Hon. Joseph M. Hoeffel

It has always been clear that we need to internationalize the challenge in Iraq, and we need to 'Iraqatize' the challenge in Iraq. We need international support from what is happening. I do not believe this President can do it. But from…

I wanted to respond to a couple things the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) said. I think he said that we were suggesting George Bush has been asleep at the switch in Iraq. That is not at all what we have been suggesting here. President…

This may be a breakthrough tonight. We have, through the 15 months that we have been handling the Iraq Watch duties on the floor, talked about how we would love to be joined by our Republican colleagues in a good-faith discussion about…

But, Mr. Speaker, I must tell my colleague that not everybody was being conned. The CIA saw through Chalabi, the State Department saw through Chalabi, and yet the civilian leadership of the Pentagon did not.

Do not forget that the President sat Mr. Chalabi right behind Mrs. Bush in this year's State of the Union address, right up there in that balcony 4 rac{1}{2} months ago. There he sat in all his double-chinned glory, Ahmad Chalabi, directly…

If we just focus on the prison scandal for a minute and see the failures of leadership there... we cannot stay the course in Iraq. We have to change the course in Iraq.

I do not want to see them benefit any more than they already have from their relationships if they have misled this country and this government, and I hope that Congress can figure out a way to deny those individuals, if we can show they…

Yes. All the firms are identified, the monthly retainers. It is an interesting article. It is a million-dollar industry.

The favorite of the State Department is Adnan Pachachi, who is another member of the current interim government in Iraq as Chalabi is. And, according to Roll Call, the favorite of the CIA is Ayad Allawi, also a member of the Iraqi…

We have talked quite a bit tonight about Ahmed Chalabi, and rightly so; but he is not apparently the only favorite of the American government involved in positioning themselves for leadership in Iraq. In today's Roll Call, one of the Hill…

Before we get too carried away with Chalabi, let me just make the point that is in the Roll Call article. There were three others doing this. One of them is the favorite of the CIA to be the new Iraqi leader and a third the favorite of the…

I do not have a clue. Ahmed Chalabi and three others listed in the article are paying up to a combined $100,000 a month.

I identified Mr. Chalabi in the words that my grandfather would have used as a four flusher. I have to explain what a four flusher is. A four flusher is a man whose word you cannot accept, and if it was good enough for my grandfather, it…

I welcome the questions of the gentleman, but I hope he is not turning to me to give him some answers because I cannot begin to answer these very legitimate questions he has raised about what comes next, what does the Bush administration…

The gentleman refers to the latest plan as the French plan. The New York Times on Sunday, in looking at the plan that they characterize as throwing the problem to the Iraqis, called it the ``hot potato plan.'' French, hot potato french…

This bill, H.R. 1516, is very good legislation that will create new cemeteries across this country of ours, particularly in southeastern Pennsylvania where a tremendous need for a new veterans cemetery has been demonstrated throughout the…

I am asking for an estimate, not an ironclad statement of future requirements because I know that is difficult. And as part of my language also, a description of the progress of bringing other troops in, I think that is all part of trying…

Did the gentleman see over the weekend the New York Times article that set forth in great detail how overstated the administration's claims were regarding Iraqi oil revenue? It fits exactly into the point the gentleman is making…

I was misled. I was given exaggerated information. I was given misleading information. The President and all of his top advisors in September and October of 2002 stated with complete certainty that Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons, had…

I share the gentleman from Hawaii's (Mr. Abercrombie) outrage at that. And the Republican leadership of the committee and the rank and file on the committee took great delight in saying to the Democrats they just have to ask questions and…

I would like to open up briefly this evening with a brief report on the appearance by Ambassador Paul Bremer before the Committee on International Relations on September 25. He came before the committee to justify the administration's…

I just wanted to add to the gentleman's comments that the reference to Afghanistan is important because we have been distracted from the challenge in Afghanistan because of our commitment in Iraq, and things are not going so well in…

We are resuming the Iraq Watch. This is an effort that has been going on since late in the spring, primarily by four of us here on the floor of the House, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt), the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr…

The fiscal picture is bleak. It is daunting. One of the things the President has to tell us is how we are going to finance his reconstruction plans in Iraq, because I do not know how we are going to pay for it.