Foreign Policy

Yesterday, I sent a letter to James Baker, former Secretary of State and Co-Chair of the Iraq Study Group, asking him to release the Study Group's initial recommendations on the Iraq War. Secretary Baker has repeatedly stated that the Iraq Study Group would not provide an independent assessment on the situation in Iraq until after the November midterm elections. But judging from his recent interviews, it appears that the Iraq Study Group has made some initial judgments that would be a departure from the Administration's failed policies.

Given the critical need to change course on Iraq, I am urging the Study Group to release its recommendations as soon as possible without any consideration to the political calendar. Imagine if you had a son or daughter in Iraq right now and knew that a change of course would have to wait due to politics while your child is a target in a hellish situation.

This year has seen the rapid escalation of death, suffering, and sectarian violence in Iraq that could easily devolve into a full scale civil war. Already this month, 70 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq. It is clear that the Administration's continued insistence to "stay the course" with its failed policies is not a viable solution.

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Yesterday, the President signed the Fiscal Year 2007 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law. This law authorizes $532.8 billion to fund our military. Most importantly, it provides $70 billion for the replacement of equipment that has been destroyed or rendered unusable in Iraq or Afghanistan and provides for a well deserved 2.2% pay raise for our men and women in uniform.

The funding in the FY2007 NDAA to replace equipment, however, is only intended to start the process and leaves many units still facing shortages. Unfortunately, this is one of the many consequences of the Administration's failing Iraq policy, which has placed our military in an untenable position.

I wish that funding was the only problem we had in Iraq. However, all the money in the world is not going to quell the spiraling violence we see there on a daily basis. Already this month, 70 U.S. trrops have lost their lives -- one of the deadliest months on record and we're merely halfway through. Our soldiers and Marines in Iraq face a country that is on the brink of civil war. Rather than starting to draw down our forces, as the Administration claimed would occur by the end of 2006, our military may have to send American forces back into areas that were supposed to have been fully turned over to Iraqi security forces. This is doing nothing to secure Iraq, let alone enable our military to also deter growing threats from North Korea and Iran.

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Article I Section 8 of our Constitution establishes the framework for our nation’s copyright and patent laws. It grants Congress the power to award inventors and creators, for limited amounts of time, exclusive rights to their inventions and ideas. The founding fathers realized that this type of incentive was crucial to ensure that America would become the world’s leader in innovation and creative ingenuity.

Today, it is no coincidence that America is considered the most aggressive protector of intellectual property in the world and the world leader in innovation and creativity. However, many countries have failed to recognize the importance of intellectual property, which has not only harmed creators in those countries but also U.S. innovators seeking to expand into those countries.

The negative effects of international copyright piracy are staggering. In Russia, approximately 80 percent of all motion pictures and 83 percent of business software are pirated. Considering that the core copyright industries account for 6 percent of U.S. GDP and the total copyright industries account for approximately 12 percent of U.S. GDP, it is clear that America’s businesses are facing a serious problem. In fact, the FBI estimates that U.S. businesses lose between $200-250 billion a year to counterfeit goods.

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The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose financial and arms sanctions on North Korea for its reported nuclear test.  The U.S.-drafted resolution calls on North Korea to eliminate all its nuclear weapons and demands that nations freeze funds overseas of people or businesses connected with North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The United States and the international community have sent a clear message today that North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons will not be tolerated.  China and Japan's support of this resolution underscores the consequences North Korea will face should they continue to reject diplomacy and continue their boycott of the Six-Party Talks.  Pyongyang needs to abandon their reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons while their people are starving due to the lack of economic growth.

Just last week we learned from a mortality study published in the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, that the Iraqi death toll related to the U.S. invasion there has now risen to 655,000 at a rate increasing from 2.5% to 19%, mostly civilians. I was active in my opposition to the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq for nearly a decade prior to the invasion, because of the high levels of mortality, especially infant mortality, it caused. These percentages dwarf those, turning a humanitarian tragedy into a nightmare.

