speech by Rep Stark. D Calif

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2002/10/10/stark/index.html


"The bottom line is I don't trust this president and his advisors"
Not every Democrat has caved to Bush's martial fervor. Rep. Pete Stark makes
it stunningly clear why he voted against the Iraq war resolution.

Editor's note: Below is the fiery statement delivered on the floor of the
House Wednesday by veteran California Democrat Rep. Pete Stark.

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Oct. 10, 2002  |  "Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this resolution
(authorizing military force against Iraq). I am deeply troubled that lives
may be lost without a meaningful attempt to bring Iraq into compliance with
U.N. resolutions through careful and cautious diplomacy.

"The bottom line is I don't trust this president and his advisors.

"Make no mistake, we are voting on a resolution that grants total authority
to the president, who wants to invade a sovereign nation without any
specific act of provocation. This would authorize the United States to act
as the aggressor for the first time in our history. It sets a precedent for
our nation -- or any nation -- to exercise brute force anywhere in the world
without regard to international law or international consensus.

"Congress must not walk in lockstep behind a president who has been so
callous to proceed without reservation, as if war was of no real
consequence. 

"You know, three years ago in December, Molly Ivins, an observer of Texas
politics, wrote: 'For an upper-class white boy, Bush comes on way too hard.
At a guess, to make up for being an upper-class white boy.'

"'Somebody,' she said, 'should be worrying about how all this could affect
his handling of future encounters with some Saddam Hussein.' How prophetic,
Ms. Ivins. 

"Let us not forget that our president -- our commander in chief -- has no
experience with, or knowledge of, war. In fact, he admits that he was at
best ambivalent about the Vietnam War. He skirted his own military service
and then failed to serve out his time in the National Guard. And, he
reported years later that at the height of that conflict in 1968 he didn't
notice 'any heavy stuff going on.'"

"So we have a president who thinks foreign territory is the opponent's
dugout and Kashmir is a sweater.

"What is most unconscionable is that there is not a shred of evidence to
justify the certain loss of life. Do the generalized threats and half-truths
of this administration give any one of us in Congress the confidence to tell
a mother or father or family that the loss of their child or loved one was
in the name of a just cause?

"Is the president's need for revenge for the threat once posed to his father
enough to justify the death of any American?

"I submit the answer to these questions is no.

"Aside from the wisdom of going to war as Bush wants, I am troubled by who
pays for his capricious adventure into world domination. The administration
admits to a cost of around $200 billion!

"Now, wealthy individuals won't pay. They've got big tax cuts already.
Corporations won't pay. They'll cook the books and move overseas and then
send their contributions to the Republicans. Rich kids won't pay. Their
daddies will get them deferments as Big George did for George W.

"Well then, who will pay?

"School kids will pay. There'll be no money to keep them from being left
behind -- way behind. Seniors will pay. They'll pay big time as the
Republicans privatize Social Security and rob the Trust Fund to pay for the
capricious war. Medicare will be curtailed and drugs will be more
unaffordable. And there won't be any money for a drug benefit because Bush
will spend it all on the war.

"Working folks will pay through loss of job security and bargaining rights.
Our grandchildren will pay through the degradation of our air and water
quality. And the entire nation will pay as Bush continues to destroy civil
rights, women's rights and religious freedom in a rush to phony patriotism
and to courting the messianic Pharisees of the religious right.

"The questions before the members of this House and to all Americans are
immense, but there are clear answers. America is not currently confronted by
a genuine, proven, imminent threat from Iraq. The call for war is wrong.

"And what greatly saddens me at this point in our history is my fear that
this entire spectacle has not been planned for the well-being of the world,
but for the short-term political interest of our president.

"Now, I am also greatly disturbed that many Democratic leaders have also put
political calculation ahead of the president's accountability to truth and
reason by supporting this resolution. But, I conclude that the only answer
is to vote no on the resolution before us."



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About the writer
Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., represents the Fremont, Calif., congressional
district. 

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