Text:

Evidence

Narrator: “Mike DeWine is slinging mud and taking votes out of context.”

Onscreen: [Mike DeWine, taking votes out of context.]

FACT: DeWine Doesn’t Even Read the Intel Reports on the War He Sent Un-Armored Troops Into

DeWine Admitted He Doesn’t Read the Intel Reports.  “A consensus of 16 intelligence agencies,” the report “says the Iraq war is breeding potential new terrorists”. Despite being a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, DeWine did not read the report until this week even though he had access to it in April.  DeWine dismisses the central finding of the document as a “claim” that “has been made in the past.”  He only read it “when it became a flash point this week.”  [Plain Dealer, 9/28/06]

NIE Confirms War in Iraq Has Led to Increased Terror Threat.  The National Intelligence Estimate completed in April asserts that Islamic radicalism has grown worldwide and that the U.S. war with Iraq is the key reason behind the spread of terror threats. The report “says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse,” according to one American intelligence official.  The report reflects the consensus view of the 16 government intelligence services, including the CIA, and was approved by Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte, confirms predictions in a January 2003 pre-war NIE, which stated that the impending war had the potential to increase terrorist objectives. [New York Times, 9/24/06; Lancaster Eagle Gazette, 7/15/06; Congressional Report 109-259, 5/25/06; Columbus Dispatch, 1/30/04; Newsweek, 3/27/06; Frontrunner, 2/24/06; Columbus Dispatch, 7/1/06]

FACT: Brown Has Record of Supporting Homeland Security Funding

Brown Was Leading Sponsor of Bioterrorism Bill in 2001.  In December 2001, Brown was a leading sponsor of the $2.96 billion bioterrorism bill. The bill included $1 billion to stockpile vaccines for emergencies and $100 million for food safety inspections. [Columbus Dispatch, “Ohio Lawmakers Busy as Congress Winds Down,” 12/16/01]

Brown Voted To Protect The Nation From Bio-Terror Attack. The bill is $5.6 billion anti-terrorism initiative called Project Bioshield to stockpile remedies against deadly germs that could be used in a biological attack. The bill creates a 10-year funding reserve for large public supplies of drugs and vaccines to battle potential bioterror weapons including anthrax, smallpox, plague and the Ebola virus. Project BioShield doesn't mean the government will make these products. Instead, it offers pharmaceutical companies a guaranteed buyer - an incentive the industry has long sought before spending millions in research to produce terrorism countermeasures. The legislation also would accelerate the approval process for the new products and allow more widespread distribution of experimental medications during a terrorist attack. If the private sector leaves a gap, the government would be allowed to operate emergency programs to research and produce vaccines. The measure passed 414-2. [San Francisco Chronicle, 7/15/04; Associated Press, 7/15/04; S 15, Vote #376, 7/14/2004]

Brown Voted For $7.4 Billion Port Security Bill. The vote was for a $7.4 billion port security bill that would require the Department of Homeland Security to take steps to install radiation detectors at U.S. ports, develop plans for the restoration of commerce during a disaster and authorize several existing port security programs. House Republicans pushed through a rule that barred Democrats from offering amendments to improve the bill. [Washington Post, 5/5/06; HR 4954, Vote #127, 5/4/2006]

Brown Voted Against Removing Dubai Ports Ban from Supplemental Spending Bill. The vote was against an amendment to remove the provision blocking the Dubai ports deal from the supplemental spending bill for hurricane relief and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. [CQ Today, 3/15/06; HR 4939 , Vote #43, 3/15/2006]

Brown Voted Against Massive Cuts To Homeland Security & Border Enforcement Efforts. The vote was to strip a 1% across-the-board cut to all "discretionary" programs that had been attached to the FY 2006 defense spending bill. The cuts - totaling $8.5 billion - did not effect veterans' benefits or combat related accounts. However, the provision did include a $48 million cut to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency. Of this amount, nearly $19 million would be cut from security operations between the ports of entry on our borders - i.e., the Border Patrol. In order to absorb this cut, CBP would be unable to hire, train, equip, and deploy approximately 100 new Border Patrol agents. Preparedness, Mitigation, Recovery and Response programs within FEMA will be reduced by $2 million dollars.  Cutting these programs would reduce funding for programs like catastrophic planning, including planning for mass evacuations. [Senate Committee on Appropriations Minority Staff, 12/19/05; HR 2863, Vote #668, 12/19/2005]