Now, with no clear victory or end in sight after 3 years of military intervention, we are trillions of dollars in public debt, the war proceeds at a cost of $9 billion a month--over $200,00 a second, and $21 billion or more is missing from the accounted funds for this war. Massive profits have accrued to a few corporations, creating an economy and federal budget without the resources to solve the pressing social problems or meet other needs here at home.

This war has also led to an unprecedented erosion of Constitutional rights, civil liberties, Posse Comitatus, privacy, rights to dissent and free speech, due process and habeas corpus principles, the Geneva Convention, United Nations accords, and many international laws and relations that have guided us and been our strength, and our source of respect around the world. Read more...

The brazen nuclear test performed by North Korea last weekend highlighted our country’s need for a national missile defense system. Democrat leadership in Congress continues to strike at funding for this important program, but North Korea claims to have tested a nuclear device and continues efforts to develop missiles to strike the United States or our allies. Their recent threatening statements are disturbing and Congressional Democrats should repudiate their opposition to a national missile defense system immediately.

It is absurd that Democrat leaders spent the weekend accusing the Bush Administration of failing to respond to the North Korean threat when Congressional Democrats have on consistently voted against this President’s missile defense program – a program that is designed almost specifically for this type of threat. Read more...

North Korea’s test of a nuclear bomb on October 9th brings into sharp focus a pervasive international diplomatic and security crisis that is over two decades in the making.

It’s been known for some time that North Korea has been on a crash course to produce nuclear weapons. The United States military has long had contingency plans in case of a nuclear attack by North Korea against our allies in the area, including South Korea and Japan. But this situation has become urgent of late and requires our nation to simultaneously adhere to the current policy of seeking diplomatic solutions while reaffirming our commitment to uphold deterrent and security commitments.

Clearly, the North Korean government isn’t shy about threatening and downright outrageous public posturing. The day after the test, North Korea threatened military attack against our allies in the region—even the launch of nuclear-tipped missiles against the United States if the international community followed through with action. We must never allow threats, posturing and aggression by oppressive dictators to cow us into retreating from defending our allies and homeland. Read more...

This Administration has to hold our trading partners' feet to the fire and enforce the rules of trade. Goods and services produced by American workers, farmers and businesses that have high intellectual property content are critical to restoring broad-based economic growth and job creation, yet they are widely pirated, stolen and copied. No country in the world has done more to undermine American intellectual property than China. Accordingly, as a first step, we call on the Administration immediately to file a broad-based challenge in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The United States should use the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) to challenge China's flagrant abuse of international rules governing intellectual property rights. If we're going to convince American workers that trade can work for them, they need to know that Congress and the Administration will crack down on violations to give them the advantage they deserve.

Four years ago, we in Congress voted to authorize the use of military force against Iraq. I was one of 23 Senators who voted against it and my thoughts expressed then still hold true today:

"Before the United States wages war against Iraq, President Bush and the Congress owe it to the young Americans who face death or injury in that conflict to ensure that every effort has been made to obtain our ends without endangering them. Every ounce of preparation must be taken to ensure a swift and efficient outcome should war become necessary. As another President, Herbert Hoover, once said, 'Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.' The burden is on our leaders to justify why young men and women need to risk their future now.

"As we consider this war, we must also consider the implications of what we are doing. Saddam Hussein is not the only dictator who oppresses his people, attacks his neighbors, and is developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). North Korea's Kim Jong Il, Libya's Muammar Qaddaffi, Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei, Syria's Bashar al-Asad, and others, all pose threats or have posed threats to American interests. All are known for their human rights abuses. Read more...

The President came to Congress in October 2002 and asked Congress to authorize force against Iraq.  I voted against giving the President this authority, and parted ways with most of my colleagues in Congress.  This was not a popular vote at the time, but it was the right vote.  I was proud of my vote then, and I am proud of it now.

I have remained an outspoken critic of President Bush's policies in Iraq.  There was no connection between the events of 9/11 and the Saddam Hussein regime.  The Bush Administration distorted and misused intelligence information about Saddam Hussein's actual WMD capacity.  Saddam Hussein did not have nuclear weapons, and did not pose an imminent threat to the United States.

During the debate in 2002, I stated on the House floor that I had “grave concerns Read more...