Adam Schiff: “Mr. Speaker, in this House, and indeed, in homes across America, we are debating whether to use force to disarm Saddam…”

“Mr. Speaker, in this House, and indeed, in homes across America, we are debating whether to use force to disarm Saddam Hussein if he fails to comply with the resolutions of the United Nations, if he fails to submit to unfettered inspections, and even if we must go it alone. The President has come before the Nation to make the case for strong intervention and to attempt to answer many of the difficult questions being posed by the American people: Why is Iraq unique when other nations possess weapons of mass destruction? Why now, when Iraq has been ignoring the U.N. resolutions for 11 years? What effect will this have on the broader war on terrorism? Will an invasion of Iraq in the end make us safer or more at risk? All of these questions are legitimate. None admits of a simple answer; and none can be answered completely, depending, as they do, upon the unknowable caprice of a despot. But there are certain facts which I believe are indisputable. First, Saddam Hussein has chemical and biological weapons, and is developing a nuclear weapons capacity. Second, an inspection regime in which hundreds of acres of so-called palace grounds are off limits is no inspection regime at all. In fact, it is worse than no inspections, giving, as it does, a false sense of security and effectiveness. Third, Saddam Hussein will never submit to a real inspection regime without the credible threat of force.”