Mr. BLUMENAUER. I would ask that we suspend the reading. Chairman HYDE. Certainly. Let her designate it first. Just read the heading.

Ms. RUSH. Amendment offered by Mr. Blumenauer, page 7, strike line 24

Chairman HYDE. Without objection, further reading of the amendment is dispensed with. Mr. Blumenauer is recognized for 10 whole minutes.

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, I assure you I will not use that time. I get the sense of the spirit in which you would like to move it forward.

Chairman HYDE. Bless you, Mr. Blumenauer.

Mr. BLUMENAUER. It is not my intention to seek a recorded vote. I have been largely quiet throughout this hearing. I have two observations that I would wish to offer up. One speaks to the process which we have been going through, Mr. Chairman, which I think is very, very important. I feel more optimistic about what is going on and don't feel the need for us to be channeled very narrowly.

We have watched for the last 2 months as we have seen a sort of flailing about from the Administration, a number of inconsistent statements. But I think we are moving it to a better path. Maybe part of the reason that things are moving along a little better was some of this early inconsistency and flailing about. But we are back to the United Nations. We are working with potential partners.

I appreciate what the Committee leadership and the House leadership did working with the Administration to improve upon the resolution that was originally brought forward. I think we are moving in the right direction.

I do think, however, that the Committee has an important role to play in allowing this process to move forward. I always am stunned and impressed by the presentation from my Democratic colleagues. The Committee leadership has honed in and advanced this discussion. I have been touched, frankly, by some of the remarks from some of the people on the other side of the aisle, from Mr. Bereuter, Mr. Leach, Mr. Smith, Mr. Tancredo. There have been important things that have been put on the record.

But this is a more important process for us to play rather than trying to seek some sort of elusive consensus here on Capitol Hill. I think that is building the base of understanding and support with the American public, and we are not there yet by a long shot.

And I think our working through some of these concepts here and, God forbid, even accepting a few amendments that intellectually make sense, that strengthen this proposal, that means that the Committee is doing its job.

The leadership, in its wisdom-it has done it; we have seen that this congressional system can strip it away, change it in the Rules Committee if they want, but I think we have an obligation to put forth the best possible product. We continue to do so.

The substance of the amendment that I would offer up is to seek support for the concept of coercive, muscular sanctions that were articulated before this Committee by Jessica Mathews and General Charles Boyd, working with the people from the Carnegie Endowment for 6 months. It would help us avoid the trap of a simple attack or relying on the failed inspections scheme of the past. Adopt

ing this approach would entail little or no risk. If it were rejected, it would, in fact, put us in a stronger position to build potential partnerships, to continue to put pressure on the United Nations.

Mr. Speaker-excuse me, Mr. Chairman-I think the last 2 months of turmoil have left us all better off. The Administration is not where it was. It is more focused and it is moving, I think, in the right direction. Congress is working with the Administration to produce a resolution which, although not ideal by any stretch of the imagination, is better. I think we can make it better still.

Now, there are clear indications that the resolution is not going to be changed here in this Committee. But this Committee is not going to be the last word in this hearing. And I hope, Mr. Chairman, with your leadership, and Mr. Lantos', with the goodwill of the Members of this Committee, that we can find ways to carry forward these important principles and concepts.

Chairman HYDE. Would the gentleman yield? I want to congratulate the gentleman on an excellent amendment. It is a good idea. It is so good that it is what the government is already doing-attempting to fashion, an armed multinational force by the United Nations to effectuate the inspection regime.

I would appreciate it if the gentleman would withdraw this amendment on my assurances that it will be very favorably mentioned in the report as an idea that is already being implemented, but is very helpful.

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, I will withdraw the amendment.

I want to say that I hope that our Committee can continue to find ways to hone in on the important discussions that we have had here to give voice to the concerns of the Committee Members and move this forward over the course of the next few months. We are coming back before the next Congress is installed, and I hope there may be ways to build upon it.

I appreciate your kind comments and I withdraw my amendment.

Chairman HYDE. There is an old adage in practicing law: When you have won the case, you get out of the courtroom before the judge changes his mind. But Mr. Lantos wants to talk.

Mr. LANTOS. I just want to commend my friend for an excellent statement.

Chairman HYDE. I associate myself, as always, with Mr. Lantos' remarks. The amendment is withdrawn.

Are there other amendments? Mr. Delahunt has an amendment. The clerk will report the amendment.

[The information referred to follows:]

AMENDMENT TO H. J. RES.

OFFERED BY MR. DELAHUNT

H.L.C.

Add at the end the following:

1 SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY REGARDING INTER

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NATIONAL TRIBUNAL ON IRAQ.

(a) FINDINGS.-Congress finds the following:

(1) For more than two decades Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi officials have committed geno

cide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity

against the people of Iraq and neighboring countries.

(2) The Iraqi regime used poison gas against the Iranian people during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war as a matter of policy.

(3) The Iraqi regime has severely repressed the Kurdish population in Iraq through the use of chemical weapons, summary executions, the widespread destruction of villages, the placement of more than 10,000,000 landmines in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the forced relocation of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Kurds and Turkomen.

(4) The Iraqi regime has carried out severe repression against Marsh Arabs and Shi'a Arabs in

southern Iraq, expelling the population of entire vil

lages, burning houses and fields, demolishing houses

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H.L.C.

with bulldozers, draining and poisoning marshes, and summarily executing thousands of civilians, in

cluding the assassination of Shi'a clerics.

(5) The status and whereabouts of more than

600 Kuwaitis and other individuals who were taken

prisoner during the Persian Gulf War remain un

known and unaccounted for by the Iraqi Govern

ment.

(6) Kuwait continues to be plagued by unexploded landmines laid by Iraqi forces, and the destruction of Kuwait by departing Iraqi troops has yet to be redressed by the Iraqi Government.

(7) Saddam Hussein has summarily tortured and killed political opponents and created an environment of terror, fear, and repression within Iraq.

(8) The Republic of Iraq is a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and other human rights instruments, and the Geneva Convention on the Treat

ment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949, and

is obligated to comply with these international agree

ments.

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(9) The United Nations Security Council, with

full United States support, has established ad hoc

international criminal tribunals for the former Yugo

slavia and Rwanda, and supported an independent

special court for Sierra Leone to bring to justice in

dividuals responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in those countries.

(10) In the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-338) and other legislation, Congress has called for the establishment of an ad hoc international criminal tribunal for the purpose of pros

ecuting Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi officials re

sponsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

(11) The evidence against the Iraqi regime is

substantial and readily available.

(12) It is uncertain that Saddam Hussein and others in his regime would be subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court;

(13) An ad hoc international tribunal on Iraq would provide a critical forum for demonstrating the heinous nature of the Iraqi regime and help provide the moral authority for pursuing other options to di

minish or eliminate the threat posed by Saddam