Providing for Consideration of H. Res. 734 Expressing the Sense of the House Regarding Withholding of Information Relating to Corruption in Iraq

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H. RES. 734 EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE REGARDING WITHHOLDING OF INFORMATION RELATING TO CORRUPTION IN IRAQ -- (House of Representatives - October 16, 2007)

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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I regret that the intransigence and stonewalling by the Bush administration of Congress' oversight responsibilities have made this legislation necessary.

H. Res. 734 rightfully expresses the sense of the House that the Department of State has abused its classification authority by withholding from Congress and the American people information about the extent of corruption in the Iraqi Government. This resolution criticizes the State Department for retroactively classifying public documents that have previously been widely distributed as unclassified.

It also calls upon the State Department to rescind its directive that orders officials not to answer questions in an open committee hearing that might characterize the situation of corruption in the Iraqi Government.

What is the background on this, Madam Speaker? On October 4, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on corruption in Iraq. Mr. Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq, and Mr. David Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States with the Government Accountability Office, testified that entrenched corruption in the Iraqi Government is fueling the insurgency, undermining the chances of political reconciliation and endangering our troops. Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, the former head of Iraq's own Commission on Public Integrity, stated that his work documented $18 billion stolen by corrupt officials. He also testified that Prime Minister Maliki personally intervened to block further investigations and prosecutions of his relatives and political allies from going forward.

Concern about endemic corruption in the Iraqi Government should be of great concern to every single Member of this House. It raises a fundamental question: Is the Iraq Government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Maliki, too corrupt to succeed?

It should definitely concern the White House and the State Department. So how did the Bush administration respond?

The State Department took the extraordinary step of retroactively classifying corruption reports by its own officials, and even portions of a GAO report already released by Mr. Walker.

State Department witnesses appearing before the committee refused to answer even the most basic questions about corruption in Iraq in open session.

So imagine my surprise when I opened this morning's Washington Post to find that the State Department told the press yesterday that official corruption in Iraq is ``real, endemic and pernicious,'' and remains a major challenge to building a functioning, stable democracy.

Now that wasn't in a classified setting; it was on a conference call with reporters. So it is okay to make such statements to the press but not to a congressional committee?

Madam Speaker, we are not talking about state secrets on how to carry out attacks against al Qaeda in Iraq. We are talking about corruption. Government corruption. There is no reason for stonewalling Congress, especially when the topic is discussed freely with reporters in a conference call.

Quite simply, Madam Speaker, the Bush administration has abused the classification system and demonstrated its contempt of congressional oversight and accountability. More than 3,800 of our troops have been killed in Iraq and more than 28,000 wounded. Let me repeat that. More than 3,800 of our troops have been killed in Iraq and more than 28,000 wounded.

What kind of an Iraqi Government are they fighting for? I think their families and their military comrades deserve to know. President Bush is asking Congress to give him another $150 billion for the war. I think Congress and the American people deserve to know the extent of corruption within the Iraqi Government and how that might affect our chances of success in Iraq.

Madam Speaker, the facts about corruption may be embarrassing for the Iraqi Government, but they do not meet the test for secret classification.

Every newspaper in America has written stories on corruption in Iraq. Classifying previously released public documents, silencing public officials so that Congress and the American people are unable to get a complete picture, the good and the bad, about corruption in Iraq serve no legitimate purpose.

Any Member, Madam Speaker, who stands up on the House floor and says they're against corruption in Iraq has to vote for this measure.

The fact is that our occupation of Iraq is, occupation of Iraq is now in its fifth year. For four of those years, when Republicans were in control of Congress, they did nothing and said nothing about corruption. They were silent, while hundreds of billions of dollars were funneled to a government who I wouldn't trust to tell me the correct time.

Madam Speaker, talk is cheap, and if you're against corruption, then you should vote for this resolution. The problem is that for too long in this Congress there have been some who have been apologists for bad behavior. They have looked the other way while they have known that corruption in the Iraqi Government has been an increasing problem, not a decreasing problem.

So I would say to my friends on the other side of the aisle that if, in fact, you want to change the behavior of the Iraqi Government, if you want to stop the silence and the inaction that characterized your control of this Congress when it came to the issue of corruption in Iraq, then you need to vote for this resolution. The administration's actions need to be denounced and rescinded.

I would urge my colleagues to stand up finally and belatedly and do the right thing and support H. Res. 734.

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