SCHAKOWSKY REACTS TO LATEST WHITE HOUSE CLAIMS ON IRAQ WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

"On the day when news about Iraq is dominated by the killing of Saddam Hussein's sons and the safe return home of Private Jessica Lynch, the importance of White House advisors admitting that the President misled the American people should not go unnoticed.

"It is not enough for advisors to take some responsibility for President Bush falsely informing the country and the world during his State of the Union address that Iraq attempted to purchase uranium in Africa. It is not enough for President Bush's National Security Advisory, Condoleezza Rice, to shoulder some of the blame, even though she is responsible for ensuring that President Bush is armed with the most accurate intelligence information. So far, President Bush, the one man responsible for taking the nation to war has refused to take responsibility for his words. And the buck stops there.

"The American people are entitled to the truth and they have a right to know if President Bush, Vice President Cheney or any White House officials manipulated the intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq. That is why we need an independent commission to determine the veracity of the other suspect evidence used to convince the American people that Iraq posed an imminent threat to our nation."

Schakowsky is an original cosponsor of H.R. 2625, legislation authored by U.S. Representative Henry Waxman to create an independent commission - modeled after the September 11 Commission - to examine the intelligence about Iraq and the representations made by executive branch officials about this intelligence.