[House Report 109-351]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    109-351

======================================================================

 
 REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES PROVIDE TO THE HOUSE OF 
REPRESENTATIVES ALL DOCUMENTS IN HIS POSSESSION RELATING TO HIS OCTOBER 
7, 2002, SPEECH IN CINCINNATI, OHIO, AND HIS JANUARY 28, 2003, STATE OF 
                           THE UNION ADDRESS

                                _______
                                

 December 16, 2005.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Hyde, from the Committee on International Relations, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 549]

    The Committee on International Relations, to whom was 
referred the resolution (H. Res. 549) requesting the President 
of the United States provide to the House of Representatives 
all documents in his possession relating to his October 7, 
2002, speech in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his January 28, 2003, 
State of the Union address, having considered the same, reports 
thereon with an amendment and without recommendation.

                           TABLE OF CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
The Amendment....................................................     1
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     2
Hearings.........................................................     3
Committee Consideration..........................................     3
Votes of the Committee...........................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     4
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     4

                             The Amendment

    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
following:

That the President of the United States is requested to provide to the 
House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the date of 
adoption of this resolution--
            (1) all drafts of his October 7, 2002, speech in 
        Cincinnati, Ohio, and all documents in his possession related 
        to that speech; and
            (2) all drafts of the parts relevant to Iraq in his January 
        28, 2003, State of the Union address and all documents in his 
        possession related to such parts.

                          Purpose and Summary

    House Resolution 549 requests the President of the United 
States provide to the House of Representatives all documents in 
his possession relating to his October 7, 2002, speech in 
Cincinnati, Ohio, and his January 28, 2003, State of the Union 
address.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    House Resolution 549 is a resolution of inquiry, which 
pursuant to rule XIII, clause 7 of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, directs the Committee to act on the resolution 
within 14 legislative days or a privileged motion to discharge 
the Committee is in order. H. Res. 549 was introduced and 
referred to the Committee on International Relations on 
November 10, 2005. The Committee held markup sessions on 
December 8, 2005, and December 15, 2005. The Committee ordered 
H. Res. 549 reported without recommendation on December 15, 
2005.
    Under the Rules and Precedents of the House, a resolution 
of inquiry is one of the methods used by the House to obtain 
information from the executive branch. According to Deschler's 
Procedure it is a ``simple resolution making a direct request 
or demand of the President or the head of an executive 
department to furnish the House of Representatives with 
specific factual information in the possession of the executive 
branch.''\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Deschler's Precedents, H. Doc. No. 94-661, 94th Cong., 2d Sess., 
vol. 7, ch. 24, section 8.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    On November 10, 2005, Mr. Hinchey of New York introduced H. 
Res. 549. The resolution seeks all documents in the President's 
possession relating to his October 7, 2002, speech in 
Cincinnati, Ohio and his January 28, 2003, State of the Union 
address.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\H. Res. 549, 109th Cong. (November 10, 2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Committee has now reported nine resolutions of inquiry 
dealing with intelligence surrounding the war in Iraq. The 
Committee reported adversely the most recent resolution of 
inquiry, H. Res. 505, on November 10, 2005--the same day Mr. 
Hinchey introduced H. Res. 549. A tenth resolution of inquiry 
has already been introduced and is currently pending before the 
Committee.
    Regarding the previous eight resolutions of inquiry before 
the Committee, all were ordered reported adversely because, 
among other reasons, issues of pre-war intelligence have been 
thoroughly studied. These bipartisan investigations have 
overwhelmingly found that, while the intelligence on Iraq's 
weapons of mass destruction was often wrong, it was never 
manipulated or coerced. A summary of these studies can be found 
in H. Rept. 109-291 (Nov. 10, 2005), the Committee's most 
recent adverse report (of H. Res. 505).
    The resolutions are politically-calculated attacks on the 
Bush Administration and on the war in Iraq--a war which the 
United States entered with bipartisan congressional support.
    Opponents who continue to attack President Bush's use of 
intelligence despite numerous investigations that reached 
conclusions to the contrary should note that the two speeches 
by President Bush at issue in H. Res. 549 closely parallel two 
speeches that President Clinton delivered on February 17 and 
December 16 of 1998. In these speeches, President Clinton 
described Iraq as, ``a rogue state with weapons of mass 
destruction ready to use them or provide them to terrorists, 
drug traffickers or organized criminals who travel the world 
among us unnoticed.'' To date, no resolutions of inquiry have 
sought documents related to the intelligence President Clinton 
relied on in concluding Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
    In light of numerous past and ongoing investigations into 
the Administration's use of pre-war intelligence on Iraq, and 
because these resolutions of inquiry are politically-motivated, 
the Committee ordered H. Res. 549 reported without 
recommendation.

                                Hearings

    The Committee did not hold hearings on H. Res. 549.

                        Committee Consideration

    On December 8, 2005 and December 15, 2005, the Full 
Committee considered H. Res. 549, pursuant to notice, in open 
session. On December 15, 2005, the Committee agreed to a motion 
to report the resolution without recommendation to the House by 
a record vote of 24 ayes to 19 nays.

                         Votes of the Committee

    Clause (3)(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires that the results of each record vote 
on an amendment or motion to report, together with the names of 
those voting for or against, be printed in the Committee 
report. The following record votes occurred during 
consideration of H. Res. 549:
    Vote to report to the House adversely (December 8, 2005):

          Voting yes: Hyde, Smith (NJ), Burton, Gallegly, Ros-
        Lehtinen, Rohrabacher, Royce, Chabot, Tancredo, Issa, 
        Flake, Davis, Green, Weller, Pence, McCotter, Harris, 
        Wilson, Boozman, Barrett, Mack, Fortenberry, McCaul, 
        and Poe.
          Voting no: Leach, Lantos, Berman, Ackerman, 
        Faleomavaega, Payne, Menendez, Brown, Sherman, Wexler, 
        Engel, Delahunt, Meeks, Lee, Crowley, Blumenauer, 
        Berkley, Napolitano, Schiff, Watson, Smith (WA), 
        McCollum, Chandler and Cardoza.

    The vote on H. Res. 549 to be ordered reported adversely to 
the House failed by a vote of 24 ayes to 24 noes.
    Vote to report to the House without recommendation 
(December 15, 2005):

          Voting yes: Smith (NJ), Burton, Gallegly, Ros-
        Lehtinen, Rohrabacher, Royce, King, Chabot, Tancredo, 
        Issa, Flake, Davis, Green, Weller, Pence, McCotter, 
        Harris, Wilson, Boozman, Barrett, Mack, Fortenberry, 
        McCaul, and Poe.
          Voting no: Lantos, Berman, Ackerman, Menendez, 
        Sherman, Wexler, Delahunt, Meeks, Lee, Crowley, 
        Blumenauer, Berkley, Napolitano, Schiff, Watson, Smith 
        (WA), McCollum, Chandler and Cardoza.

    H. Res. 549 was ordered reported without recommendation to 
the House by a vote of 24 ayes to 19 nos.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    The Committee held no oversight activities under clause 
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for 
this resolution in article I, section 1 of the Constitution.

                                  
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