[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 21050]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   ADMINISTRATION MUST ADMIT MISTAKES

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, here are a few headlines from the last 24 
hours: ``Iraqi Arms Threat Was Waning,'' the definitive government 
report saying there was a diminishing threat from Iraq and its weapons 
of mass destruction; ``France Was Ready To Send Troops to Iraq,'' 
15,000, but did not because of the relationship with President Bush; 
``Bremmer Criticizes Troop Levels,'' Paul Bremmer now says we never had 
enough troops on the ground; ``White House Embraced Disputed Arms 
Intelligence,'' the White House claimed Iraq was buying aluminum tubes 
to facilitate uranium enrichment even though their own experts told 
them otherwise; ``Funds To Build Iraq Are Drifting Away From Target,'' 
only 27 cents on the dollar are going to rebuild Iraq.
  This does not even include what Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld 
acknowledged yesterday, that there was no relationship between Iraq and 
al Qaeda.
  Mr. Speaker, their house of cards that was the case for going to war 
and how to prosecute this war have collapsed. In going to war, this 
administration allowed ideology to trump reality. Iraq was not an 
imminent threat, there was no impending mushroom cloud. With the costs 
and casualties, candor would be a welcome addition to this White House.
  You cannot fix a problem if you do not acknowledge that you have one.

                          ____________________