“This Administration made many assertions, for which they have yet to produce any evidence, about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. The President led the nation to war, and spent at least $63 billion on that war, on the basis of these unfounded assertions. Let me repeat, the President led the nation to war on the basis of unfounded assertions. It is long past time that the Administration shows its evidence, and today, we are announcing the intention to introduce a resolution of inquiry tomorrow, to compel the White House to justify its claims.
“We all know the unfounded claims the Administration made to justify leading the country to war.
“Remember when on October 7, 2002, the President said in Cincinnati “[Iraq] possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons… And surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological weapons?”
“And in August 26, 2002, when the Vice President said “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction…What he wants is time, and more time to husband his resources to invest in his ongoing chemical and biological weapons program, and to gain possession of nuclear weapons.”
“And even this past March, the Secretary of Defense said on “Face the Nation”: “We have seen intelligence over many months that they have chemical and biological weapons, and that they have dispersed them and that they’re weaponized and that, in one case at least, the command and control arrangements have been established.”
“In fact, I have a list of claims that this Administration has made over the past year about evidence they claimed they had of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. But we all know that no weapons have been found. It has been 76 days since the start of war, and no weapons have been found.
“So what evidence did this Administration have to claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction? What evidence did this Administration have for its repeated claims that Iraq was a threat to this nation? What evidence did this Administration have to spend $63 billion in taxpayer money? What evidence did this Administration have to justify war?
“We think that it’s high time that we see the evidence—if there is any evidence—for the Administration’s many unfounded assertions. That is why we intend to compel the White House to release its evidence through a Resolution of Inquiry that we will introduce tomorrow.”
