IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 340

Expressing the sense of the Congress that Iraq is in unacceptable and material breach of its international obligations, that the United States should

insist on the removal, destruction, or otherwise rendering harmless of

Iraq’s programs for biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, and that

the United States should fully support the right of inspectors with

the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq to unfettered and unannounced inspections of suspected weapons facilities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 8, 1998

Mr. DELAY (for himself, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. WELDON of

Pennsylvania, Mr. FORBES, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. GIBBONS,

Mr. TALENT, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. MILLER of

Florida, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. CRANE, Mr. SALMON, Mr. JENKINS, and

Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress that Iraq is in unacceptable and material breach of its international obligations, that the United States should insist on the removal, destruction, or otherwise rendering harmless of

Iraq’s programs for biological, chemical, and nuclear

weapons, and that the United States should fully support

the right of inspectors with the United Nations Special

Commission on Iraq to unfettered and unannounced inspections of suspected weapons facilities.
2

•HCON 340 IH

Whereas hostilities in Operation Desert Storm ended on February 28, 1991, and the conditions governing the ceasefire were specified in United Nations Security Council

Resolutions 686 (March 2, 1991) and 687 (April 3,

1991);

Whereas Security Council Resolution 687 requires that international economic sanctions remain in place until Iraq

discloses and destroys its programs for weapons of mass

destruction and commits unconditionally never to resume

such programs;

Whereas Resolution 687 established the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) to uncover all aspects of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programs

and tasked the Director General of the International

Atomic Energy Agency to locate and remove or destroy

all nuclear weapons systems, subsystems, or material

from Iraq;

Whereas Security Council Resolution 715, adopted on October 11, 1991, empowered UNSCOM to maintain a longterm monitoring program designed to ensure that Iraq’s

weapons of mass destruction programs are dismantled

and not restarted;

Whereas Iraq has consistently fought to hide the full extent

of its weapons programs and has systematically made

false declarations to the Security Council and to

UNSCOM regarding those programs, and has systematically obstructed weapons inspections for 7 years;

Whereas on April 10, 1995, UNSCOM reported to the Security Council that Iraq had concealed its biological weapons program and failed to account for 17 tons of biologi-
3

•HCON 340 IH

cal weapons material, and the Security Council subsequently renewed sanctions against Iraq;

Whereas on July 1, 1995, Iraq admitted to a full-scale biological weapons program, but denied incorporating biological agents into weapons and subsequently threatened

to end cooperation with UNSCOM, and the Security

Council subsequently renewed sanctions against Iraq;

Whereas in December 1996, Iraq prevented UNSCOM from

removing 130 Scud missile engines from Iraq, and the

Security Council issued a Presidential Statement deploring Iraq’s refusal to cooperate with UNSCOM;

Whereas the Security Council has repeatedly demanded that

Iraq end its obstruction of UNSCOM, including in Resolutions 1060 (June 12, 1996), 1115 (June 21, 1996),

1134 (October 23, 1997), and 1137 (November 12,

1997);

Whereas on January 16, 1998, an UNSCOM team led by

American Scott Ritter was withdrawn from Iraq after

being barred for 3 days by Iraq from conducting inspections, resulting in the issuance of a Security Council

Presidential Statement deploring Iraq’s decision to bar

the team as a clear violation of all applicable resolutions;

Whereas despite a clear agreement between Iraqi President

Saddam Hussein and United Nations Secretary General

Kofi Annan to grant access to all sites and fully cooperate with UNSCOM, and the adoption on March 2, 1998,

of Security Council Resolution 1154, warning that any

violation of the agreement with Annan would have the

‘‘severest consequences’’ for Iraq, Iraq has continued to

actively conceal weapons and weapons programs, provide
4

•HCON 340 IH

misinformation, and otherwise deny UNSCOM inspectors

access to suspected weapons facilities;

Whereas President Clinton warned at that time that if Saddam Hussein defied the UNSCOM inspectors ‘‘and we

fail to act . . . he will conclude that the international

community has lost its will. He will then conclude that

he can go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of

devastating destruction. And some day, some way, I

guarantee you he’ll use the arsenal.’’;

Whereas United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

also stated at the time that if Saddam Hussein ‘‘reneges

on this deal, there will be no question that force is the

only way to go’’;

Whereas on June 24, 1998, UNSCOM Director Richard Butler presented information to the United Nations Security

Council indicating clearly that traces of the nerve agent

VX had been discovered by UNSCOM in Iraqi missile

warheads and that Iraq, contrary to information provided

by Iraq to UNSCOM, had incorporated VX into weapons;

Whereas the Iraqi Government has since admitted making

3.9 tons of VX while continuing to deny ever incorporating any into a weapon;

Whereas on August 5, 1998, the Iraqi Government said it

would halt cooperation with most inspections until the

United Nations Security Council eliminated the economic

sanctions imposed on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in

1990;

Whereas on August 26, 1998, UNSCOM inspection team

leader Scott Ritter resigned his post citing ‘‘interference

and manipulation usually coming from the highest levels

of the [Clinton] Administration’s national security team’’
5

•HCON 340 IH

that undermined UNSCOM’s ability to inspect suspected

weapons facilities;

Whereas Mr. Ritter testified before Congress that interference from the United States and the United Kingdom

has given the appearance that UNSCOM is conducting

unhindered weapons inspections when in fact such inspections are not occurring;

Whereas Mr. Ritter also testified that it would take Iraqi

leader Saddam Hussein only 6 months to reconstitute his

chemical weapons capability and the ballistic missiles to

deliver them;

Whereas Mr. Ritter also noted that the appearance of arms

control is more dangerous than no arms control at all;

Whereas reports in the news media cite Mr. Ritter as telling

the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that Iraq

has 3 ‘‘technologically complete’’ nuclear bombs that only

lack the fissile material to make them operational;

Whereas the Security Council voted on September 9, 1998,

to suspend any further periodic reviews of the economic

sanctions imposed on Iraq after the 1991 Persian Gulf

War;

Whereas the United States spends billions of dollars each

year to enforce United Nations sanctions on Iraq; and

Whereas Iraq’s continuing weapons of mass destruction programs threaten vital United States interests and international peace and security, and make a mockery of the

sacrifices made during the Gulf War: Now, therefore, be

it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that Iraq
6

•HCON 340 IH

1 is in material and unacceptable breach of its international

2 obligations, and therefore—

3 (1) the President is urged to take appropriate

4 action, in accordance with the Constitution and laws

5 of the United States, to bring Iraq into compliance

6 with its international obligations;

7 (2) the President should insist on the removal,

8 destruction, or rendering harmless of Iraq’s pro9 grams for biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons;

10 (3) the President should fully support the right

11 of inspectors of the United Nations Special Commis12 sion on Iraq to unfettered and unannounced inspec13 tions of suspected weapons facilities; and

14 (4) the President should not renege on past

15 warnings, issued by the President, the Secretary of

16 State, and the Secretary of Defense, that the United

17 States is committed to using military force, if nec18 essary, to punish Iraq for interfering with or ob19 structing UNSCOM’s weapons inspections.

Æ