Deborah Koff Ross: “it was September 26, 2002, I was sitting in the cabinet room of the White House with Condoleezza Rice, Andy Card, and…”

“it was September 26, 2002, I was sitting in the cabinet room of the White House with Condoleezza Rice, Andy Card, and President Bush, and the President explained to us that day, and I took notes and still have them, that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction; that Saddam Hussein was training terrorists on weapons of mass destruction; and that if military force was used, in President Bush's words, it would be swift. September 26, 2002. It is now June 15, 2006, some 2,500 soldiers have died and more than 18,000 injured, many like Kevin Pannel, from Glenwood, Arkansas, who have been injured in ways that will forever change his life and so many others. One thing we know for sure, Mr. Speaker, is that our intelligence failed us. There is not a more difficult decision that Members of Congress are asked to make than whether or not to send our men and women in uniform into harm's way. And when we are faced with making that decision, we must know our intelligence is right. This has been a war that has touched most families, and mine is no different. My brother-in-law spent Christmas in the Middle East supporting a mission to refuel Air Force aircraft over Afghanistan. My first cousin was in Iraq serving our country when his wife gave birth to their first child. We all have a story like that. We all know someone who has been there. I escorted a young woman and her two children to the White House this morning for a tour of the White House.…”