[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18847]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




LETTERS IN SUPPORT OF INDEPENDENT COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE EVIDENCE OF 
              IRAQ'S WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION PROGRAMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. I appreciate it very much, Madam Speaker.
  I once again this evening continue reading constituent mail that has 
come to the State of Illinois, 3,621 comments, that were actually made 
available to people by MoveOn.org, which had on the Web site a petition 
that said, ``We believe that Congress should support an independent 
commission to investigate the Bush administration's distortion of 
evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs.''

                              {time}  2015

  A number of times, the Speaker has cautioned Members who get up to be 
careful that we say proper things and do not impugn anybody's integrity 
on this floor. I agree that we ought to have a level of decorum. But I 
want to also read a quote from Theodore Roosevelt, because these are 
coming from constituents who only want to know the truth and want a 
process, an independent commission to make sure that we get the truth 
about why it is that the United States thought it was an imminent 
threat that we had to go to war. This quote, I think, is important for 
us to look at. This is from the former President, Theodore Roosevelt:
  ``To announce that there must be no criticism of the President or 
that we are to stand by the President right or wrong is not only 
unpatriotic and servile but is morally treasonable to the American 
public.''
  So it is really in that spirit that many, many people, in fact, about 
320,000 people who are also calling for an independent commission to 
investigate the truth about the rationale for going to war in Iraq who 
have sent letters. Here is one, from Darryl of Watseka, Illinois:
  ``As a father of one of our Nation's finest, I respectfully request 
that you demand an independent review of our government's actions 
leading up to the war in Iraq. The U.S., once a greatly respected 
Nation around the world, has now made a large part of the world not 
trust us. If we as a Nation do not question questionable acts of our 
own government, how can we go around the world telling other nations to 
create democracies when the one we have seems more like a dictatorship 
than a democracy?
  ``The current leadership of this great Nation and the media 
manipulated the general public into believing Iraq was a threat to us. 
If we don't question these actions, how can we question the actions of 
other nations? For years, the world has stated that the U.S. has a 
double set of standards, one for us and one for the rest of the world. 
Will we set a precedent of attacking other nations with false 
justification for the rest of the world? What are we teaching our 
children? It's okay if you don't like someone to attack them first 
because our government says it's okay.
  ``Before the war, President Bush and Colin Powell claimed that Iraq 
was a threat to our security with weapons of mass destruction and 
nuclear weapons. Since the war, they have changed their tune and say 
that Iraq had a weapons program. That alone should make one want to 
question their actions. Don't let politics dictate your actions, let 
the facts. When I hear that other nations think President Bush is more 
of a threat to the world peace than Iraq was, it disturbs me. I love my 
country and believe that we can make a difference in the world, but if 
we don't question these actions, I highly doubt that the rest of the 
world will trust us again.''
  Rodney from Sauk Village says:
  ``My youngest brother is in Baghdad in a rank heavy unit which is 
costing taxpayers millions of dollars per month in salary alone. Our 
men and women are still over there being killed but the President 
claims the war is over. I can't tell. I've always been of the belief 
that if you get tired of being treated a certain way, eventually you'll 
stand up and do something to change it. We need to be focusing on the 
wars at home like gang violence, AIDS and the homeless.''
  Ronald from Malden says:
  ``I am a `never miss an election' independent who has never voted a 
straight party ticket. I seriously would like to know who misled us or 
the President or if our intelligence community is this poor. It appears 
there are no weapons of mass destruction or our great intelligence that 
told us all about them before the war certainly could have located at 
least a few of them by now. Billions of our tax dollars have been spent 
on this war and billions more will continue to go out every month for 
years now because of this while we cut domestic programs, spend 
billions on interest alone for the deficit to cut taxes, most to people 
who do not need it, and mortgage our children's future. Because of 
lies? Because of incompetency? I want to know what happened.''
  Beth from Plano, Illinois:
  ``The public, especially the families of the women and men who have 
bravely entered into military service, worry, and justifiably so, that 
the war in Iraq is turning out to be a second Vietnam. We want to know 
whether this war was truly justified, or if President Bush and his 
administration merely embarked upon a reckless revenge match with 
disregard for the very citizens they have sworn to protect.''
  Mary from Westmont, Illinois:
  ``I have a nephew in the military and a niece soon to follow. Why 
were our young men and women's lives threatened, lost?''
  This must be stopped.

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