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Iraq
Iraqi civilian casualties
Missing $9 billion
Resolution of Inquiry: White House Iraq Group
H.Con.Res.321: New Iraqi Government Should Have A Say on U.S. Military Presence
Letter to DOJ Inspector General on Niger-Uranium Forgeries
Bring Our Troops Home- H.J. Res. 55
Lifting Economic Sanctions on Iraq
Iraq
Congressman Kucinich has been at the forefront of the anti-war movement in Congress. In the 108th Congress, he voted against both Supplemental Appropriations Bills that would continue to fund a failed policy in Iraq. The Congressman believes that supporting additional funds for the war in Iraq will only serve to keep our troops inside Iraq indefinitely.
On November 6, 2004, on the eve of the Battle of Fallujah, Congressman Kucinich, along with Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), both co-chairs of the Progressive Caucus, sent a letter to President Bush requesting that the President reconsider the assault on Fallujah. The letter warned that House-to-house combat would exact heavy casualties upon both our troops and innocent civilians, and that the our national security implications needed to be thoughtfully considered as to the reaction of the world community to such an assault on a civilian population.
Congressman Kucinich believes that the war, and our continued occupation of the country, has become counterproductive and is bad for the security of America. It is making the world more dangerous for Americans because it is strengthening those who want to hurt us. Furthermore, Americans taxpayers should not be required to pay for the building of state-of-the-art infrastructure to furnish for Iraq what we do not have here.
In April 2004, Congressman sent a letter to Ambassador John Negroponte regarding the reports of espionage by the United States Government against members of the United Nations Security Council prior to its vote on a resolution on Iraq in October of 2002. The letter requested for Ambassador Negroponte to clarify his role in the case.
In February 2004, the Congressman initiated a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair that was signed by four of his colleagues, in support of Katharine Gun, a translator at the British Government Communications Headquarters who was being prosecuted for leaking a U.S. National Security Agency memo to a British newspaper. The memo detailed plans for the U.S. government to wiretap telephones and track emails of “swing vote” countries on the U. N. Security Council. Congressman Kucinich urged Prime Minister Blair to grant Ms. Gun all the protections that the British democracy accords whistleblowers.
In October 2003, Congressman Kucinich introduced a plan to bring U.S. troops home by the New Year.
On June 5, 2003, Congressman Kucinich introduced a resolution of inquiry, which would seek to acquire the precise evidence that the Administration used to substantiate their claims that Iraq had large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Nearly every Democrat voting was in favor of the Kucinich resolution, but unfortunately, the Republican majority on the International Relations Committee voted against it and it was defeated.
On February 5, 2003, Congressman Kucinich introduced H.R. 585, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose a windfall profit tax on crude oil so that oil companies would not excessively profit from the war in Iraq. On February 13, 2003, Congressman joined a coalition of American soldiers and family members of American soldiers, and other Members of Congress, in filing a lawsuit to prevent President George W. Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld from waging war on Iraq, absent a clear declaration of war by the United States Congress. The case was heard in the Federal District Court in Boston and was later dismissed.
Before the war began, Congressman Kucinich led the effort against the war by creating a coalition of members of Congress in opposition to the authorization to use force against Iraq. Members sparked an essential democratic debate on the floor of the House of Representatives. Weekly meetings, press conferences, whipping and lobbying other members, garnered an anti-war sentiment in the House. Over two-thirds of the Democrats ended up voting against the war resolution in October 2002.
In August and September 2002, Congressman Kucinich held several press briefings airing various aspects of the conflict with Iraq that were not receiving due attention in the mainstream media. The briefings received nationwide media coverage and covered such aspects including the humanitarian toll on the Iraqi people, the vested corporate oil interests that may be coloring the Administration's actions, the economic burden that a war would place on the U. S., the consequences for Middle Eastern and international attitudes towards the United States, and the jeopardy of our status as a legitimate and just role model in international politics. Distinguished speakers included Scott Ritter, former senior UNSCOM inspector, Denis Halliday, former UN Humanitarian coordinator, and Ambassador Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.
In June 2002, Congressman Kucinich, along with 76 other signers, sent a letter to President Bush urging a Congressional authorization for war for use of force, prior to any U.S. military involvement. The Administration had been attempting to strip Congress of its Constitutional powers by denying its authority to declare war.
Iraqi civilian casualties
On October 14, 2005, Rep. Kucinich wrote Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to request a copy of all Pentagon records pertaining to Iraqi civilian casualties. While the Pentagon maintained that it does not keep a list of civilian casualties, there has been abundant evidence to indicate the contrary. Rep. Kucinich still has not received such records.
Missing $9 billion
Congressman Kucinich demanded an investigation into the total lack of accounting over $9 billion from the Development Fund for Iraq, as was reported in the January 30, 2005 report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. In his capacity as Ranking Member, he requested an oversight hearing in the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations on the Coalition Provisional Authority’s (CPA) mismanagement of billions of Iraqi oil revenues intended for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in the war-torn country. Chairman Chrisopher Shays (R-CT) agreed to Congressman Kucinich’s requested hearing, which was held on June 21, 2005 and was attended by Special Inspector General Stuart Bowen and representatives from the Department of Defense.
In addition, Congressman Kucinich spearheaded a letter, dated February 16, 2005, cosigned by 18 members of Congress, including Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, and other Judiciary Democrats, requesting from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a grand jury investigation into the unaccounted funds.
On numerous occasions Congressman Kucinich has spoken publicly about the CPA’s neglect over the $9 billion. He has made remarks on national television and delivered statements on the floor of the House of Representatives on February 1 and February 2, 2005.
