Date: 2007-10-16
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself 6 minutes. Mr. Speaker. let me just add that official diplomatic statements. even under oath in congressional testimony. critical of foreign governments. have consequences. Criticizing foreign governments through official statements of our government. when you are trying to get them to comply with other things. have consequences. Criticizing specific ministries. which were some of the questions asked. have consequences within a fragile political framework of the Iraqi current coalitions. and. for one reason or another. the State Department felt that. at least in an open forum. they felt constrained to make appropriate statements. However. I think it is clear from the amount of testimony- and the volume of testimony and the substance of the testimony that we have heard that there has been corruption in Iraq for a long time. It continues. it will probably continue after we leave. and it is something that this Congress and the American people need to know about. and we can address it here on the House floor. This resolution was introduced dealing with corruption in Iraq and the State Departments attempts to cover up the extent of the corruption. or. I should say. the alleged attempts. This quotes various witnesses that have appeared before our committee over the last several years to discuss the affairs of Iraq. Along with the chairman. I participated in those hearings. too. and I listened to what the witnesses had to say. and I share his concern about the extent of corruption in Iraq. and I hope every Member does. But I am concerned about the way that the statements are being portrayed. the statements by the panels of expert witnesses who appeared before our committee. because in this resolution. it only paints half the picture. I offered to work with the chairman to come up with a resolution that in my judgment paints a more complete picture of the extent of corruption in Iraq. but the offer wasnt accepted. I then. in good faith. filed an amendment with the Rules Committee that accepted basically the resolution that was presented by the chairman but added -some additional whereas and resolved clauses that I thought provided a more accurate. bipartisan perspective on the extent of corruption in Iraq. For example. the chairmans resolution quotes Stuart Bowen. the Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction. as stating before the committee on October 4.that the "rising tide of corruption in Iraq stymies the construction and maintenance of Iraqs infrastructure. deprives people of goods and services. reduces confidence in public institutions. and potentially aides insurgent groups reportedly funded by graft derived from oil smuggling or embezzlement." I concur with the chairmans concerns about this particular statement by Mr. Bowen and included the same statement in the amendments that we proposed. But I also added an additional quote made by Mr. Bowen at the hearing that says. "Iraq has a history of corruption" and "the United States did not bring corruption to Iraq. and it will not be gone whenever we leave." He said that. but apparently that proposed addition didnt fit the theme of what the majority is trying to do this week. Additionally. the chairmans resolution quotes David Walker. the wellrespected Comptroller General of the United States. as stating before our committee that "widespread corruption undermines efforts to develop the governments capacity by robbing it of needed resources. some of which are used to fund the insurgency." I concur with the chairmans concerns about that statement made by Mr. Walker. something we want the world to know. Congress should be aware of. I included the same statement in the amendments that I proposed. But I also added an additional quote by General Walker at the hearing that says. "none of is should underestimate the challenges of establishing strong and transparent government institutions in the wake of a dictatorship where corruption was woven into the very fabric of governing. And none of us should underestimate the challenge of rooting out corruption in a combat zone. even one where violence is diminishing as we have seen over the past 6 months." Apparently this proposed addition also failed to fit the majoritys tidy little box for discussion this week. Another example. the resolution highlights the fact that the State Department instructed officials not to answer certain questions. My amendment included the same language as the chairmans but added an additional whereas to acknowledge the fact that the State Department counsel. concerned about the specific assessments regarding the governments capacities of Iraq Ministries and Ministers made in an open setting. and that these statements could affect the United States bilateral relationship with the Government of Iraq and could put in danger the lives of Americans. of our allies. repeatedly offered to make United States Government officials and employees available to respond to questions regarding potentially sensitive or classified information. including foreign government information. in an appropriate secure setting where we wouldnt be endangering lives. But that truthful statement went too far as well to include in this resolution. The resolution also states that the State Department retroactively classified two reports on corruption in Iraq prepared by the Office of Accountability and Transparency in the United States Embassy in Iraq. I included the same whereas clause. but simply added an additional whereas. to explain that the original leaked report was an internal. unpublished. unedited and unapproved draft report on corruption in Iraq that. as described by one U.S. Embassy Baghdad employee has been embellished with anecdotes for flavor. The report had not been properly reviewed and vetted for classification purposes before. The majority was not interested in including that explanation for why the State Department chose to classify the report. Finally. my amendment would have included all but one. of the chairmans resolved clauses and then added a handful of additional clauses to paint a more accurate picture of the extent and cause of corruption in Iraq. For example. I proposed to add a resolved clause that stated it is not an abuse of the classification process to protect from unauthorized disclosure information contained in draft internal. unedited. unpublished and unapproved reports that reasonably may be expected to cause harm to the national defense or -foreign relations of the United States. Like all the previously discussed additions I proposed. apparently this assessment went too far. which leads me to the unfortunate conclusion that the resolution we are considering today is not a substantive resolution intended to achieve a bipartisan consensus on the important issue of corruption in Iraq. which we all agree on. It is intended to politicize and is a political measure. put forth by the majority. with no intention of trying to reach constructive steps to improve U.S. anticorruption efforts. Is that enough for Members to oppose this press release masquerading as serious legislation? That is for each Member to decide. As for me. I am going to support the resolution. with those reservations. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.