Congress's 'Virtual Iran War Resolution'
by
Ron Paul
by Ron Paul
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Statement
on House
Congressional Resolution 362 before the US House of Representatives,
June 28, 2008
Today the Dow
Jones Average was down 350-some points, gold was up $32, and oil
was up another $5. There is a lot of chaos out there and everyone
is worried about $4 gasoline. But I don't think there is a clear
understanding [of] exactly why that has occurred.
We do know
that there is a supply and demand issue, but there are other reasons
for the high cost of energy. One is inflation. In order to pay for
the war that has been going on, and the domestic spending, we've
been spending a lot more money than we have. So what do we do? We
send the bills over to the Federal Reserve and they create new money,
and in the last three years, our government, through the Federal
Reserve and the banking system, has created $4 trillion of new money.
That is one of the main reasons why we have this high cost of energy
and $4 per gallon gasoline.
But there is
another factor that I want to talk about tonight, and that is not
only the fear of inflation and future inflation, but the fear factor
dealing with our foreign policy. In the last several weeks, if not
for months, we have heard a lot of talk about the potential of Israel
and/or the United States bombing Iran. And it is in the marketplace.
Energy prices are being bid up because of this fear. It has been
predicted that if bombs start dropping, that we will see energy
prices double or triple. It is just the thought of it right now
that is helping to push these energy prices up. And that is a very
real thing going on right now.
But to me it
is almost like déjà vu all over again. We listened to the rhetoric
for years and years before we went into Iraq. We did not go in the
correct manner, we did not declare war, we are there and it is an
endless struggle. And I cannot believe it, that we may well be on
the verge of initiating the bombing of Iran!
Leaders on
both sides of the aisle, and in the administration, have all said
so often, "No options should be taken off the table –
including a nuclear first strike on Iran." The fear is, they
say, maybe someday [Iran is] going to get a nuclear weapon, even
though our own CIA's National Intelligence Estimate has said that
the Iranians have not been working on a nuclear weapon since 2003.
They say they're enriching uranium, but they have no evidence whatsoever
that they're enriching uranium for weapons purposes. They may well
be enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, and that is perfectly
legal. They have been a member of the non-proliferation treaties,
and they are under the investigation of the IAEA, and ElBaradei
has verified that in the last year there have been nine unannounced
investigations and examinations of the Iranian nuclear structure
and they have never been found to be in violation. And yet, this
country and Israel are talking about a preventive war – starting
bombing for this reason, without negotiations, without talks.
Now the one
issue that I do want to mention tonight is a resolution that is
about to come to this floor if our suspicions are correct, after
the July 4th holiday. And this bill will probably be brought up
under suspension. It is expected to pass easily. It probably will
be. And it is just more war propaganda, just more preparation to
go to war against Iran.
This resolution,
H.J. Res 362 [listed as H. Con. Res 362 online] is a virtual war
resolution. It is the declaration of tremendous sanctions, and boycotts
and embargoes on the Iranians. It is very, very severe. Let me just
read what is involved if this bill passes and what we're telling
the President what he must do:
This demands
that the President impose stringent inspection requirements on
all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains and cargo entering
or departing Iran, and prohibiting the international movement
of all Iranian officials.
This is unbelievable!
This is closing down Iran. Where do we have this authority? Where
do we get the moral authority? Where do we get the international
legality for this? Where do we get the Constitutional authority
for this? This is what we did for ten years before we went into
Iraq. We starved children – 500,000 individuals it was admitted
probably died because of the sanctions on the Iraqis. They were
incapable at the time of attacking us. And all the propaganda that
was given for our need to go into Iraq was not true.
And it is not
true today about the severity [of the need to attack Iran]. But
they say, "Yeah, but Ahmadinejad – he's a bad guy. He's
threatened violence." But you know what? Us threatening violence
is very, very similar. We must – we must look at this carefully.
We just can't go to war again under these careless, frivolous conditions.
See
the Ron Paul File
July
3, 2008
Dr. Ron
Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas.