Joe Pitts: “the amount of money Saddam Hussein socked away by subverting the U.N. Oil-for-Food program was $21.3 billion. Much of it…”

“the amount of money Saddam Hussein socked away by subverting the U.N. Oil-for-Food program was $21.3 billion. Much of it is being used by terrorists in Iraq to this very day. After the Gulf War, the international community set about to make sure that the international community did not add to the suffering of the Iraqi people who already endured under Hussein. Unfortunately, officials at the U.N. and corporate executives conspired with the Iraqi dictator to create a complex web of patronage and bribery. Mr. Speaker, we all know that Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator who encouraged terror and violence. However, the U.N.'s inability to enforce its own sanctions, 17 of them since 1991, has today been highlighted by its complicity in the suffering of the Iraqi people. There is no excuse. The U.N. must be reformed. Those responsible must be punished. The Oil-for-Food program is a symptom of a much larger problem, a lack of accountability and an absence of resolve.”