Orrin Hatch: “I rise to declare my support for the President and his administration as he prepares this country for the coming war…”

“I rise to declare my support for the President and his administration as he prepares this country for the coming war with Iraq. I do this sharing the President's reluctance to go to war. But I offer my support with admiration and respect for the President for facing this decision without reluctance or avoidance, for the forbearance he has demonstrated by pursuing all other reasonable options, for courage he has shown in making the decision, and for the honesty with which he has included the American public, and the world at large, in his administration's deliberations. The President has not shirked from the problem of Iraq. Since coming to office his administration has recognized that the United States could not ignore a stale and festering policy that had devolved to inattention and a self-deluding hope. A war never concluded in 1991-- for Saddam Hussein has never abided by the ceasefire terms of disarmament that the international community declared a condition of the end of the first Gulf War--had devolved to a collapsed inspections regime and a deteriorating sanctions regime.”