SPEAKERS       CONTENTS       INSERTS    
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85–640PDF
2003
REQUESTING THAT DOCUMENTS IN THE PRESIDENT'S
POSSESSION RELATING TO IRAQ'S DECLARATION ON ITS
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION PROVIDED TO THE U.N.
ON 12/7/02 BE TRANSMITTED TO THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES NOT LATER THAN 14 DAYS FROM THE
ADOPTION OF THIS RESOLUTION; AND
NORTHERN IRELAND PEACE AND RECONCILIATION
SUPPORT ACT

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON
H. Res. 68 and H.R. 1208
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MARCH 12, 2003

Serial No. 108–4

Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/internationalrelations

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman

JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey,
  Vice Chairman
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
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AMO HOUGHTON, New York
JOHN M. McHUGH, New York
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
RON PAUL, Texas
NICK SMITH, Michigan
JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
JERRY WELLER, Illinois
MIKE PENCE, Indiana
THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan
WILLIAM J. JANKLOW, South Dakota
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida

TOM LANTOS, California
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
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WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
BARBARA LEE, California
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania
EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
DIANE E. WATSON, California
ADAM SMITH, Washington
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
CHRIS BELL, Texas

THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel
ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director
DANIEL FREEMAN, Counsel/Parliamentarian
LIBERTY DUNN, Staff Associate

C O N T E N T S

MARKUP OF

    H. Res. 68, Requesting the President to transmit to the House of Representatives not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution documents in the President's possession relating to Iraq's declaration on its weapons of mass destruction that was provided to the United Nations on December 7, 2002
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    H.R. 1208, To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2004 and 2005 for United States contributions to the International Fund for Ireland, and for other purposes

APPENDIX

    The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey, and Vice Chairman, Committee on International Relations: Prepared statement on H.R. 1208

    The Honorable Joseph Crowley, a Representative in Congress from the State of New York: Prepared statement on H.R. 1208

REQUESTING THAT DOCUMENTS IN THE PRESIDENT'S POSSESSION RELATING TO IRAQ'S DECLARATION ON ITS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION PROVIDED TO THE U.N. ON 12/7/02 BE TRANSMITTED TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOT LATER THAN 14 DAYS FROM THE ADOPTION OF THIS RESOLUTION; AND NORTHERN IRELAND PEACE AND RECONCILIATION SUPPORT ACT

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2003

House of Representatives,
Committee on International Relations,
Washington, DC.

    The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:15 a.m., in Room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Doug Bereuter presiding.
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    Mr. BEREUTER. The meeting will be in order. Pursuant to notice, I now call up H. Res. 68, requesting the President to transmit to the House of Representatives not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution documents in the President's possession related to Iraq's declaration of its weapons of mass destruction that was provided to the United Nations on December 7, 2002, for purposes of markup and move its adverse recommendation to the House.

    Without objection, the resolution will be considered as read and open for amendment at this point.

    [The resolution, H. Res. 68, follows:]

      
      
  
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    Mr. BEREUTER. The Chair yields himself 5 minutes for purposes of a statement. Mr. Kucinich of Ohio has introduced H. Res. 68, a resolution of inquiry requesting the President to transmit to the House of Representatives ''documents in the President's possession related to Iraq's declaration of its weapons of mass destruction that was provided to the United Nations on December 7, 2002.''
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    Iraq submitted the declaration in response to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441. This resolution required Iraq to provide U.N. weapon inspectors with a complete and accurate declaration of all aspects of its chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons programs and ballistic missile systems, as well as information on other chemical, biological, and nuclear programs which were supposed to be for civilian purposes.

    In his remarks addressed to the House of Representatives when introducing the resolution of inquiry, the Sponsor stated that Congress had not seen the full Iraqi declaration and had only heard interpretations of the document from the White House and the United Nations. Asserting that the Congress has the right to see the declaration, the Sponsor requested that the, ''primary documents be transmitted in their complete and unedited form,'' to Congress.

    The Department of State has transmitted the Iraqi declaration of December 7, 2002 in its ''complete and unedited form'' to the House, and it is in the custody the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which has the facilities to handle such documents. The declaration, consisting of approximately 12,000 pages of documents, is classified Secret and contains information relating to weapons design and weapons of mass destruction.

