U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says the Bush administration is examining a full range of options on Iraq, and "it is the most serious assessment of options that one might imagine."

President Bush is "leaving no stone unturned as to what we might do," Powell said, in dealing with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's refusal to permit U.N. international weapons inspections to resume.

"The president is examining a full range of options of how to deal with Iraq," the secretary said during testimony before the House International Relations Committee February 6. The committee was conducting a hearing on the administration's request for $25,300 million for U.S. international affairs spending in fiscal year 2003.

Powell declined to elaborate on the extent of the options under consideration by the Bush administration. However, he said there is no doubt that Iraq is pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

"The best intelligence we have suggests that it isn't something they have ready to pop out with in the next year or so. It would take them a bit longer," Powell said.

To accomplish the U.N.-mandated inspections effectively, Powell said the Iraqi government must allow the international inspectors unfettered access.

"The president is determined to keep this on the front burner and is looking at all the options that are available for him to deal with this in a decisive way," Powell said. "We still have a U.S. policy of regime change because we believe Saddam Hussein should move on and that the Iraqi people deserve better leadership."

Powell suggested "regime change is something the United States ... might have to do alone."

At a separate hearing before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, CIA Director George Tenet said "Saddam remains a threat," and the Iraqi leader is determined to thwart U.N. sanctions imposed for his non-compliance in a number of areas.

"Iraq continues to build and expand an infrastructure capable of producing WMD [weapons of mass destruction]," Tenet said. He added that "Iraq retains a significant number of nuclear scientists, program documentation, and probably some dual-use manufacturing infrastructure that could support a reinvigorated nuclear weapons program."