[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24391-24392]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        BIG LIES AND LITTLE LIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania). Under a 
previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, Scooter Libby has been indicted for lying. 
Many suspect Libby, and perhaps others, deliberately outed Joe Wilson's 
wife as a covert agent. This was done to punish and discredit Wilson 
for bringing attention to the false information regarding Iraq's 
supposed efforts to build a nuclear weapon, information made public in 
President Bush's State of the Union message in January, 2003. Special 
prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was chosen to determine if this 
revelation regarding Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife, violated the 
Intelligence Identification Protection Act. The actual indictment of 
Libby did not claim such a violation occurred. Instead, he has been 
charged with lying and participating in a cover-up during the 2-year 
investigation. I believe this is a serious matter that should not be 
ignored.

                              {time}  1930

  But it is not an Earth-shattering event. This case, like almost 
everything in Washington, has been driven by politics, not truth, 
justice or the Constitution. It is about seeking political power, pure 
and simple, not unlike the impeachment process during the last 
administration.
  There are much more serious charges of lying and cover-ups that 
deserve congressional attention. The country now knows the decision to 
go to war was based on information that was not factual. Congress and 
the people of this country were misled. Because of this, more than 
2,000 U.S. troops and many innocent people have died. Tens of thousands 
have been severely wounded, their lives forever changed, if not totally 
ruined.
  The lies Scooter Libby may or may not have told deserve a thorough 
investigation, but in the scheme of things, the indictment about 
questions regarding the release of Valerie Plame's name, a political 
dirty trick, is minor compared to the disinformation about weapons of 
mass destruction and other events that propelled us into an unnecessary 
war. It costs, in life, suffering and money, have proven to be 
prohibitive. The Libby indictment, unless it opens the door to more 
profound questions concerning why we went to war, may serve only as a 
distraction from much more serious events and lies.
  The decision to go to war is profound. It behooves Congress to ask 
more questions and investigate exactly how the

[[Page 24392]]

President, Congress and the people were misled into believing that 
invading Iraq was necessary for our national security.
  Why do we still not know who forged the documents claiming Saddam 
Hussein was about to buy uranium from Niger? Was this information 
concocted by those who were overly eager to go to war? Why was CIA 
reluctance regarding this assessment ignored, allowing it to be 
presented by the President as a clincher for our need to go to war? 
Other reasons used to justify the war deserve equal attention since the 
results have been so painful for our country.
  If lies were told to justify the invasion of Iraq, the American 
people deserve to know the truth. Congress has a responsibility to seek 
this truth and change our policies accordingly. The sooner this is 
done, the better.

                          ____________________