Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 requires that international economic sanctions, including an embargo on the sale of oil from Iraq, remain in place until Iraq... (Introduced in the House)

106th CONGRESS
1st Session

H. CON. RES. 39

Urging the President to oppose expansion of the Oil-for-Food Program in Iraq, condemning Saddam Hussein for the actions the Government of Iraq has taken against the Iraqi people and for its defiance of the United Nations, and for other purposes.

March 2, 1999

Mr. WATKINS (for himself and Mr. THORNBERRY) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

Urging the President to oppose expansion of the Oil-for-Food Program in Iraq, condemning Saddam Hussein for the actions the Government of Iraq has taken against the Iraqi people and for its defiance of the United Nations, and for other purposes.

Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 requires that international economic sanctions, including an embargo on the sale of oil from Iraq, remain in place until Iraq discloses and destroys its weapons of mass destruction programs and capabilities and undertakes unconditionally never to resume such activities;

Whereas Resolution 687 further established the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) to uncover all aspects of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program;

Whereas UNSCOM has repeatedly reported to the United Nations Security Council that Iraq is not in compliance with the conditions of Resolution 687;

Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 986 partially lifted the international economic sanctions by allowing Iraq to sell $1,000,000,000 worth of oil every 90 days and has since been expanded to allow Iraq to sell $5,256,000,000 worth of oil every 6 months (commonly referred to as the Oil-for-Food Program);

Whereas significant evidence exists that the Iraqi people are not reaping the supposed benefits of the Oil-for-Food Program because the regime of Saddam Hussein is either unable or unwilling to distribute humanitarian supplies, and that stockpiles of humanitarian supplies are sitting in warehouses in Iraq;

Whereas United States Administration officials have stated that the United States might support an increase in the amount of oil Iraq could sell under the Oil-for-Food Program if Iraq cooperated with UNSCOM;

Whereas Iraq has not cooperated with UNSCOM, but instead has engaged in hostile activities targeted at the members of the United States Armed Forces;

Whereas significant evidence exists that Iraq is illegally exporting as many as 100,000 barrels of oil a day;

Whereas overproduction and reduced demand have already created a surplus in the world oil market and have driven oil prices to their lowest levels since the Great Depression;

Whereas these decreased oil prices have placed in serious jeopardy many of our domestic oil and gas wells and have already cost an estimated 24,000 jobs in the domestic oil industry;

Whereas increasing our nation's dependence on foreign oil threatens national security and economic prosperity; and

Whereas allowing Iraq, which has violated international agreement after international agreement, to sell additional oil on the world market will only drive down these already depressed international oil prices and force many of our domestic marginal stripper well producers to plug their oil wells: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress--

(1) urges the President to oppose any expansion of the Oil-for-Food Program under current conditions;

(2) urges the President to take steps, through the United Nations, to improve enforcement of the embargo on the sale of oil from Iraq, including efforts to strengthen the Multilateral Interdiction Force and inspections near the port of Basra;

(3) condemns in the strongest possible terms the continued threat to international peace and stability posed by the regime of Saddam Hussein, and its refusal to abide by the conditions of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 686 and 687;

(4) supports the men and women of the Armed Forces who are carrying out their missions in the Persian Gulf theater of operations;

(5) reaffirms that United States policy should support efforts to remove the regime of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime; and

(6) encourages the Department of State to find alternative mechanisms to provide humanitarian relief to the Iraqi people.