October 31, 2005
“We are at war in Iraq under an authority conferred to President Bush by the U.S. Congress, and Congress not only has a right but a responsibility to make sure that the authority to use force was not granted under circumstances that were deliberately misleading,” said Lee. “The fact is that there has been no investigation and no oversight, and Republicans seem content to deny the American people the answers that they are asking for and that they deserve.”
This afternoon, Reid invoked Senate Rule 21 to force the Senate into closed session discuss the status of an investigation into prewar intelligence about Iraq. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman, Pat Roberts (R-KS) over a year ago promised a second phase of the inquiry into pre-war intelligence regarding Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction to investigate the administration’s use of intelligence in making the case for war.
Lee has long called for Congress to exercise its oversight responsibilities in investigating the use of intelligence in the lead up to the Iraq war. Earlier this year she introduced H.Res. 375, a measure which had bipartisan support and 82 cosponsors and would have required the Bush administration to give Congress all information relating to communication with officials of the United Kingdom relating to U.S. policy in Iraq between January 1, 2002 and October 16, 2002, the date Congressional authority to use force in Iraq became law. The measure was a privileged resolution, meaning if it was not taken up by the International Relations Committee in a defined period of time, Representative Lee would have been entitled to request that it be brought to the House floor for a vote.
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Lee Praises Reid, Renews Call for Investigation into Pre-War Intelligence
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) renewed her calls for an investigation into the mounting evidence that the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq and praised Senate Minority Harry Reid (D-NV) for using procedural means to force the issue on the floor of the Senate.“We are at war in Iraq under an authority conferred to President Bush by the U.S. Congress, and Congress not only has a right but a responsibility to make sure that the authority to use force was not granted under circumstances that were deliberately misleading,” said Lee. “The fact is that there has been no investigation and no oversight, and Republicans seem content to deny the American people the answers that they are asking for and that they deserve.”
This afternoon, Reid invoked Senate Rule 21 to force the Senate into closed session discuss the status of an investigation into prewar intelligence about Iraq. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman, Pat Roberts (R-KS) over a year ago promised a second phase of the inquiry into pre-war intelligence regarding Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction to investigate the administration’s use of intelligence in making the case for war.
Lee has long called for Congress to exercise its oversight responsibilities in investigating the use of intelligence in the lead up to the Iraq war. Earlier this year she introduced H.Res. 375, a measure which had bipartisan support and 82 cosponsors and would have required the Bush administration to give Congress all information relating to communication with officials of the United Kingdom relating to U.S. policy in Iraq between January 1, 2002 and October 16, 2002, the date Congressional authority to use force in Iraq became law. The measure was a privileged resolution, meaning if it was not taken up by the International Relations Committee in a defined period of time, Representative Lee would have been entitled to request that it be brought to the House floor for a vote.