    The declaration is available for review by Members, consistent with House Rule XXIII, of the Code of Official Conduct, which governs access by Members to classified information. The Department of State's transmittal of the declaration in its ''complete and unedited'' form to the House of Representatives renders moot as a matter of substance the Sponsor's resolution of inquiry. Consequently, that is why the pending motion is to move to report H. Res. 68 adversely.
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    I would say that Mr. Kucinich, in short, has won his point. I would remind Members that clause 1(b)(1) of House Rule XVII governing relevance of debate requires Members to confine remarks to the question under debate. The Parliamentarian's commentary on that rule states, ''It has always been held, and generally quite strictly, that in the House the Member must confine himself to the subject under debate.'' Of course, the Rules of the House apply with equal force to the Committee.

    The question before the Committee today is simply the issue of transmittal of the complete Iraqi declaration to the House, not the larger political and strategic question of the possible use of force to accomplish regime change and compliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions by Iraq. In light of this, I ask Members to limit their remarks to the sole issue before the Committee—that is, the request for transmittal of the document—and to refrain from making remarks on broader issues not currently before the Committee.

    With this statement I am pleased to recognize the distinguished gentleman from California, the Ranking Member of the Committee, Mr. Lantos.

    Mr. LANTOS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I am invariably in favor of Congress getting full access to all information. In this case, the documents in question have been provided to the Congress in a responsible way and any Member of the House of Representatives has an opportunity to study these documents in toto in the offices of our Intelligence Committee, and public debate at this time could undermine whatever remaining possibility there might be for unified Security Council action, and therefore I will vote to report the resolution unfavorably.
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    Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you very much, Mr. Lantos.

    Are there any Members who seek to strike the last word? Ms. Lee, the Gentlelady from California, is recognized for 5 minutes.

    Ms. LEE. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am just speaking in support of this resolution and in opposition to an unfavorable report by this Committee. It is being called moot today, but that is because it was successful really. This resolution asked for important information about Iraq, and this Congress should have really received it months ago. Because of this resolution, and because of the efforts of its authors, Congressman Kucinich and Congressman McDermott, Iraq's declaration to the United Nations was finally delivered to Congress last Friday.

    The request for the transmittal for documents, of course, was based on the notion that this Congress and this Nation are being asked to go to war without either just cause or full information. Hopefully this document will provide additional information with regard to the evidence that many have been asking for with regard to any imminent threat to the United States.

    So I am speaking in support of this resolution, which really did bring us one piece of information, and I urge my colleagues to continue to demand that the Administration treat Congress really as an equal partner in our system of government.

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield the balance of my time.
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    Mr. BEREUTER. I thank the gentlelady for her statement.

    Are there other Members that seek recognition? Seeing none, then, without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to report the resolution. Further proceedings on the motion will be postponed until the Chair observes the presence of a reporting quorum, and for purpose of information, that requires the 25 Members.

    In the meantime, I would like to take up the second and only other remaining item on the agenda. That is a consideration of H.R. 1208, the Northern Ireland Peace and Reconciliation Support Act.

    [The bill, H.R. 1208, follows:]

      
      
  
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    Mr. BEREUTER. Without objection, the Chairman is authorized to seek consideration of this matter under suspension of the rules. Without objection, any Member who wishes to place a statement in the record will be permitted to do so.
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    And we are now awaiting a reporting quorum, and I would remind Members that we would like to finish this matter, if at all possible with that quorum, because you know that we have proceedings on the Floor beginning at 11 when Members are expected to be in their place. So I would like to complete no later than 10:45 with the Members' cooperation. Thank you. We will wait for a quorum. And I know both sides——

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman, the legislation——

    Mr. BEREUTER. For what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition?

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. The legislation that we are waiting for now, is what again?

    Mr. BEREUTER. This is on the Kucinich resolution.

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. No. Wasn't there something else about—you mentioned a second one.

    Mr. BEREUTER. Yes.

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. And what was that second piece of legislation?

    Mr. BEREUTER. We just did it. We authorized the authorization for the $25 million for the next fiscal—2 fiscal years—with 80 percent of it dedicated for a particular purpose, and 20 percent for the traditional activities.
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    Mr. ROHRABACHER. And this is for which theater of operation again?

    Mr. BEREUTER. Ireland. Northern Ireland.

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. Right. Northern Ireland. I just—I believed that was what we did and I just thought that while we were waiting, we could discuss the fact that it is 5 days to St. Patrick's Day, and it is a very significant time. Those of us who do not have any—you know, they asked me was Rohrabacher an Irish name, and I want to recommend for everyone to note that my middle name is Tyrone, and there is a county in Ireland named Tyrone. But let me also note that my mother claimed that that had nothing to do with why she named me Tyrone. It was—Dana Andrews and Tyrone Power, who were famous movie actors at the time I was born. Would you like anymore discussion on St. Patrick's Day?

    Mr. BEREUTER. Well, if the gentleman would yield.

    Mr. LANTOS. Will the gentleman yield?

