Senate Amendment 3017
PAG LIN
1 1 Amend Senate Resolution 15 as follows:
1 2 #1. By striking page 1, line 9, through page 5,
1 3 line 6, and inserting the following:
1 4 <A Resolution to support the efforts of President
1 5 George W. Bush and the United States Armed Forces
1 6 to disarm Iraq.
1 7 WHEREAS, twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the
1 8 prospect of being the last casualty in a war he had
1 9 started and lost; and
1 10 WHEREAS, to spare himself, Saddam Hussein agreed to
1 11 eliminate all weapons of mass destruction from his
1 12 country's arsenal, but, for the next 12 years, he
1 13 instead pursued the acquisition and stockpiling of
1 14 chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, even while
1 15 international weapons inspectors were in his country;
1 16 and
1 17 WHEREAS, nothing to date has restrained Saddam
1 18 Hussein from his pursuit of these weapons == not
1 19 economic sanctions, not isolation from the civilized
1 20 world, and not even cruise missile strikes on his
1 21 military facilities; and
1 22 WHEREAS, the United Nations concluded that Saddam
1 23 Hussein had sufficient materials to produce more than
1 24 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, enough to cause the
1 25 death of millions of people by respiratory failure,
1 26 and that Saddam Hussein has never accounted for those
1 27 materials and has not produced evidence that those
1 28 materials have been destroyed; and
1 29 WHEREAS, American intelligence officials estimate
1 30 that Saddam Hussein also had as much as 500 tons of
1 31 sarin, mustard, and VX nerve agents that have been
1 32 accounted for and have not been shown by Saddam
1 33 Hussein to have been destroyed; and
1 34 WHEREAS, United States intelligence indicates that
1 35 Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable
1 36 of delivering chemical agents, 16 of which were
1 37 discovered recently by inspectors, despite Iraq's
1 38 declaration denying the existence of those munitions,
1 39 and that Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the
1 40 remaining 29,984 of those prohibited munitions, and
1 41 has not produced evidence that they have been
1 42 destroyed; and
1 43 WHEREAS, three Iraqi defectors have stated that, in
1 44 the late 1990s, Iraq had several mobile biological
1 45 weapons laboratories, designed to produce germ warfare
1 46 agents and capable of being moved from place to place
1 47 to evade inspectors, the existence of which Saddam
1 48 Hussein has not disclosed and the destruction of which
1 49 he has not produced any evidence; and
1 50 WHEREAS, the International Atomic Energy Agency
2 1 confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an
2 2 advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a
2 3 design for a nuclear weapon, and was working on five
2 4 different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb; the
2 5 British government has learned that Saddam Hussein
2 6 recently sought significant quantities of uranium from
2 7 Africa; and American intelligence sources report that
2 8 Saddam Hussein has attempted to purchase high=strength
2 9 aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons
2 10 production, and that Saddam Hussein has not given a
2 11 credible explanation for these activities and
2 12 consequently has much to conceal; and
2 13 WHEREAS, intelligence sources have informed the
2 14 United States that thousands of Iraqi security
2 15 personnel are at work concealing documents and
2 16 materials from the United Nations inspectors,
2 17 sanitizing inspection sites, and monitoring the
2 18 inspectors themselves, and that Iraqi officials
2 19 accompany the inspectors in order to intimidate
2 20 witnesses; and
2 21 WHEREAS, this dictator who is assembling the
2 22 world's most dangerous weapons has already used them
2 23 on whole villages == leaving thousands of his own
2 24 citizens dead, blind, or disfigured; and
2 25 WHEREAS, Iraqi refugees report that forced
2 26 confessions are obtained by torturing children while
2 27 their parents are made to watch and international
2 28 human rights groups have catalogued other evil, cruel,
2 29 and horrible methods used in the torture chambers of
2 30 Iraq, including electric shock, burning with hot
2 31 irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with
2 32 electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape; and
2 33 WHEREAS, almost three months ago, the United
2 34 Nations Security Council unanimously adopted
2 35 Resolution 1441, giving Saddam Hussein his final
2 36 chance to disarm, but, instead, he has chosen to show
2 37 utter contempt for the United Nations and for the
2 38 opinion of the world; and
2 39 WHEREAS, the United States has continuously
2 40 consulted with other nations regarding the best policy
2 41 for disarming Iraq and over 20 nations, including the
2 42 United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy, fully support the
2 43 United States policy on Iraq; and
2 44 WHEREAS, the United States Armed Forces that would
2 45 be engaged in any hostility in Iraq are the finest
2 46 troops ever assembled and many of these troops,
2 47 including thousands of Iowans serving either on active
2 48 duty or as part of a national guard or reserve unit
2 49 that has been activated, are assembling in or near the
2 50 Middle East; and
3 1 WHEREAS, some crucial days and hours may lay ahead
3 2 in which the success of the cause to disarm Iraq will
3 3 depend on these troops, the excellent training they
3 4 receive, the call to honor that guides them, their
3 5 belief in America and their knowledge that America
3 6 supports and believes in them; and
3 7 WHEREAS, sending Americans into battle is the most
3 8 profound decision a President can make, for while the
3 9 technologies of war have changed, the risks and
3 10 suffering of war have not; and
3 11 WHEREAS, for the brave Americans who bear the risk,
3 12 no victory is free from sorrow, and even though this
3 13 nation fights reluctantly, the nation knows the costs
3 14 and dreads the days of mourning that always come; NOW
3 15 THEREFORE,
3 16 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Iowa Senate
3 17 expresses support for President George W. Bush, the
3 18 President's cabinet, and the men and women of the
3 19 United States Armed Forces for their courage and
3 20 commitment to disarming the nation of Iraq and
3 21 removing Saddam Hussein from power; and
3 22 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Iowa Senate
3 23 supports the efforts of American troops to protect and
3 24 defend the nation against those who seek to harm it,
3 25 but, out of concern for the safety of those who would
3 26 risk their lives, respectfully urges and requests the
3 27 President of the United States not to initiate a
3 28 preemptive, unilateral military strike against Iraq;
3 29 and
3 30 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Iowa Senate
3 31 respectfully urges that if the United States does take
3 32 military action against the sovereign nation of Iraq
3 33 that it only be done with the official approval of the
3 34 United Nations Security Council as required under
3 35 international law; and
3 36 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Iowa Senate
3 37 respectfully urges that the United States and United
3 38 Nations Security Council have as one of their primary
3 39 objectives the introduction of democratic values and a
3 40 democratic form of government for the sovereign nation
3 41 of Iraq and its citizens.>
3 42
3 43
3 44
3 45 MICHAEL E. GRONSTAL
3 46 SR 15.201 80
3 47 rj/sh
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