Waxman to Rice: You still need to testify on Iraq-Niger intelligence
 A House Committee is still seeking testimony from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later this week, in spite of a 17-page letter sent by the State Department suggesting that a series of inquiries had already been answered in full. The head of the House Oversight Committee called the response "insufficient."
"After receiving an insufficient response from the State Department's Legislative Affairs office, Chairman Waxman reiterates his request for Secretary Rice to testify on April 18 regarding President Bush's claims that Iraq attempted to procure uranium from Niger and other subjects," states a note posted at the website of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
In a letter to the Secretary from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), he states that "Mr. Bergner's letter does not answer many of the Committee's questions, nor does it provide most of the information and documents the Committee requested."
Waxman was particularly concerned with the way that the State Department's response dodged his specific questions on the faulty intelligence on possible Iraqi-Nigerien trade in uranium, which helped the Bush administration build the case for the current Iraq War.
Waxman in his letter argued that Bergner "forwarded copies of two old State Department letters that have no bearing whatsoever on your knowledge of, your role in, or your statements about the Niger claim."
The message from Waxman's office came with the public release of a letter sent by Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Jeffrey Bergner. The 17-page document includes several pages explaining how the State Department believes it has responded to most of the the letters sent by Rep. Waxman.
Bergner's letter did not steer entirely clear of politics, accusing Waxman of pursuing a Congressional earmark.
"Written responses to your February 21, 2007 letter requesting an earmark for the MERC program...[is] forthcoming," Bergner wrote.
Bergner was referring to the Middle East Regional Cooperation program, which Waxman helped create in 1979 legislation, a government-funded effort that "supports the peace process by encouraging and funding joint scientific research and development projects between Israel and its Arab neighbors."
The Congressman's office was not immediately available for a reaction to Bergner's labeling of the Congressman's request as an "earmark."
The response of Waxman's committee and the State Department's letter are available at the House Oversight Committee's website.
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