We also have to acknowledge that any military operations 
    against Saddam Hussein pose potential risks to our own 
    homeland, too. Saddam’s government has contact with many 
    international terrorist organizations that likely have 
    cells here in the United States.

    There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is 
    working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will 
    likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years. 
    And that may happen sooner if he can obtain access to 
    enriched uranium from foreign sources -- something that 
    is not that difficult in the current world. We also 
    should remember we have always underestimated the 
    progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of 
    mass destruction.

    ...this time, our nuclear foe would be an unpredictable 
    and often irrational individual, a dictator who has 
    demonstrated that he is prepared to violate     
    international law and initiate unprovoked attacks when he 
    feels it serves his purposes to do so. 

    The global community -- in the form of the United 
    Nations -- has declared repeatedly, through multiple 
    resolutions, that the frightening prospect of a nuclear-
    armed Saddam cannot come to pass. But the U.N. has been 
    unable to enforce those resolutions. We must eliminate 
    that threat now, before it is too late.    

    ...He is working to develop delivery systems like 
    missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles that could bring 
    these deadly weapons against U.S. forces and U.S. 
    facilities in the Middle East. 

    And he could make those weapons available to many 
    terrorist groups which have contact with his government, 
    and those groups could bring those weapons into the U.S. 
    and unleash a devastating attack against our citizens. I 
    fear that greatly.    

    I am forced to conclude, on all the evidence, that Saddam 
    poses a significant risk.

    Some argue it would be totally irrational for Saddam 
    Hussein to initiate an attack against the mainland United 
    States, and they believe he would not do it. But if 
    Saddam thought he could attack America through terrorist 
    proxies and cover the trail back to Baghdad, he might not 
    think it so irrational. 

    ...At the end of the day, we cannot let the security of 
    American citizens rest in the hands of someone whose 
    track record gives us every reason to fear that he is 
    prepared to use the weapons he has against his enemies.

    As the attacks of September 11 demonstrated, the immense 
    destructiveness of modern technology means we can no 
    longer afford to wait around for a smoking gun. September 
    11 demonstrated that the fact that an attack on our 
    homeland has not yet occurred cannot give us any false 
    sense of security that one will not occur in the future. 
    We no longer have that luxury.

    This is a difficult vote, but I could not sleep knowing 
    that faced with this grave danger to the people of my 
    state and to all Americans, I had voted for nothing more 
    than continuing the policies that have failed to address 
    this problem in the past.

    ...At this point, America’s best opportunity to move the 
    United Nations and Iraq to a peaceful resolution of this 
    crisis is by making clear the U.S. is prepared to act on 
    our own, if necessary, as one nation, indivisible. 
    Sometimes the rest of the world looks to America not just 
    for the diversity of our debate, or the vitality of our 
    ideals, but for the firm resolve that the world’s leader 
    must demonstrate if intractable global problems are to be 
    solved.

    By my vote, I say to Saddam Hussein, "Disarm, or the 
    United States will be forced to act."

    September 11 has forever changed the world. We may not 
    like it, but that is the world in which we live. When 
    there is a grave threat to Americans’ lives, we have a 
    responsibility to take action to prevent it.

    "Any decision about going to war against Iraq must 
    reflect the fact that   the clear and present danger to 
    our national security is terrorism. The presence  of al 
    Qaeda operatives in Iraq and in so many countries in the 
    Middle East and   the rest of the world is troubling.

    Iraq is now what it was not when the war began - a magnet 
    for terrorism - because the President invaded Iraq with 
    no idea of what it would take to secure the country after 
    Baghdad fell.