House Debates Condemnation of Administration's Withholding of Information on Iraqi Corruption
On October 4th, the Oversight Committee held a hearing, "Assessing the State of Iraqi Corruption." Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, who recently resigned as Iraq's chief anti-corruption officer under political pressure and feeling his work was stifled at all levels of Iraq's government, explained the stakes of addressing corruption by stating that "I believe that it has stopped the process of reconstruction in Iraq." Despite the importance of this problem, Chairman Henry Waxman noted staggering efforts by the State Department to stonewall the Committee's investigation:
"Incredibly Secretary Rice directed these officials not to answer any questions about the extent of corruption in Iraq and its effect on political reconcicliation and the insurgency. Her position is that all information that reflects poorly on the Maliki government is classified. At one point my staff asked an official if he agreed with a public statement from Secretary Rice praising the anti-corruption efforts of the Iraqi Interior Ministry. The official told us, and this is a US official, 'I cannot discuss this in an open forum.' The State Department even retroactively classified memos about corruption in Iraq after the Committee requested them. These efforts to silence debate are an absolute embarassment."
Today the House debates H.Res. 734, which raises objections to the Administration's withholding of information relating to corruption in Iraq. An excerpt of the text of the legislation:
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--(1) as Congress considers the President's request for over $150,000,000,000 more for the war in Iraq, it is essential that Congress and the people of the United States know the extent of corruption in the Iraqi government and whether corruption is fueling the insurgency and endangering members of the United States Armed Forces;
(2) it was wrong to retroactively classify portions of the report titled `Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: U.S. Ministry Capacity Development Efforts Need an Overall Integrated Strategy to Guide Efforts and Manage Risk', which was released by the Comptroller General of the United States at the hearing of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on October 4, 2007, and other statements that are embarrassing but do not meet the criteria for classification;
(3) it is an abuse of the classification process to withhold from Congress and the people of the United States broad assessments of the extent of corruption in the Iraqi Government; and
(4) the directive that prohibits Federal Government officials from providing Congress and the people of the United States with `broad statements/assessments which judge or characterize the quality of Iraqi governance or the ability/determination of the Iraqi government to deal with corruption, including allegations that investigations were thwarted/stifled for political reasons' should be rescinded.
Rep. Peter Welch (VT-AL) spoke on the matter during debate on the rule:
| Rep. Welch: "We're real, we're serious - or we aren't. And it's about tolerating secrecy, depriving us, the American people of information they're entitled to, that we must have in order to do our job, or it's turning a blind eye to those folks in Iraq who are standing up -- on our side -- and finding their bodies of loved ones drilled, with holes in them, hung on meat-hooks... And we may have an administration that has dismissed and disregarded votes of this house and the Senate making it clear that we want a new direction, even as we struggle to find what that is. But we cannot, any of us, on either side of the aisle, accept to be an enfeebled Congress that isn't entitled to get the information that our Congress needs to do its job. It's that simple." |
Chairman Waxman opened debate on the resolution:
| Chairman Waxman: "We need answers to some very important questions: how corrupt is the Maliki government? Are top officials in iraq stealing billions of dollars to fund insurgents for attacking and killing our troops? Is corruption undermining the chances for political reconciliation? Secretary of State Rice says she will answer these questions only on one condition -- every Member of Congress who hears the answers has to keep the answers secret. Well, that's an outrageous abuse of the classification system." |
Rep. Chris Murphy speaks in favor:
| Rep. Murphy: "This Administration's proved once again that they either don't trust the American people or they know that their case for continuing this war is so weak that they have to obfuscate the facts on the ground... This cannot stand, Mr. Speaker, and I for one will never support another war funding authorization that doesn't provide for the redeployment of forces out of Iraq. But for those on this floor who do support this war, I plead with you to at least demand accountability for the billions of wasted dollars we've thrown at the Iraqis. Do not stand here on the House floor telling us we cannot afford to heal children throughout the United States of America if we aren't even asking questions and getting the appropriate documentation that we require on the billions of wasted dollars in Iraq." |
Rep. Chris Van Hollen speaks in favor:
| Rep. Van Hollen: "And one thing is clear, it's not that we are hiding something from the Iraqis that they don't already know. They know about the problem, in fact we had Judge Radhi from the Iraqi government who had been thrown out of his job, because he was uncovering corruption, testify. So if it's not the Iraqis we're trying to shield this information from, why is it? And it's pretty clear the Administration doesn't want the American people to hear it. And I think they are finally understanding their position is untenable. Now just yesterday the State Department sent a letter saying, and I quote, 'There is no Department directive prohibiting officials from providing Congress any information relating to corruption in Iraq.' Well that's just flatly false. And we have a copy of the directive right here..." |