MY REP IN THE HOUSE RESPONDS TO DSM, ETC.

(Yes, he is a Democrat.)

Dear Mr. J. :

Thank you for taking the time to contact me with your concerns about the Downing Street Memo, which suggests that President Bush intentionally misled the American people while trying to push his political agenda, especially related to the war in Iraq . I appreciate hearing from you.
To date, over 500,000 citizens and 127 members of Congress, including myself, have sent letters to the President requesting the investigation of reports of a pre-war deal between the United Kingdom and the United States involving the assertion that pre-war intelligence was intentionally manipulated in order to justify going to war with Iraq .
We, the public, have a right to know if we were purposely misled by the Administration in its justification for going to war. In May, the London Times revealed a 'leaked' British intelligence document referred to as the Downing Street Memo. Specifically, the memo states that 'Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD'. The Memo goes on to say that the 'intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy'.
These are very serious charges - that the Bush Administration intentionally misused intelligence to deceive the American public into supporting a war in Iraq .
This is not the first time the Democrats in Congress have attempted to hold the Bush Administration accountable for its actions surrounding the war in Iraq . Many Democrats in Congress, including House Minority Leader Pelosi, supported legislation introduced by Rep. Waxman to establish an independent commission -- modeled after the September 11 Commission -- to examine both the Iraq intelligence and the representations made by executive branch officials about this intelligence. This legislation was cosponsored by more than 135 members of Congress, however, the Republican Majority and the White House have blocked any attempts to establish any truly independent investigations.
Furthermore, following a series of New York Times articles in February, 2005, the lead Democrats on the House Committee for Government Reform sent a letter to the Chairman requesting that the Committee hold hearings to investigate what they felt were two very serious questions raised by the New York Times : the first was whether the Administration misused the classification process to withhold, for political reasons, official 9/11 Commission staff findings detailing how federal aviation officials received multiple intelligence reports warning of airline hijackings and suicide attacks before September 11th. The second issue related to the veracity of statements, briefings, and testimony by then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice surrounding this issue. Rice is also revealed in the Downing Street Memo to have stated that she "[had] no patience with the U.N. route".
My colleagues and I continue to pursue the truth. In June, we requested that the House Committees on Intelligence, International Relations and Armed Services hold hearings to investigate the allegations raised by the Downing Street Memo. We also submitted a Freedom of Information Act inquiry requesting the disclosure of all agency records related to the Downing Street Memo.
I fully support the efforts to hold hearings on all of these issues. It is vital that the current Administration not be allowed to use partisan politics to stand in the way of our national security. Leaving these crucial questions unanswered undermines the very fabric of our great democracy. Such an act would justify and set a precedent for our leaders to make choices without considering the needs of those they serve.
Again, thank you for taking the time to communicate with me. I always appreciate hearing about the issues that are important to you.

Sincerely,
Raul M. Grijalva
Member of Congress