Resolution of Inquiry: White House Iraq Group
On October 20, 2005, Congressman Kucinich introduced H. Res. 505, a Resolution of Inquiry, requiring the transmittal of documents relating to the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) from the President and Secretary of State to the House of Representatives.
President Bush’s Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, formed the WHIG in August 2002 – seven months before the invasion of Iraq – with the mission of marketing a war in Iraq to Congress and the American people. The group included high-level Administration officials and strategists and produced white papers detailing so-called intelligence about the threat from Iraq that later proved to be false. Despite doubts that were raised internally about these so-called threats, these memos served as the basis for talking points and speeches for the President and his top advisors. In now appears that members of the WHIG and other Administration officials made claims that they knew at the time were questionable, controversial, and even false.
It is the responsibility of Congress to conduct oversight on the Executive branch. Congress has a clear obligation to investigate the actions and deliberations of the WHIG in order to help determine what the Bush Administration knew about the validity of the claims it was making about the threat from Iraq. Congress has not yet done its duty to appropriately investigate the Administration’s faulty intelligence claims that lead us into the Iraq war.
By the time H. Res. 505 was considered by the International Relations Committee on November 10, 2005, the bill had 109 cosponsors. During Committee consideration, H. Res. 505 received the support of all the Committee Democrats and two Republicans. Even with bipartisan support, the vote tally for the bill was two votes shy from being sent out of Committee to the House Floor for full consideration.
H.Con.Res.321: New Iraqi Government Should Have A Say on U.S. Military Presence
On December 16, 2005, Rep. Kucinich introduced H.Con.Res.321, a bipartisan resolution stating that the new permanent Iraqi Council of Representatives is encouraged to openly debate and vote on whether or not a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq is desired by the government of Iraq.
This resolution would not only support Iraqi sovereignty and express confidence in Iraqi democracy, but it would hold President Bush to his word: on numerous occasions the President and his Administration have said that the U.S. will leave Iraq if asked to leave by the Iraqi government.
Letter to DOJ Inspector General on Niger-Uranium Forgeries
On November 4, 2005, Rep. Kucinich sent a letter to Mr. Glenn A. Fine, Inspector General for the Department of Justice, expressing dismay that the FBI closed its two-year investigation without answering any key questions pertaining to the forgeries known as the Niger-Iraq uranium documents. The President used the uranium documents as evidence that Iraq was producing nuclear weapons. He declared this evidence to the American people in his 2003 State of the Union address as reason for military intervention in Iraq. Soon thereafter it was revealed that these documents were forged and Iraq was not producing nuclear weapons.
Bring Our Troops Home- H.J. Res. 55
Congressman Kucinich worked closely with Republicans Walter Jones and Ron Paul, and with fellow Democrat Neil Abercrombie, to craft the first bipartisan bill to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home.
The bill would require the President to initiate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq no later than October 2006. This would be 10 months after Iraq completes the final phase of establishing a democratic constitutional government, and giving ample time for training Iraqi security forces to assume the responsibility of defending the country.
Congressman Kucinich has been a leader of the opposition to the war in Iraq. He was the driving force behind Democratic opposition to authorize the invasion of Iraq. But in crafting the bill to end the war, he worked with a Republican and an original supporter of the war. Congressman Jones, from North Carolina, voted to support an invasion of Iraq. Over time, he grew to believe that the war was not justified and the toll was intolerable.
H.J. Res. 55 was introduced on June 15, 2005. In a sign of its significance, news of the bill’s introduction was carried prominently in the Washington Post, New York Times, and was a lead story on all the major television news networks. Kucinich, Jones, Abercrombie and Paul continue to work closely to enlist more supporters from both the Republican and Democratic parties.
Lifting Economic Sanctions on Iraq
Before the war, Congressman Kucinich was committed to organizing efforts to lift non-military sanctions in Iraq. These sanctions caused great devastation to the infrastructure and people of Iraq -- especially Iraqi children, many of whom died from sanctions-related illnesses.
In June 2001, Congressman Kucinich co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell encouraging him to “examine the humanitarian crisis that has afflicted the Iraqi people as a consequence of sanctions” in his evaluation of our sanctions policy. The letter also urged the de-linking of economic sanctions from the military sanctions currently in place against Iraq.
On Sunday, August 6, 2000 - marking the 10th anniversary of the imposition of sanctions against Iraq - Congressman Kucinich attended a national rally at the White House where thousands of people gathered to protest the economic sanctions.
Congressman Kucinich has also convened several Congressional briefings about the issue. On July 27, 2000, Congressman Kucinich and Congressman Conyers held a congressional briefing on Iraq sanctions entitled, "Putting the Pieces of the Iraq Sanctions Puzzle in Place." On May 3, 2000, the Congressman held a briefing on the impact of sanctions on the Iraqi population. An estimated 100 people were in attendance. Testimony in favor of lifting the economic sanctions on Iraq came from three former United Nations workers: Hans von Sponeck, former UN Humanitarian Coordinator; Denis Halliday, former UN Humanitarian coordinator and Scott Ritter, former senior UNSCOM weapons inspector. The briefing was cosponsored with Congressmen John Conyers (D-MI), and Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA).
On April 18, 2000, Congressman Kucinich and 25 other Members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright requesting a meeting to discuss United States sanctions policy. Secretary Albright replied by reiterating the State Department's support for the economic sanctions and offered to have a member of her staff brief Congressional members on this issue.
In March 2000, Congressman Kucinich signed on to a letter to the President which urged him to lift the economic sanctions on Iraq. This letter was signed by more than 70 members of Congress.
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