[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 23849-23850]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             THROWING MORE MONEY AT IRAQ IS NOT THE ANSWER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, earlier this week U.S. Secretary of State 
Colin Powell spoke to a business forum in Detroit. His topic, the 
Middle East. His message, the nations of the Middle East need to 
transform themselves.
  The Bush administration, having failed to find weapons of mass 
destruction, failed to find Saddam Hussein, failed to capture Osama bin 
Laden, failed to eradicate the Taliban, failed to implement the road 
map to peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, and of course 
failed to secure the peace in Iraq, is trying to salvage something out 
of its disastrous policy so they are talking about this policy of 
transformation.
  The Bush administration is trying to get the American people to 
believe that throwing $87 billion more at Iraq will begin the process 
of transformation by building the garden spot of the Middle East and 
that other nations will magically follow the lead.
  It will not work. Their policy is doomed to fail, throwing more money 
is not the answer in Iraq.
  As the Detroit Free Press reported, although Secretary Powell had 
plenty of advice for Middle Eastern nations about how to conduct their 
affairs, he offered no plan for the road to peace. That is not 
surprising because the Bush administration has no plan for peace in the 
Middle East, no plan for postwar Iraq, no plan for getting the United 
States out of Iraq, and fundamentally, no long-term plan for energy 
independence for America which would give us the leverage we need to 
play the role of honest broker instead of dependent addict.
  Secretary Powell said in Detroit that the Arab nations are plagued by 
poverty, alienation and despair. He said the Arab world needs to 
embrace free trade and democratize in order to break out of the cycle. 
But free trade cannot bring democracy. If that were true, the Arab 
world would be a democratic paradise and have already broken the cycle 
of poverty, alienation and despair.
  Instead, the oil oligarchies of the Middle East have already been 
trading for decades and decades. We trade extensively with the Bush 
administration's close friends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In fact, 
we have an oil trade deficit with them of over $8 billion a year. We 
trade extensively with the Bush family's close friends in Kuwait. We 
have an oil trade deficit with them of over $1 billion a year. And what 
about Iraq, home to the second largest set of oil reserves in the 
world? We had over a $3.5 billion trade deficit with them, even when 
sanctions were being imposed. The problem with the oil oligarchies is 
hardly a lack of trade.
  The Detroit Free Press also ran a story ``Oil, Gas Tighten U.S. 
Connection to Mideast,'' and ``Alternative Fuels Dismissed at Forum.''
  As reporter John Gallagher wrote, ``The U.S.-Arab Economic Forum gave 
a glimpse Monday at the future of American energy policy. It sure 
looked a lot like the past.'' And therein lies the problem. The past is 
filled with war and conflicts, much of it tied to the politics that 
come from the oil field across the Middle East. That is what the future 
will look like unless the United States achieves energy independence 
here at home.
  Indeed, oppression and oil seem to go hand in hand, and it is a world 
that previous U.S. administrations, doing the bidding of Exxon, 
Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and other big oil companies have had a 
big hand in creating for over half a century. The United States at the 
dawn of this century is utterly dependent on Middle East oil. Our 
biggest trading partner, the Saudis, are increasingly brazen about the 
nature of our relationship, and their oil minister said in Detroit on 
Monday, ``Detroit makes a lot of cars, we produce a lot of oil; you can 
see the connection.'' You send us the oil, and we send them our 
dollars.
  It is easy to see that the Saudis have George W. Bush exactly where 
they want him. They have Dick Cheney exactly where they want him. They 
have Colin Powell exactly where they want him. And they have the 
American people exactly where they want us. They have us addicted to 
their oil and begging for our next fix. To me, that is unacceptable.
  Here is what David O'Reilly, CEO of Chevron Texaco said in Detroit, 
``We are in for a long period of dependence on fossil fuels.'' Well, 
that is no problem as long as we do not mind American dollars going to 
the Middle East for oil only to end up in the hands of terrorists who 
then kill us. The Bush administration might be comfortable with our 
relationship with those oil states, but I am not. That is why I have 
introduced the Biofuels Energy Independence Act of 2003, H.R. 130, and 
ask my colleagues to cosponsor it.

