[House Report 109-351]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 109-351
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REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES PROVIDE TO THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES ALL DOCUMENTS IN HIS POSSESSION RELATING TO HIS OCTOBER
7, 2002, SPEECH IN CINCINNATI, OHIO, AND HIS JANUARY 28, 2003, STATE OF
THE UNION ADDRESS
_______
December 16, 2005.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Hyde, from the Committee on International Relations, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H. Res. 549]
The Committee on International Relations, to whom was
referred the resolution (H. Res. 549) requesting the President
of the United States provide to the House of Representatives
all documents in his possession relating to his October 7,
2002, speech in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his January 28, 2003,
State of the Union address, having considered the same, reports
thereon with an amendment and without recommendation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
The Amendment.................................................... 1
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
Hearings......................................................... 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 3
Votes of the Committee........................................... 3
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 4
Constitutional Authority Statement............................... 4
The Amendment
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the
following:
That the President of the United States is requested to provide to the
House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the date of
adoption of this resolution--
(1) all drafts of his October 7, 2002, speech in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and all documents in his possession related
to that speech; and
(2) all drafts of the parts relevant to Iraq in his January
28, 2003, State of the Union address and all documents in his
possession related to such parts.
Purpose and Summary
House Resolution 549 requests the President of the United
States provide to the House of Representatives all documents in
his possession relating to his October 7, 2002, speech in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and his January 28, 2003, State of the Union
address.
Background and Need for the Legislation
House Resolution 549 is a resolution of inquiry, which
pursuant to rule XIII, clause 7 of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, directs the Committee to act on the resolution
within 14 legislative days or a privileged motion to discharge
the Committee is in order. H. Res. 549 was introduced and
referred to the Committee on International Relations on
November 10, 2005. The Committee held markup sessions on
December 8, 2005, and December 15, 2005. The Committee ordered
H. Res. 549 reported without recommendation on December 15,
2005.
Under the Rules and Precedents of the House, a resolution
of inquiry is one of the methods used by the House to obtain
information from the executive branch. According to Deschler's
Procedure it is a ``simple resolution making a direct request
or demand of the President or the head of an executive
department to furnish the House of Representatives with
specific factual information in the possession of the executive
branch.''\1\
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\1\Deschler's Precedents, H. Doc. No. 94-661, 94th Cong., 2d Sess.,
vol. 7, ch. 24, section 8.
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On November 10, 2005, Mr. Hinchey of New York introduced H.
Res. 549. The resolution seeks all documents in the President's
possession relating to his October 7, 2002, speech in
Cincinnati, Ohio and his January 28, 2003, State of the Union
address.\2\
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\2\H. Res. 549, 109th Cong. (November 10, 2005).
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The Committee has now reported nine resolutions of inquiry
dealing with intelligence surrounding the war in Iraq. The
Committee reported adversely the most recent resolution of
inquiry, H. Res. 505, on November 10, 2005--the same day Mr.
Hinchey introduced H. Res. 549. A tenth resolution of inquiry
has already been introduced and is currently pending before the
Committee.
Regarding the previous eight resolutions of inquiry before
the Committee, all were ordered reported adversely because,
among other reasons, issues of pre-war intelligence have been
thoroughly studied. These bipartisan investigations have
overwhelmingly found that, while the intelligence on Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction was often wrong, it was never
manipulated or coerced. A summary of these studies can be found
in H. Rept. 109-291 (Nov. 10, 2005), the Committee's most
recent adverse report (of H. Res. 505).
The resolutions are politically-calculated attacks on the
Bush Administration and on the war in Iraq--a war which the
United States entered with bipartisan congressional support.
Opponents who continue to attack President Bush's use of
intelligence despite numerous investigations that reached
conclusions to the contrary should note that the two speeches
by President Bush at issue in H. Res. 549 closely parallel two
speeches that President Clinton delivered on February 17 and
December 16 of 1998. In these speeches, President Clinton
described Iraq as, ``a rogue state with weapons of mass
destruction ready to use them or provide them to terrorists,
drug traffickers or organized criminals who travel the world
among us unnoticed.'' To date, no resolutions of inquiry have
sought documents related to the intelligence President Clinton
relied on in concluding Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
In light of numerous past and ongoing investigations into
the Administration's use of pre-war intelligence on Iraq, and
because these resolutions of inquiry are politically-motivated,
the Committee ordered H. Res. 549 reported without
recommendation.
Hearings
The Committee did not hold hearings on H. Res. 549.
Committee Consideration
On December 8, 2005 and December 15, 2005, the Full
Committee considered H. Res. 549, pursuant to notice, in open
session. On December 15, 2005, the Committee agreed to a motion
to report the resolution without recommendation to the House by
a record vote of 24 ayes to 19 nays.
Votes of the Committee
Clause (3)(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires that the results of each record vote
on an amendment or motion to report, together with the names of
those voting for or against, be printed in the Committee
report. The following record votes occurred during
consideration of H. Res. 549:
Vote to report to the House adversely (December 8, 2005):
Voting yes: Hyde, Smith (NJ), Burton, Gallegly, Ros-
Lehtinen, Rohrabacher, Royce, Chabot, Tancredo, Issa,
Flake, Davis, Green, Weller, Pence, McCotter, Harris,
Wilson, Boozman, Barrett, Mack, Fortenberry, McCaul,
and Poe.
Voting no: Leach, Lantos, Berman, Ackerman,
Faleomavaega, Payne, Menendez, Brown, Sherman, Wexler,
Engel, Delahunt, Meeks, Lee, Crowley, Blumenauer,
Berkley, Napolitano, Schiff, Watson, Smith (WA),
McCollum, Chandler and Cardoza.
The vote on H. Res. 549 to be ordered reported adversely to
the House failed by a vote of 24 ayes to 24 noes.
Vote to report to the House without recommendation
(December 15, 2005):
Voting yes: Smith (NJ), Burton, Gallegly, Ros-
Lehtinen, Rohrabacher, Royce, King, Chabot, Tancredo,
Issa, Flake, Davis, Green, Weller, Pence, McCotter,
Harris, Wilson, Boozman, Barrett, Mack, Fortenberry,
McCaul, and Poe.
Voting no: Lantos, Berman, Ackerman, Menendez,
Sherman, Wexler, Delahunt, Meeks, Lee, Crowley,
Blumenauer, Berkley, Napolitano, Schiff, Watson, Smith
(WA), McCollum, Chandler and Cardoza.
H. Res. 549 was ordered reported without recommendation to
the House by a vote of 24 ayes to 19 nos.
Committee Oversight Findings
The Committee held no oversight activities under clause
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for
this resolution in article I, section 1 of the Constitution.