Armey, Lugar Reverse Stand On Resolution
GOP Lawmakers' Support May Help Ensure Passage
By Helen Dewar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 8, 2002; Page A21
URL: washingtonpost.com
Republican resistance to a congressional resolution authorizing military action against Iraq faded yesterday as House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey (Tex.) endorsed it and Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) indicated he is no longer helping to lead an effort to change it.
While key Democrats continued to criticize President Bush's Iraq policy and the resolution that he seeks to implement it, the separate decisions by Armey and Lugar bolstered already strong prospects that war authorization will be approved by a wide margin.
The House plans to begin debate today and vote Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) pressed last night for a Senate vote by Thursday night.
Armey had earlier distanced himself from other GOP leaders by questioning whether the United States should undertake a preemptive strike against Iraq. But he said he now sees a "clear and present" danger that requires strong action.
Armey, who is retiring at the end of this congressional session, said he made his decision after a "careful, exhaustive review of the facts and evidence," including consultations with Cabinet officials and Vice President Cheney.
"America has never been an aggressive nation," Armey said in a statement. "That is a matter of history. It is a matter of conscience. It is a matter of who we are, who we have been and who we should be. For the U.S. to act first, the threat must be clear and present. It is."
While "no American wants to go to war," he added, "the president's proven leadership has shown that conflict may be our only option to defend freedom."
Lugar, a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, had joined with Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the committee's chairman, in drafting a proposal to tighten the authorization in several ways, including limiting the president's authority to eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Lugar believes "progress has been made and this is probably as far as it can go, given the support there is for the resolution" as currently drafted, said Lugar spokesman Andy Fisher, referring to changes made last week in negotiations with House leaders of both parties.
These changes granted Bush the authority he sought to invade Iraq if it fails to comply with United Nations disarmament mandates. But they state explicit support for diplomatic efforts, limit the authorization to Iraq and require Bush to certify that U.N. efforts had failed.
The fate of the Lugar-Biden proposal was unclear in the wake of Lugar's decision. An aide to Biden said the senator is exploring what provisions of the proposal might be offered for a vote with some chance of passage and consulting with colleagues on what to do. An aide to Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), who supported the Biden-Lugar approach, said Hagel was also reviewing the situation.
There still appeared to be reservations on the GOP side. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said he may ultimately support the resolution but questioned whether the United States was setting a precedent it would come to regret and said it should focus more on Iraqi disarmament than "regime change."
As the Senate debate on the resolution continued through its second full day, Democratic divisions over Bush's policies and the war authorization were on full display.
The authorization was endorsed by Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.), who lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam, serves on the Armed Services Committee and is seeking reelection next month.
It "affirms the importance of working in concert with other nations, gives preference to diplomacy over a military solution, focuses attention where it should be on disarming Saddam Hussein, seeks to assure we will not be diverted from the war on terrorism and provides for the ongoing and constitutional role of Congress," Cleland said.
But several other Democrats condemned administration policies that underlie the resolution.
"What the administration is really calling for is preventive war, which flies in the face of international rules of acceptable behavior," as well as precedents set by most post-World War II presidents, including his brother, President John F. Kennedy, said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).
Bush's military doctrine would "give him a free hand to justify almost any military action with unsubstantiated allegations and arbitary arbitrary risk assessments," said Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), and "Congress is about to rubber-stamp that doctrine and simply step out of the way."
In the draft of a speech to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), who is cosponsoring Bush's resolution, said a lasting peace can be achieved only if the United States steps up its commitment to invest the future of post-Hussein Iraq, including security, democratic governance and private sector development.
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