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American Morning

Interview with Dan Burton

Aired December 05, 2002 - 08:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Terrorism not the only wedge right now causing a split between the relationship with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Some lawmakers in Washington still accusing the kingdom of Saudi Arabia of refusing to help in returning American children who have been abducted by Saudi parents. That was the subject on a hearing Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
The man leading that charge, Representative Dan Burton, now joins us live this morning from Boston -- good to see you, congressman. Good morning to you.

REP. DAN BURTON (R), INDIANA: Hi, Bill, how are you?

HEMMER: I'm doing fine, thank you very much. Saudi Arabia's position is essentially this: these are domestic disputes, they happen in many countries throughout the world. Don't pick on us. Your response to that is what?

BURTON: Well, women can't leave the house over there. They can't get a passport to come to the United States or leave the country unless the husband signs off. There is no other country in the world where those kind of restrictions apply, and they have kidnapped American children that had been given to the mother in a court order, and the Saudi embassy knew about it, the Saudi embassy was complicit in the kidnappings, and the Saudi government denies that, so they are lying to us.

HEMMER: Forty-six cases, 96 total kids, is that right?

BURTON: Oh, I think it's much more than that, but those are the cases we know about.

HEMMER: All right. But listen, you were back there in August, right, in the Saudi Arabia kingdom, talking with the members of that government trying to get something going here. What was the reaction when you were traveling there?

BURTON: Well, their reaction was that the Saudi law prevails, and that if a child is born of a Saudi male, it's a Saudi citizen, and the other countries really don't have any rights, and I also talked to some women over there who were absolutely terrified that they were talking to us because they said if their husbands found out about it, or the government did, they probably would be harmed or killed, and all they wanted to do was get out of the country with their children. These are American women.

HEMMER: Patricia Roush was in your committee yesterday. Listen to part of what she had to say during her testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT ROUSH, MOTHER OF KIDNAPPED CHILDREN: If the Saudis and their American pimps (ph) were sadistic and cold blooded, what about our own State Department? The State Department feels they are justified, case closed, in their written response to questions posed by the committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: What reaction are you getting from the State Department? Support there or not? Does Patricia have a point?

BURTON: Well, I think the State Department could do more. I have talked to Colin Powell personally about this. I think Secretary Powell wants to do more and wants to put more pressure on the Saudis, but of course, we may be going to war, and we may need to keep those Saudi bases and use them. So I think we have got a political problem there.

But nevertheless, we are talking about American citizens, American children that have been kidnapped, are held against their will in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi government is virtually doing nothing to help.

HEMMER: You raise an interesting point in that answer. What does the issue of Iraq, how does that play into your argument right now in either your success or failure?

BURTON: Well, I'm speculating on that. We have a military base there and we want to use that base in the event we go to war with Iraq, and the Saudis have control over that base, because it's on their territory and if they say we can't use it, we can't use it.

But the fact of the matter is, we should not forget about American citizens, American women and children, who have been kidnapped or forced against their will to stay there just because of that issue. There are other bases we can use in other parts of that area.

HEMMER: Listen, talking to you, I don't get the indication from you at all, listening to the tone of your voice and your words, that there is any softening of the stance on the part of the Saudis. Is that pretty accurate?

BURTON: The Saudis are recalcitrant. They have done nothing to help these women get their children back. They have lied to us through their intermediaries before our committee, and even Prince Bandar who said that -- he is the ambassador to the United States for the Saudi government -- he said that the Saudis weren't doing anything to help kidnap these children. They gave passports to the children after a judge told them not to, and not to let the kids leave the country. So they have been helpful in getting these Saudi men to kidnap their children and take them to Saudi Arabia, and the women never get to see their kids again. HEMMER: What happens, then, to the relationship between these two countries? Adel al-Jubeir was in a press conference two days ago trying to shore up some sort of PR move between the U.S. and try and impress upon Americans that his country is not nearly bad as Americans have been made out to believe. Could this drive a further wedge in that relationship?

BURTON: Well, I think it has, but the thing is, if they really are sincere, if they really want to work with the United States and be a true ally, then they should help these women get their children back, and they should help work with us in other areas as well.

HEMMER: Congressman Burton, thank you. Dan Burton from Indiana, working in Boston today. Good luck getting back to D.C. if that's where you're headed, weather-wise.

