October 17, 2007                                                                                                  Printable Version (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-05) voted to hold the President accountable for his actions in Iraq by supporting House Resolution 734, which raises objections to the Administration’s withholding of information regarding corruption in Iraq.  The Administration has tried to retroactively classify key documents and keep pertinent information from both Congress and the American public.

 

“We are here to do the people’s business, and the American people have spoken loud and clear: they want a change of course in Iraq.  We will continue to pressure the President to do what is right and take steps to bring this war to a responsible and rapid end,” said Rep. Matsui.

 

There has been a growing amount of evidence that Iraqi corruption is an enormous problem and an obstacle to political progress in Iraq.  Testimony at an October 4^th hearing in Washington solidified that this issue must be dealt with in a timely manner.

 

Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, testified that the “rising tide of corruption in Iraq” is “a second insurgency” that “stymies the construction and maintenance of Iraq’s infrastructure, deprives people of goods and services, reduces confidence in public institutions, and potentially aids insurgent groups reportedly funded by graft derived from oil smuggling or embezzlement.”

 

The House considered today’s resolution in response to actions taken recently by the State Department to deprive the American people of information on the level of corruption in Iraq’s government.  The Resolution that passed the floor today by a vote of 395-21 states that it is the sense of the U.S. House of Representatives that:

 

• 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.

 

• It was wrong to retroactively classify portions of the Government Accountability Office report entitled “Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq” and other statements that are embarrassing but do not meet the criteria for classification.

 

• 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.

 

• The State Department’s directive that prohibits Federal Government officials from providing the American people and Congress broad assessments relating to Iraqi corruption should be rescinded. 

  

Furthermore, David Satterfield, the State Department’s Iraq policy coordinator, had a conference call with reporters yesterday where he admitted that official corruption in Iraq is “real, endemic, and pernicious.” 

 

“The President is dangerously out of touch with the priorities of the citizens of our country.  Time and again, he has asked for more money for his misguided war, and consistently overstepped his executive authority.  The time for oversight and accountability is now,” said Matsui. 

 

Rep. Matsui has consistently voted to end the war in Iraq.  Key votes in the 110^th Congress include:

 

• March 23, 2007: Voted in favor of H.R. 1591 (U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act), which would have required the President to redeploy troops from Iraq.
• May 2, 2007: Voted to over-ride President Bush’s veto of H.R. 1591.
• May 10, 2007: Voted in favor of H.R. 2237 (sponsored by Rep. Jim McGovern), which would have required all military units to redeploy from Iraq within 180 days.
• May 24, 2007: Voted against an amendment to H.R. 2206 (second supplemental spending bill for the Iraq War), which provides $98 billion for war operations without mandating redeployment.
• July 12, 2007: Voted in favor of H.R. 2956 (Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act), which requires a redeployment from Iraq to be completed by April 1, 2008.
• July 25, 2007: Voted in favor of H.R. 2929 (sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee), which bans permanent military bases in Iraq.
• August 2, 2007: Voted in favor of H.R. 3159 (Ensuring Military Readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deployment Policy Act), which mandates minimum rest and rehabilitation times for soldiers deployed to Iraq.

 

 

Congresswoman Matsui has co-sponsored numerous bills to force a change in our Iraq policy: 

• H.R. 353 (sponsored by Rep. Ed Markey): Prohibits the expenditure of any further federal money on the President’s so-called “troop surge.”
• H.R. 787 (Iraq War De-Escalation Act, sponsored by Rep. Thompson): Requires all combat brigades to leave Iraq by March 31, 2008.  Forces the President to submit a plan to prevent the Iraq conflict from spreading to other Middle Eastern countries.  Conditions further economic assistance on the President’s certification that the Iraqi government is making economic progress and reducing sectarian violence.
• H.R. 2929 (sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee): Bans permanent military bases in Iraq.
• H.R. 3071 (Iraqi Redeployment and Regional Security Act, sponsored by Reps. Mike Thompson, George Miller, and John Murtha): Begins immediate redeployment of U.S. troops, to be completed within one year.  Requires the President to create a regional diplomatic plan to limit the Iraqi civil war, prevent the establishment of Al Qaeda safe havens, and avoid the spread of regional conflict.

  

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