Cord Byrd: “I call attention to an article in the Washington Post of September 15, Sunday, the final edition. I shall read excerpts…”

“I call attention to an article in the Washington Post of September 15, Sunday, the final edition. I shall read excerpts therefrom. The headline: ``In Iraqi War Scenario, Oil Is Key Issue; U.S. Drillers Eye Huge Petroleum Pool.'' The article is by Dan Morgan and David B. Ottaway, Washington Post staff writers. I will proceed now with reading the first three paragraphs: A U.S.-led ouster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would open a bonanza for American oil companies long banished from Iraq, scuttling oil deals between Baghdad and Russia, France and other countries, and reshuffling world petroleum markets, according to industry officials and leaders of the Iraqi opposition. Although senior Bush administration officials say they have not begun to focus on the issues involving oil and Iraq, American and foreign oil companies have already begun maneuvering for a stake in the country's huge proven reserves of 112 billion barrels of crude oil, the largest in the world outside Saudi Arabia. The importance of Iraq's oil has made it potentially one of the administration's biggest bargaining chips in negotiations to win backing from the U.N. Security Council and Western allies for President Bush's call for tough international action against Hussein.”