Ron Kind: “We have before us today one of the most important issues that a democracy must decide, whether to potentially go to war…”

“We have before us today one of the most important issues that a democracy must decide, whether to potentially go to war against another nation. It is a vote of conscience, and I believe reasonable people can disagree while looking at the same set of facts. September 11, however, has changed the psyche of our Nation forever. We witnessed in horror what a few suicidal terrorists can accomplish in a low-tech operation, and now we shudder to imagine what suicidal terrorists can accomplish if they gain access to high-tech weapons of mass destruction. I believe Saddam Hussein has biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction and that he is aggressively seeking to develop nuclear capability. But I also believe that he can be deterred because, as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman puts it, Saddam loves his life more than he hates us. It is, however, irrefutable that Saddam is in blatant violation of numerous U.N. resolutions that call for his disarmament of these weapons. Now the question becomes: How do we enforce these resolutions and accomplish the universal goal of disarming his weapons of mass destruction? I have come to the conclusion that my two sons' futures and the future of all our children across the globe will be made a little safer if Saddam disarms, on his own or with our help; militarily, if necessary. I pray that it is done peacefully. I pray that he blinks.”