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American Morning
Bush Administration Officials Today Back on Capitol Hill
Aired September 25, 2003 - 08:10 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Bush administration officials today will be back on Capitol Hill making a pitch for the $87 billion President Bush wants for Iraq and Afghanistan. Things got a little heated at yesterday's Senate Foreign Relations hearings.
Jon Karl reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The administration sent its big guns to Capitol Hill. Vice President Cheney, Paul Bremer, the man in charge in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his top generals all came to make their case to a skeptical Congress.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Is $87 billion a great deal of money? The answer is yes. Can our country afford it? The answer is also yes. We believe it is necessary for the security of our country and the stability of the world.
KARL: Democrats pounded on Rumsfeld throughout the five hour plus hearing.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: The American people have never been told that we were going into that country to build a new nation, to build a new government, to democratize the country and to democratize the Middle East.
RUMSFELD: Well, Senator...
BYRD: The American people haven't been told that. They were told we were going in there because of mass -- weapons of mass destruction.
RUMSFELD: The American people were told by the president of the United States and at the U.N. and here in the United States the reasons for going in. Once having gone in, the last thing we need to do is to turn that country over to another dictator like Saddam Hussein.
KARL: In another hearing, Paul Bremer said he could not say how much more money would be needed in Iraq in the future, prompting this.
REP. DAVID OBEY (D), WISCONSIN: With all due respect, if you can't give us an answer, you're stiffing us.
L. PAUL BREMER, U.S./IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATOR: Congressman, I resent that.
OBEY: Well, I do, too.
KARL: Republicans, for the most part, defended the White House, although some Republicans think the $20 billion the president wants to spend on reconstruction in Iraq should be repaid with Iraq's future oil revenues, an idea the administration opposes.
RUMSFELD: And the idea of adding an additional burden to the debts they already have was concluded to be the kind of thing that didn't work very well after WWI.
KARL: In a private meeting with Republicans, Vice President Cheney offered a different reason for not using Iraqi oil money to repay the U.S. He said it would fuel the perception the U.S. fought the war to get Iraq's oil.
(on camera): Sources at the closed door meeting with Vice President Cheney said he also told Republicans that the White House would not cut and run from Iraq because the going gets tough. He said that is what the U.S. did in Somalia and in Lebanon and now was determined to finish the job in Iraq, regardless of what the cost is.
Jonathan Karl, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 September 25, 2003 - 08:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Bush administration officials today will be back on Capitol Hill making a pitch for the $87 billion President Bush wants for Iraq and Afghanistan. Things got a little heated at yesterday's Senate Foreign Relations hearings.
Jon Karl reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The administration sent its big guns to Capitol Hill. Vice President Cheney, Paul Bremer, the man in charge in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his top generals all came to make their case to a skeptical Congress.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Is $87 billion a great deal of money? The answer is yes. Can our country afford it? The answer is also yes. We believe it is necessary for the security of our country and the stability of the world.
KARL: Democrats pounded on Rumsfeld throughout the five hour plus hearing.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: The American people have never been told that we were going into that country to build a new nation, to build a new government, to democratize the country and to democratize the Middle East.
RUMSFELD: Well, Senator...
BYRD: The American people haven't been told that. They were told we were going in there because of mass -- weapons of mass destruction.
RUMSFELD: The American people were told by the president of the United States and at the U.N. and here in the United States the reasons for going in. Once having gone in, the last thing we need to do is to turn that country over to another dictator like Saddam Hussein.
KARL: In another hearing, Paul Bremer said he could not say how much more money would be needed in Iraq in the future, prompting this.
REP. DAVID OBEY (D), WISCONSIN: With all due respect, if you can't give us an answer, you're stiffing us.
L. PAUL BREMER, U.S./IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATOR: Congressman, I resent that.
OBEY: Well, I do, too.
KARL: Republicans, for the most part, defended the White House, although some Republicans think the $20 billion the president wants to spend on reconstruction in Iraq should be repaid with Iraq's future oil revenues, an idea the administration opposes.
RUMSFELD: And the idea of adding an additional burden to the debts they already have was concluded to be the kind of thing that didn't work very well after WWI.
KARL: In a private meeting with Republicans, Vice President Cheney offered a different reason for not using Iraqi oil money to repay the U.S. He said it would fuel the perception the U.S. fought the war to get Iraq's oil.
(on camera): Sources at the closed door meeting with Vice President Cheney said he also told Republicans that the White House would not cut and run from Iraq because the going gets tough. He said that is what the U.S. did in Somalia and in Lebanon and now was determined to finish the job in Iraq, regardless of what the cost is.
Jonathan Karl, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
