Chairman Cox and House Policy Committee Meet with Iraqi President on Reconstruction
House Policy Chairman Christopher Cox (R-CA) and the Committee met today with Iraqi Governing Council President Ahmed Chalabi for a first-hand report marking the completion of his term in the Council's rotating presidency yesterday. The meeting considered U.S.-Iraq policy as the people of Iraq work to establish a market economy and a new government.
"Members of the House Policy Committee received first-hand reports on the progress of Iraqi Governing Council's efforts to establish a representative, constitutional democracy and free enterprise economy in Iraq," said Chairman Cox. "Even while Iraq's newly trained police are working with the United States to apprehend Saddam and to defeat the new waves of terrorists in the country, the Governing Council is enacting laws to promote economic growth and prosperity in Iraq."
The policy of regime change in Iraq began in the House of Representatives in 1996 with a Policy Committee 'Policy Statement,' followed by the enactment of the Iraqi Freedom Act in 1998, co-authored by Chairman Cox and then-International Relations Chairman Ben Gilman (R-NY). Reps. Gilman and Cox were the original sponsors of that seminal legislation. Signed by President Clinton in October 1998, it officially established regime change as the policy of the United States government.
Dr. Chalabi discussed topics including the pace of de-Baathification in Iraq; recent legislation enacted by the Iraqi Governing Council to establish a pro-growth, flat-tax of 15 percent tax on corporate and individual income; the progress of infrastructure reconstruction; the timetable for the adoption of a constitution and the administration of free elections; and the need to write off Saddam's debts to France, Russia, Germany, and other creditors. Dr. Chalabi also described the security environment in Iraq, emphasizing the growing stability and improved security provided by U.S. soldiers throughout Iraq.
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