04 September 2002
Bush Seeks Congressional Vote on Iraq
("Is confident" majority will support him, Fleischer says) (990)
By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent
Washington -- The purpose of President Bush's meeting with leaders of
the U.S. Congress at the White House September 4 "was to inform them
that he will seek congressional support" on administration policy
towards Iraq, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told
reporters.
"I think it's fair to say" that the 535 members of the U.S. Congress
will vote on an Iraq resolution before leaving Washington this fall to
campaign for the November 5 mid-term elections, Fleischer said, adding
that Bush is "confident" that "the overwhelming majority of the
Congress" will support him in that vote.
"Now, there may be some members who don't, and they'll speak on their
own and they will, I'm sure, in good faith and on principle announce
why they would oppose. But the president is confident that when this
goes to a vote at the appropriate time, that the vote will be a yes
vote," the press secretary said at his mid-day briefing for reporters.
The exact language, of what Congress votes on, Fleischer said will be
discussed between the White House and the legislature.
Congress will "draft the appropriate language, in consultation with
the White House, for a vote that could include any number of things,
including the option of military force" against Iraq, Fleischer said.
He said he could not rule out "that there could be a vote before the
president has decided what action to take. Congressional language can
often be all-encompassing to allow for different possibilities," he
said.
"From a legal point of view" the White House already has the authority
that it needs, Fleischer said. But "from a much broader point of view"
the president is seeking congressional approval for any of the options
that he may consider.
Fleischer compared the upcoming vote on policy towards Iraq to the one
Congress took in early 1991 authorizing a U.S. military response to
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
The White House position today from a legal point of view is similar
to the position then, he said, on the authority the president has as
commander in chief. "Nevertheless, it is very important, particularly
in a democracy, for Congress to have its role, for Congress to speak
and for Congress to vote."
Bush "is reviewing a great number of options," on what to do about the
dangers posed by the Saddam regime in Iraq, Fleischer said, and will
continue to address that question with the American people, the U.S.
Congress, "and with our friends and allies. Democracies must proceed
in that manner, and the president will lead this democracy in doing
that," Fleischer said.
"The bottom line, though, is that Iraq needs to live up to its
commitments to disarm," Fleischer said, and not simply allow
inspectors to return "to resume the cat and mouse game" that made it
impossible for them to do their job in the past.
"The purpose is for the world to know that Saddam Hussein has lived up
to his commitments and has disarmed. After all, if the world doesn't
know if he's disarmed, how can the world know if it's safe? The burden
is on Saddam Hussein, not on the United States," Fleischer said.
At the end of the Gulf War in 1991, Saddam promised the United Nations
"that he would give up chemical weapons, promised he'd give up
biological weapons, promised he would give up missiles that had a
range of greater than 150 kilometers. He has not done so. That is the
threat to peace," Fleischer said.
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (Republican-Illinois) told
reporters on leaving the White House that "the president made it very
clear that he wants to work with the Congress on this issue, that he
will have a dialogue with the Congress on this issue. He'll make
available his people to testify before the Congress, and ultimately,
when the time is right, he'll come to the Congress for a resolution.
In the meantime, that case has to be made to the American people, as
well. And it will be part of the Congress's role to do that, as well.
"So I think it was a very productive meeting. I think it was a good
way to get started on this last several weeks of the session. And I
look forward to going to work," said Hastert.
House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (Democrat-Missouri) said the
importance of the September 4 White House meeting "was the beginning
of getting a strategy for not only America but for the world in
dealing with the threat that Iraq poses, not only to us but to the
entire world.
"We've got to now have an argument made to the Congress and the
American people, and it's got to be one that convinces a majority of
Americans that this is something that we need to do and to take
seriously."
Bush, Gephardt noted, is "going to speak to the U.N. He's going to
have [Britain's Prime Minister] Tony Blair come to visit this weekend.
And that's the beginning of an effort to get a strategy that's shared
by a lot of our allies in the world and to build the kind of coalition
that we did in 1991."
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (Democrat-South Dakota) told
reporters that Bush had indicated to the congressional leaders, who
included chairmen and ranking members of congressional committees
dealing with foreign affairs, "that he will make clear his intentions
and his position" on Iraq when he speaks to the United Nations General
Assembly September 12.
Daschle said "the president began to make his case to us today, and
we're hoping for more information and greater clarity in the days and
weeks ahead."
The Senate Majority Leader also noted that he and other congressional
leaders were to meet with Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld the afternoon
of September 4 "in a classified setting, so we can talk more
specifically about options and strategies at that time."
Daschle, in response to a question, said "it would not be my
assumption that the military course is the only action available to
him [President Bush] today."
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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