Oakland, CA –Congresswoman Barbara Lee today welcomed reports that President Bush will, this week, create an independent commission to investigate the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) intelligence that was used to justify the Iraqi war.  In last year’s session, Lee co-sponsored HR 2625, Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA)’s resolution calling for an independent WMD commission.

“I welcome the fact that President Bush has announced that he will create an independent commission to investigate American intelligence operations,” said Lee.  “However, for us to learn the truth, the President must not be allowed to appoint a commission that merely confirms what his Administration has said all along. This commission must be truly bipartisan and truly independent.”

Lee insisted that any commission be constructed in accordance with Waxman’s bipartisan vision.  While reports indicate that the President, without input from Democrats, will name at least a nine-member commission, Waxman’s resolution calls for a bipartisan commission, modeled on the President’s own 9/11 commission. In Waxman’s resolution, half of the ten members would be appointed by the President and House and Senate Republican leadership, while the other half would be appointed by the House and Senate Democratic leadership.

Waxman’s commission would have the authority to call hearings, obtain documents and testimony, issue subpoenas, and examine the actions of both the current and past Administrations. It would have access to classified information and would be able to hire staff with appropriate security clearances. A Waxman commission would also be able to recommend that the House and Senate Intelligence Committees vote to declassify any information the Commission determines is in the public interest and make that information available to the public.

“It is imperative that Congress and the American people learn the truth about the steps that this Administration took that led us into a war with Iraq, which continues to take American and Iraqi lives almost every day,” Lee said.  “The Administration said that Saddam Hussein posed an immediate danger and that he possessed vast amounts of weapons of mass destruction.  Mounting evidence now says this assessment was wrong. The American people need to know how and why we were misled.”

 

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