Dem push for Iraq intelligence rejected ( 2003-06-18 17:22) (Agencies)
House Republicans rejected a Democratic resolution that would have forced the
Bush administration to do what it is already doing: provide the intelligence
used as the basis for its assertions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
Democrats agreed that their proposal was moot now that thousands of pages of
intelligence documents are being turned over to Congress and the House
Intelligence Committee has begun a review of prewar intelligence.
But they urged the International Relations Committee not to reject it
outright. They said doing so would send the wrong message at a time when
questions are rampant about whether the case for war was based on inaccurate or
deliberately misinterpreted intelligence.
"There is a growing credibility gap faced by the administration on what
information they were provided by the intelligence agencies and what they did
with that information," said Rep. Joseph Hoeffel (news, bio, voting record),
D-Pa. "Did they believe what they wanted to believe at the White House? Did they
just hear what they wanted to hear, or did they tell Congress what they wanted
us to hear?"
Republicans said it made no sense to request documents that are already being
submitted.
Some Democrats "don't want to take yes for an answer," said Rep. Mike Pence
(news, bio, voting record), R-Ind.
The resolution was defeated 23-15 on a party line vote, with two Republicans
and one Democrat voting present. It had been introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich
(news, bio, voting record), D-Ohio, a Democratic presidential candidate and one
of Congress' most vocal opponents of the Iraq invasion.
Most of the congressional debate on prewar intelligence has been in the
Senate, where Republicans on the Intelligence Committee have rejected Democratic
calls for a full-scale investigation. They say regular oversight proceedings
will suffice.
Following a formal request from committee Democrats, the Senate intelligence
panel will meet Wednesday to decide its next moves. Chairman Pat Roberts,
R-Kan., said he expects committee staff and members could review the documents
over two weeks and begin holding closed hearings with witnesses, including
witnesses from both the Bush and Clinton administrations. Public hearings are
possible, and Roberts said he expects the committee to produce final reports,
both classified and unclassified.
"I don't know what it is that we're not doing that they (the Democrats) want
us to do," he said.
But the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, said he
wants a "much more proactive" investigation. He said two weeks will be
inadequate for reviewing the documents, and open hearings should be held in
October or November.
On the House Intelligence Committee, Democrats and Republicans agree on how
to examine the prewar intelligence and plan their first closed-door hearing
Wednesday. International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde told Democrats
he would also be willing to hold hearings "at the appropriate time," after
Congress gets all the information available to it.