              Oil, Gas Tighten U.S. Connection to Mideast

                          (By John Gallagher)

       The U.S.-Arab Economic Forum being held in Detroit gave a 
     glimpse Monday at the future of American energy policy. It 
     sure looked a lot like the past.
       Speakers on a panel devoted to energy needs agreed that a 
     reliance on Middle East oil and natural gas is the 
     cornerstone of any future American policy.
       Far from fostering a U.S. policy of independence from 
     Middle Eastern producers, the panel suggested that ever-
     closer ties with the region and its vast oil and natural gas 
     reserves will be needed to meet U.S. consumption.
       Ali bin Ibrahim Al Naimi, minister of petroleum and mineral 
     resources in Saudi Arabia, captured the almost cozy nature of 
     the discussion when he quipped to the audience: ``Detroit 
     makes a lot of cars. We produce a lot of oil. You can see the 
     connection.''
       Indeed, any stresses and strains in the energy relationship 
     between the United States and Middle Eastern nations were 
     simply not mentioned Monday. Panelists used the words 
     ``partner'' and ``partnership'' multiple times. Alternative 
     fuels such as solar and hydrogen were brought up just long 
     enough to be dismissed.
       ``It's hard for people to visualize how massive the oil and 
     gas industry is,'' panelist Lee Raymond, chairman and CEO of 
     ExxonMobil Corp., said at one point.
       Even if alternative fuels were to grow at a rate of 20 
     percent a year, they would still supply just 1 percent of 
     U.S. needs while the vast, vast majority of capital in the 
     energy industry is going into oil and gas,'' he said.
       Clarence Cazalot, president and CEO of Marathon Oil Corp., 
     underscored the point by declaring that Marathon has no 
     projects in the works dealing with alternative sources of 
     energy.
       The panel was convened to talk about Middle Eastern oil 
     policy, so it was not surprising that it did not take up 
     broader energy problems.
       And the business-as-usual approach probably was assured by 
     the make-up of the panel. Two Middle Eastern oil ministers, 
     four U.S. oil company chief executives, and former Michigan 
     Sen. Spencer Abraham, now U.S. Secretary of Energy in 
     President George W. Bush's cabinet.
       Even so, it was surprising how little mention was made of 
     broader energy problems. There was no discussion of this 
     summer's surge in gas prices, except when Al Naimi declared 
     that the war in Iraq had produced no significant increase in 
     prices this year. Nor was there any discussion of the recent 
     blackout that left metro Detroit, much of the Northeast and 
     parts of Canada in the dark.
       Instead, oil producers and oil company executives agreed 
     that there was no getting around the realities of the United 
     States being the world's biggest energy consumer and the 
     Middle East holding the world's biggest reserves of oil and 
     natural gas.
       ``We're in for a long period of dependence on fossil 
     fuels,'' said David O'Reilly, chairman and CEO, of Chevron 
     Texaco Corp., told the audience at the Detroit Marriott 
     Renaissance Center.
       U.S. energy consumption is expected to grow 50 percent by 
     2025; Al Naimi estimated, a figure that no one disputed.
       Yet around the edges of the discussion Monday, a few 
     glimpses of potential problems crept into the discussion.
       If the United States is worried about a stable supply of 
     oil and natural gas, it turns out that producing nations like 
     Saudi Arabia and Qatar are worried at least as much about a 
     stable demand.
       Russia, Mexico and other non-Arab oil-producing nations are 
     clamoring for more access to the U.S. markets. The panelists 
     noted that Middle Eastern nations can't afford to make 
     massive new investments in their facilities without 
     assurances that the U.S. market will still be open to them.
       And there was just the barest mention of civil unrest in 
     some Middle Eastern nations, where forces of modern secular 
     capitalism vie with religious fundamentalism. O'Reilly noted 
     that a solid relationship with the United States is needed to 
     help young Arab men and women meet their potential.

