Senate approves Iraq war
resolution
Congress' upper chamber concurs
with House
Friday, October 11, 2002 Posted: 1:35 AM EDT
(0535 GMT)
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WASHINGTON
(CNN) --
In a
major victory for the White House, the Senate early Friday voted 77 to 23 --
joining the House -- to authorize President Bush to commit U.S. troops to
enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions requiring that Iraq give up weapons
of mass destruction.
Hours earlier,
the House voted 296-133 to approve an identical resolution.
It requires Bush
to declare to Congress either before or within 48 hours after beginning
military action that diplomatic efforts to enforce those resolutions have
failed.
Bush also must
certify that action against Iraq would not hinder efforts to pursue the al
Qaeda terrorist network that attacked New York and Washington last year. And it
requires the administration to report to Congress on the progress of any war
with Iraq every 60 days.
The measures
passed the Senate and House by wider margins than the 1991 resolution that
empowered the current president's father to go to war to expel Iraq from
Kuwait. That measure passed 250-183 in the House and 52-47 in the Senate.
The Bush
administration and its supporters in Congress say Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein has kept a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons in violation of
U.N. resolutions and has continued efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Bush
also has argued that Iraq could give chemical or biological weapons to
terrorists.
"Saddam
Hussein is seeking the means to murder millions in just a single moment. He's
trying to extend that grip of fear beyond his own borders and he is consumed
with hatred for America," said House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
Most opposition
came from Democrats, who were sharply divided on the issue. Minority Leader
Richard Gephardt, D-Missouri, said giving Bush the authority to attack Iraq
could avert war by demonstrating the United States is willing to confront
Saddam Hussein over his obligations to the United Nations.
"I believe
we have an obligation to protect the United States by preventing him from
getting these weapons and either using them himself or passing them or their
components on to terrorists who share his destructive intent," said Gephardt,
who helped draft the measure.
But Rep. Dennis
Kucinich, D-Ohio, said Congress and the administration were being driven by
fear.
"It is fear
which leads us to war," Kucinich said. "It is fear which leads us to
believe that we must kill or be killed. Fear which leads us to attack those who
have not attacked us. Fear which leads us to ring our nation in the very
heavens with weapons of mass destruction."
Six House
Republicans -- Ron Paul of Texas; Connie Morella of Maryland; Jim Leach of
Iowa; Amo Houghton of New York; John Hostettler of Indiana; and John Duncan of
Tennessee -- joined 126 Democrats in voting against the resolution. A total of
215 Republicans and 81 Democrats voted for it.
Iraq has denied
having weapons of mass destruction and has offered to allow U.N. weapons
inspectors to return for the first time since 1998. Deputy Prime Minister Abdul
Tawab Al-Mulah Huwaish called the allegations "lies" Thursday and
offered to let U.S. officials inspect plants they say are developing nuclear,
biological and chemical weapons.
"If the
American administration is interested in inspecting these sites, then they're
welcome to come over and have a look for themselves," he said.
Bush wins Daschle's support
Bush gained the
support of an important Senate ally on Thursday morning. Majority Leader Tom
Daschle announced he would support the president on Iraq, saying it is
important for the country "to speak with one voice at this critical
moment."
Daschle said the
threat of Iraq's weapons programs "may not be imminent. But it is real. It
is growing. And it cannot be ignored." However, he urged Bush to move
"in a way that avoids making a dangerous situation even worse."
Daschle, D-South
Dakota, had expressed reservations about a possible U.S. attack on Iraq, and he
was not part of an agreement between the White House and other congressional
leaders framing the resolution last week.
Supporters of
the White House-backed measure Thursday turned back an amendment by Armed
Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Michigan, that would have limited
U.S. military action to enforcing a new U.N. resolution to eliminate Iraq's
nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs. If the United Nations did
not act, Bush could seek a second vote to move against Iraq without U.N.
support.
The amendment
died on a 75-24 vote. An earlier 75-25 vote cut off the threat of a filibuster
by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia.
Byrd argued the
resolution amounted to a "blank check" for the White House.
"This is
the Tonkin Gulf resolution all over again," Byrd said. "Let us stop,
look and listen. Let us not give this president or any president unchecked
power. Remember the Constitution."