Senate Floor Speech
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
February 5, 2004 -- Page: S613
MRS. HUTCHISON. Madam President, we have heard a number of speakers in the Senate this week. It has been an important week. We have had the testimony of David Kay, the United Nations inspector who just came back from Iraq. We had the reaction to his testimony. We had reports from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. And today we are going to have a major speech by the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet.
It is very important that we put in perspective what is happening and the steps that should be taken to ensure we are addressing the problems correctly.
First, Mr. Kay, who is totally credible on the issue of weapons of mass destruction, made the following statements in his Armed Services Committee testimony.
Senator McCain asked the question: You agree with the fundamental principle here that what we did was justified and enhanced the security of the United States and the world by removing Saddam Hussein from power?
Mr. Kay: Absolutely.
Senator Kennedy: Many of us feel that the evidence so far leads only to one conclusion: That what has happened was more than a failure of intelligence, it was the result of manipulation of the intelligence to justify a decision to go to war .....
Mr. Kay: All I can say is if you read the total body of intelligence in the last 12 to 15 years that flowed on Iraq, I quite frankly think it would be hard to come to a conclusion other than Iraq was a gathering, serious threat to the world with regard to weapons of mass destruction.
He went on to say: I think the world is far safer with the disappearance and removal of Saddam Hussein. I have said I actually think this may be one of those cases where it was even more dangerous than we thought. I think when we have the complete record you're going to discover that after 1998 it became a regime that was totally corrupt. Individuals were out for their own protection. And in a world where we know others are seeking weapons of mass destruction, the likelihood at some point in the future of a seller and a buyer meeting up would have made that a far more dangerous country than even we anticipated with what may turn out not to be a fully accurate estimate.
Senator McCain: Saddam Hussein developed and used weapons of mass destruction; true?
Mr. Kay: Absolutely.
Senator McCain: He used them against the Iranians and the Kurds; just yes or no.
Mr. Kay: Oh, yes.
Senator McCain: OK. And U.N. inspectors found enormous quantities of banned chemical and biological weapons in Iraq in the '90s.
Mr. Kay: Yes, sir.
Senator McCain: We know that Saddam Hussein had once a very active nuclear program.
Mr. Kay: Yes.
Senator McCain: And he realized and had ambitions to develop and use weapons of mass destruction.
Mr. Kay: Clearly.
Senator McCain: So the point is, if he were in power today, there is no doubt that he would harbor ambitions for the development and use of weapons of mass destruction. Is there any doubt in your mind?
Mr. Kay: There's absolutely no doubt. And I think I've said that, Senator.
So I think, when we look at the testimony of the man who has been on the ground, who has searched for the weapons of mass destruction, who knows what all the clues are, who knows what the body of intelligence was--and he says it really could have been more dangerous than we even ever thought--I think we have to assess that in the context of all of the rhetoric we are hearing about second-guessing a decision that was based on what we had at the time.
Senator Feinstein said we should relook at our intelligence-gathering organization. I do not think anyone would disagree with that, including the President of the United States.
In our first effort to address the issues of the failure that led to 9/11, we all tried to look at the intelligence failures, to look at the things that did not compute, to look at the communications systems that did not match up. We tried to put a grid in place in the agency that was created for homeland security that would allow all of the intelligence gathering that is done in and for our country to be put through a grid to warn us when there was an imminent danger.
Let's talk about what the result has been because we have tried to address those failures. We have prevented potential terrorist acts. We know we prevented an airliner from being blown up because a very smart flight attendant saw a man get ready to strike a match and light his shoe. We know from that experience what to look for in an airline passenger, and we have refined the system. We have seen flights canceled because there was a suspicion there might be something going on. Who knows what was prevented in that instance?
We have seen arrests in very remote parts of our country because of intelligence gathering. We have not had a terrorist attack on our country since the time we were attacked on 9/11. We have had attempts, but we, because we have processes in place from what we have learned, have thwarted those attempts, including one this week in the United States Senate.
So, yes, we need to relook at our intelligence gathering. Yes, we are learning every day. And, yes, the President of the United States has already said he will have an independent investigation of our intelligence gathering that led to the invasion of Iraq. He has said he would do that. The President has also agreed to the extension asked for by the 9/11 Commission, the bipartisan commission that is looking into what happened before and during the 9/11 incident. He has said, yes, I will agree to an extension, because he was asked. The President of the United States is being open. The President of the United States is trying to do the right thing to get to the bottom of this because he has the interests of the United States at heart.
Let's look at some other results. Let's look at the difference in the hope of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan today. Yes, there are continuing problems. Yes, it grieves every one of us. Our hearts stop when we hear there has been another bombing or mishap that has hurt one of our soldiers or killed one of our soldiers or an Iraqi citizen. Yes, it hurts.
But do the people of Iraq today have a better chance to live in freedom and prosperity than they had the entire time they had been ruled by a despot? Absolutely. Do the people of Afghanistan today have the hope for a future of freedom more than they had under the Taliban and the other despots under whom they have been buried for all these years? Oh, yes. They have a constitution that is getting ready now to become implemented that actually says women will be equal in that country.
We have come a long way.
Madam President, let me end by saying I hope we will come together and support the President in his initiatives to get to the bottom of this issue. The President is looking out for the United States of America, and we do not need partisan rhetoric on an issue such as this. We need to come together. That is what we must do.