[[Page 23850]]

       As if to mirror the mostly up-beat discussion Monday, 
     gasoline prices in Michigan continued their recent slide.
       The statewide average price for a gallon of self-serve, 
     regular gasoline is down more than 10-cents from a week ago, 
     AAA said. It marked the second straight 10-cent drop in as 
     many weeks.
                                  ____


             [From the Detroit Free Press, Sept. 30, 2003]

   Middle East Must End Its Cycle of Terrorism, Despair, Powell Says

                           (By Niraj Warikoo)

       The Arab world is trapped in a cycle of despair and fury 
     that will continue to breed terrorism unless nations 
     radically change their policies, said U.S. Secretary of State 
     Colin Powell in a toughly worded speech to business leaders 
     in Detroit Monday night.
       Powell gave few specifics on how the Middle East can bridge 
     the gap but cautioned that if it is to survive, the region 
     urgently needs solid jobs, along with respect for rule of the 
     law, the individual and religious tolerance.
       ``It is no exaggeration to say that without a 
     transformation of the Middle East, the region will remain a 
     source of violence and terrorism,'' Powell said. ``We must 
     not let that happen. We will not let that happen.''
       Powell spoke at the first U.S.-Arab Economic Forum, an 
     event designed to bring the two worlds together with the 
     local Arab-American community acting as a conduit. Hundreds 
     of U.S. and Arab business leaders gathered in Detroit's Cobo 
     Center to hear him speak.
       He urged the crowd to join him in transforming the Middle 
     East into a region full of hope and where ``all people 
     worship God in a spirit of tolerance and understanding.''
       Some Arab Americans in the audience were unimpressed with 
     Powell's speech, saying he should have announced a plan to 
     relieve the suffering of the Palestinians.
       ``He brought no new ideas,'' said Ron Amen, executive 
     assistant to Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano. ``He 
     brought no new hope.''
       Powell spoke at length about Iraq during his speech and 
     during an earlier interview with the Free Press. He said he 
     believes a weapons of mass destruction program will be found 
     in Iraq.
       ``There is no doubt in my mind'' the United States will 
     find evidence of Saddam Hussein's weapons program, Powell 
     said. ``It wasn't a figment of anyone's imagination.''
       Powell criticized those who questioned whether Hussein had 
     deadly weapons before the war.
       Some people thought that ``sweet Saddam Hussein, who was 
     willing to gas 5,000 people on a spring day in 1988, was 
     suddenly a different Saddam Hussein,'' Powell said during the 
     Free Press interview.
       ``Other nations might have been willing to make that 
     judgment, but not President Bush. He wasn't going to walk 
     away from the challenge.''
       Powell said former UN weapons inspector David Kay is going 
     through documents and interviews in a search for a weapons 
     program. And Powell recounted his visit earlier this month to 
     Iraq, saying he was touched by the northern city of Halabja.
       Powell said he spoke with Iraqis whose family members were 
     killed in that town in March 1988, when Hussein's regime used 
     chemicals to kill an estimated 5,000 people.
       He urged the American public to be patient with Iraq, 
     reminding reporters that it took the United States more than 
     12 years--from 1776 to 1789--to draft a constitution.
       ``It isn't easy'' to draft a governing document, he said.
       Besides Iraq, Powell addressed the conflict between the 
     Israelis and Palestinians. He said Palestinian Authority 
     President Yasser Arafat ``is not a partner for peace.''
       Powell said he has made it clear to Arafat that he must 
     change his leadership approach.
       Powell also questioned Israeli settlements and the way 
     Israel is constructing a new security fence near its border.
       Powell tried to quell concerns about how Arabs traveling to 
     the United States will be treated at airports and by the 
     government. He conceded there has to be balance between 
     liberty and security in admitting new visitors and 
     immigrants.
       Said Powell: ``We want to be a welcoming society.''

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