Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid today delivered the keynote address at the YearlyKos Convention in Las Vegas, announcing a new initiative to ensure the Bush Administration speaks honestly and accurately to the American people about the challenge Iran poses. With the Bush administration stepping up its public and private diplomacy with Iran, Reid announced that Democrats would take new steps to hold senior Bush administration officials accountable for their statements on Iran, just like they have fought to hold them accountable for their misleading statements about the Iraq war...
Reid's legislation, the Iran Intelligence Oversight Act, would:
-- Require an updated national intelligence estimate on Iran with an unclassified summary available to inform debate by Congress and the American people
-- Require the President to report to Congress on his objectives regarding Iran and his strategy for achieving them
-- Require the Director of National Intelligence to show Congress that he has a process to review statements about Iran and other key challenges to our national security made by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and key cabinet officials to ensure they are consistent with the consensus assessments of professional intelligence analysts.
"Next week, I will introduce new legislation to ensure that Americans are not misled again about a national security challenge. The bill will require intelligence community professionals to monitor and certify administration statements about the threat posed by Iran," Reid said of the legislation. "Every thing they say will have to be supported by facts. I have no doubt the White House won't like this requirement, but after what happened in Iraq, the American people deserve nothing less."
He also asked bloggers to take real action in the coming months.
First, he asked bloggers to continue to call Republicans out on their divisive political games, and to ensure what happened in 2004 will not happen in 2006.
Second, he asked them to help make it clear where Democrats stand on the key issues facing Americans and dispel the urban myth perpetuated by Republicans that Democrats don't stand for anything.
Reid said, "We don't have a bully-pulpit, but we do have you. We need you to be our megaphone ... and, we believe Iraq is this President's war, and it's time for him -- not the president who follows, as President Bush has suggested -- to find a way to turn Iraq over to Iraqis, so our troops can begin to come home and America can refocus its attention on destroying Al Qaeda and addressing the threats that have grown on the Bush Administration's watch."
Third, Reid asked the audience to never give up and to get out into their communities and ensure that Americans understand the need for a new direction in America.
Reid said: "If we're going to change the direction of this country, it requires the hard work of us all. I've talked tonight about the power you have online, but each of use has power off- line as well."
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