BURTON: Yes, thanks. Thanks a lot.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 5, 2002 - 08:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Terrorism not the only wedge right now causing a split between the relationship with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Some lawmakers in Washington still accusing the kingdom of Saudi Arabia of refusing to help in returning American children who have been abducted by Saudi parents. That was the subject on a hearing Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
The man leading that charge, Representative Dan Burton, now joins us live this morning from Boston -- good to see you, congressman. Good morning to you.

REP. DAN BURTON (R), INDIANA: Hi, Bill, how are you?

HEMMER: I'm doing fine, thank you very much. Saudi Arabia's position is essentially this: these are domestic disputes, they happen in many countries throughout the world. Don't pick on us. Your response to that is what?

BURTON: Well, women can't leave the house over there. They can't get a passport to come to the United States or leave the country unless the husband signs off. There is no other country in the world where those kind of restrictions apply, and they have kidnapped American children that had been given to the mother in a court order, and the Saudi embassy knew about it, the Saudi embassy was complicit in the kidnappings, and the Saudi government denies that, so they are lying to us.

HEMMER: Forty-six cases, 96 total kids, is that right?

BURTON: Oh, I think it's much more than that, but those are the cases we know about.

HEMMER: All right. But listen, you were back there in August, right, in the Saudi Arabia kingdom, talking with the members of that government trying to get something going here. What was the reaction when you were traveling there?

BURTON: Well, their reaction was that the Saudi law prevails, and that if a child is born of a Saudi male, it's a Saudi citizen, and the other countries really don't have any rights, and I also talked to some women over there who were absolutely terrified that they were talking to us because they said if their husbands found out about it, or the government did, they probably would be harmed or killed, and all they wanted to do was get out of the country with their children. These are American women.

HEMMER: Patricia Roush was in your committee yesterday. Listen to part of what she had to say during her testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT ROUSH, MOTHER OF KIDNAPPED CHILDREN: If the Saudis and their American pimps (ph) were sadistic and cold blooded, what about our own State Department? The State Department feels they are justified, case closed, in their written response to questions posed by the committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: What reaction are you getting from the State Department? Support there or not? Does Patricia have a point?

BURTON: Well, I think the State Department could do more. I have talked to Colin Powell personally about this. I think Secretary Powell wants to do more and wants to put more pressure on the Saudis, but of course, we may be going to war, and we may need to keep those Saudi bases and use them. So I think we have got a political problem there.

But nevertheless, we are talking about American citizens, American children that have been kidnapped, are held against their will in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi government is virtually doing nothing to help.

HEMMER: You raise an interesting point in that answer. What does the issue of Iraq, how does that play into your argument right now in either your success or failure?

BURTON: Well, I'm speculating on that. We have a military base there and we want to use that base in the event we go to war with Iraq, and the Saudis have control over that base, because it's on their territory and if they say we can't use it, we can't use it.

But the fact of the matter is, we should not forget about American citizens, American women and children, who have been kidnapped or forced against their will to stay there just because of that issue. There are other bases we can use in other parts of that area.

HEMMER: Listen, talking to you, I don't get the indication from you at all, listening to the tone of your voice and your words, that there is any softening of the stance on the part of the Saudis. Is that pretty accurate?

BURTON: The Saudis are recalcitrant. They have done nothing to help these women get their children back. They have lied to us through their intermediaries before our committee, and even Prince Bandar who said that -- he is the ambassador to the United States for the Saudi government -- he said that the Saudis weren't doing anything to help kidnap these children. They gave passports to the children after a judge told them not to, and not to let the kids leave the country. So they have been helpful in getting these Saudi men to kidnap their children and take them to Saudi Arabia, and the women never get to see their kids again. HEMMER: What happens, then, to the relationship between these two countries? Adel al-Jubeir was in a press conference two days ago trying to shore up some sort of PR move between the U.S. and try and impress upon Americans that his country is not nearly bad as Americans have been made out to believe. Could this drive a further wedge in that relationship?

BURTON: Well, I think it has, but the thing is, if they really are sincere, if they really want to work with the United States and be a true ally, then they should help these women get their children back, and they should help work with us in other areas as well.

HEMMER: Congressman Burton, thank you. Dan Burton from Indiana, working in Boston today. Good luck getting back to D.C. if that's where you're headed, weather-wise.

BURTON: Yes, thanks. Thanks a lot.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com