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. I certainly will.

    Mr. LANTOS. Could we see some baby pictures of you at this point?

    Mr. BEREUTER. I notice that the gentleman from North Carolina is appropriately dressed in advance.
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    The Chair notices the presence of a reporting quorum and the question occurs on the motion to report the resolution H. Res. 68 adversely.

    All in favor say aye.

    All opposed say no.

    The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it, and the motion to report adversely is adopted. Without objection, the staff is directed to make any technical and conforming changes. The Committee stands adjourned. I thank the Committee.

    [Whereupon, at 10:40 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

A P P E N D I X

Material Submitted for the Hearing Record

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, AND VICE CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

    Thank you Mr. Chairman. The bill before us, H.R. 1208, ''The Northern Ireland Peace and Reconciliation Support Act of 2003'' reauthorizes US contributions to the International Fund for Ireland and re-affirms our government's commitment to the historic Good Friday Agreement which is aimed at bringing peace and reconciliation to the north of Ireland.
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    I thank the Chairman, Mr. Hyde, and other members from the committee, Mr. King, Mr. Crowley and Mr. Payne, for cosponsoring this legislation.

    Historically, the United States has helped advance the peace process in Northern Ireland through several avenues. We have provided economic support to the International Fund for Ireland—more than $380 million since 1986. Additionally, we held a series of hearings in this committee and written successful legislative provisions designed to ensure that due process rights and fundamental human rights remain a central theme of the peace process.

    H.R. 1208, brings together our economic and legislative efforts in one bill by reauthorizing the fund at last year's level of $25 million, and by urging the IFI to expand it's programs to include more direct reconciliation efforts that will help secure a just and lasting peace.

    I recently returned from a human-rights mission to Northern Ireland and I am pleased to report that much has changed since my last trip there in 1997. There are many signs of hope. Sections of Northern Ireland have experienced substantial economic growth. And as a result of the restored cease-fire of 1997 and the Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998, both communities in the north are working hard to attain a just and lasting peace and to secure a local democratic government.

    Regrettably, the process has not been without setbacks. Last October, the British government suspended the Northern Ireland Assembly. Policing reform and criminal justice review, demilitarization and the completion of decommissioning are among the issues still unresolved.
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    Thankfully, in recent weeks, there has been a renewed and concerted effort by the British and Irish governments to address these issues, bring the major political parties together, and find a way forward before new elections are held in May.

    Needless to say, the peace process is in Northern Ireland is at a most important juncture. It would be a tragic mistake if, at this hour, the US was perceived to be retreating from its visible and active role in the process. Our support of the IFI over the last nearly twenty years has helped create thousands of new jobs—35,000 in last ten years ago. Through job creation, community regeneration, and simply bringing people from different communities to the same job site, the Fund has been a consistent and effective medium for fostering reconciliation and building a peaceful future for the people of Northern Ireland.

    H.R. 1208 ensures that the US will continue to support this successful program and urges the Fund to do more in the area of direct reconciliation programs. In particular, we are hoping the IFI will look even more closely at programs aimed at enhancing inter-community relations, community relations with the new police service, and programs that promote and ensure human rights.

    I urge my colleagues to continue US support for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland by supporting H.R. 1208.

     

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JOSEPH CROWLEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK
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H.R. 1208, NORTHERN IRELAND PEACE AND RECONCILIATION SUPPORT ACT

    Thank you Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Lantos for bringing this important bill before the committee.

    I also want to thank Representative Chris Smith, the author of this bill and a true friend to Ireland.

    I am pleased to work with Representative Smith on this resolution and would like to notify all supporters of Ireland here that I will be co-leading a letter with Representative Chris Smith to the appropriations committee to back up the bill with a $25 million appropriation for the IFI.

    As we all know, the peace process in Northern Ireland is at a critical juncture and now is not the time to decrease funding for such a critical program such as the International Fund for Ireland.

    Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Berti Ahern understand that the peace process is at an important point, to highlight this Prime Minister Blair extended peace negotiations by an extra day last week to try to push towards an agreement, even as he faced domestic pressure regarding possible war against Iraq.

    Prime Minister Blair understands the significance of reaching a peace agreement. That is why I am concerned about the significant cut to the International Fund for Ireland. The International Fund for Ireland is so important because it promotes economic and social advance and encourages contact, dialogue and reconciliation between Unionists and Nationalists throughout Ireland.
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    This program brings together two groups and teaches them to work together and helps to foster friendships and understanding.

    Dialogue is a key tool to lead to the disarmament of all parties, a fair police force and a feeling of unity and peace in Ireland.

    Now is the not the time to decrease this program.

    Thank you.