Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=7-22-03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CONGRESS SADDAM'S SONS (L)

NUMBER=2-305702

BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE

DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-S lawmakers are hailing word of the deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons. Reaction came swiftly after the U-S military announced that Qusay and Uday were among four people killed when American troops raided a house in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

TEXT: Lawmakers say they believe the deaths of Qusay and Uday will ease the threat to U-S troops in Iraq, arguing that the two men played a key role in organizing attacks against coalition forces.

Congressman Porter Goss, a Florida Republican, is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee:

/// GOSS ACTUALITY ///

We have to understand that it is a risky environment, that we will continue to have casualties, but that there will be fewer and fewer of our casualties, more and more of their casualties, and I think we can almost say now the tide is about to turn.

/// END ACT ///

Congresswoman Jane Harman of California is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee:

/// HARMAN ACTUALITY ///

This is very, very big news, and will have an enormous impact on the ground in Iraq.

/// END ACT ///

Senator Jay Rockefellar of West Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said word that Saddam's sons are dead is, as he put it, 'wonderful'. But he added that it is also important for the coalition to find Saddam Hussein, whom he described as the 'intimidator of the Iraqi people.'

The lawmakers spoke after being briefed by the senior U-S administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, on progress in stabilizing and rebuilding the country.

Mr. Bremer offered his own reaction to word that Saddam's sons had been killed.

/// BREMER ACTUALITY ///

It is a great day for the Iraqi people and it is a great day for the American military.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Bremer said the incident is important because it underscores the cooperation between the Iraqis and the Americans. He predicted such cooperation would expand, and eventually lead to the capture of Saddam Hussein, himself. (Signed)

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