Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) ripped into Condoleeza Rice this morning, demanding she respond to Congressional inquiries about the run-up to the war, warning Dr. Rice 'that a failure to respond to his committee's inquiries undermined Constitutional governance'.
Condi has let 16 requests for information fall off her desk and into the proverbial wastebasket, clearly not interested in respecting the checks and balances of our consitution. Now times are changing and the Democratic party has subpoena power, one of the perks of having majority status. Mr. Waxman should and probably will use these powers to hold Condi and the White House accountable for the false information that was distributed to justify the war in Iraq.
From RawStory:
"Refusing to allow officials to testify before Congress...or ignoring congressional requests for information, as you apparently ignored my inquiries, are not consistent with our constitutional system of government," said the Committee's Chairman in a letter released today.
Waxman's letter stated that he was seeking to learn more about a variety of issues from the Secretary of State, including her "role in the President's false assertion that Iraq was seeking uranium from Niger."
The California Democrat also explained that he had sent Dr. Rice 16 inquiries since 2003. But only 5 of the letters that were also signed by committee Republicans had received responses because "Under the Bush Administration, several agencies followed a policy of not responding to minority party requests," he stated.
Waxman was particularly concerned with the false claim made by President George W. Bush in the 2003 State of the Union address concerning Iraq's efforts to acquire uranium from Africa, as well as other supporting statements by administration officials.
Dr. Rice can try and throw out these requests from Congress but she will be doggedly followed by the Congressman from California. Much like how a credit card company tracks down deliquent bill-payers, she will be held accountable for her actions that have led to the tremendous financial and human debt that her and the Adminstration has caused.
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