Mr. Waxman) bill to create 
an independent commission to uncover all of the facts about the 
administration's claims and Iraq's weapons. It is time for Congress to 
stop beating around the bush and take action. Support fact finding. 
Support an independent commission.

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