Brown Voted to Increase Homeland Security Funding by $1 Billion.  The vote would have slightly reduced the recent tax cuts for people earning more than $1 million a year in order to increase homeland security funding by $1 billion. A report by the Council on Foreign Relations found ‘the United States remains dangerously ill prepared to handle a catastrophic attack on American soil and that America will fall approximately $98.4 billion short of meeting critical emergency responder needs over the next five years if current funding levels are maintained.’ An effort to block the funding increase passed, 222-200. [AP, 6/25/03; Council on Foreign Relations, "Emergency Responders: Drastically Underfunded, Dangerously Unprepared," 6/29/03; HR 255, Vote #305, 6/24/2003]

Brown Voted for $33.1 Billion Homeland Security Spending Bill. The vote was to provide $33.1 billion for the Department of Homeland Security. The measure provides $19.6 billion, 9% more than current funding, for border security and immigration programs and $4.2 billion, a 12% boost, for port and cargo security. [CQ House Action Report, Homeland Security Appropriations for FY 2007, 6/7/06; HR 5441, Vote #226, 6/6/2006]

Brown Voted To Fulfill The 9/11 Commission Recommendations On Border Security & Immigration. The vote was to improve border security and immigration enforcement by fulfilling the 9/11 Commission's border security recommendations. On December 5, 2005 the 9/11 Commission issued its final report card that highlighted the many failures of the Republican Congress and Administration in implementing the commission's recommendations. As Chairman Thomas Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton said in a joint statement on December 5, "There is so much more to be done...Many obvious steps that the American people assume have been completed have not been...Some of these failures are shocking...We are frustrated by the lack of urgency about fixing these problems." The alternative proposal would have hired more border agents, ended the "catch and release" practice by authorizing 100,000 additional detention beds and incorporated state-of-the art surveillance technology, including cameras, sensors, radar, satellites, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in order to ensure 100% border coverage. [Reps. Conyers, Thompson and Reyes Dear Colleague, "Fulfilling the 9/11 Commission's Recommendations," 12/16/05; HR 4437, Vote #660, 12/16/2005]

Narrator: “Sherrod Brown voted for body armor, armored humvees . . .”

Onscreen: [Sherrod Brown voted for body armor for troops [HR4613 #284, #418], armored humvees [HR1268 #77]]

FACT: Brown Has Supported Force Protection, Body Armor, and Humvees to Protect Our Troops

Brown Voted for $65.9 Billion in Supplemental Iraq Funding, Including Body Armor for Troops.  The House passed the first supplemental funding bill for the Iraq War.  HR 1559 provided $65.9 billion.  [HR 1559 Vote # 108, 4/3/03]

House GOP Leadership Prevented Brown and Other Representatives from an Up-or-Down Vote on Amendment that Would Have Increased Funding for Force Protection.  Rep. Tauscher offered a floor amendment to transfer $300 million from funding weapons inspections to Army force protection measures.  It was ruled out of order with no recorded vote.  [HR 3289, H Amdt. 430 10/17/03]

Brown Voted Twice for $25 Billion Iraq Supplemental that Included Funding for Body Armor.  The bill provided funding for added manpower requirements stemming from Iraq and Afghanistan and the increases in end strength approved by the House in its consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005. This amount also included over $14 billion for operation and maintenance; addressed critical force protection requirements such as up-armored Humvees and individual body armor; and provides funding in support of the Army brigade restructuring initiative, as it applies to units, which will be rotating into theater. [HR 4613, Vote # 284 6/22/04; HR 4613, Vote # 418 7/22/04]

Brown voted Yes on the $80 billion Iraq Supplemental that Included Body Armor and Up-Armored Humvees.  The bill provided our troops with the equipment and support they need, including body armor, up-armored Humvees, electronic jammers, and a host of other force protection gear and equipment repair.  [HR 1268 Vote #77 3/16/05]

FACT: DeWine Had Chances to Support Troops with Body Armor, Didn’t

DeWine Voted Against $322 Million in Safety Equipment for U.S. Forces in Iraq Including Body Armor.  This amendment would provide an additional $322 million for safety equipment for United States forces in Iraq offset by reducing the amount provided for reconstruction.  DeWine voted to table the amendment and succeeded in doing so.  [S. Amdt. 1817 to S. 1689, Vote # 376, 10/2/03]

DeWine Voted Against Revenue for Body Armor. In 2004, DeWine voted against an amendment that would express the sense of the Senate that legislation should be enacted that would impose an excise tax on a plaintiff's attorney in tobacco litigation cases equal to 5 percent of the excess fee transaction that exceeds $20,000 per hour. The revenue would be used to pay for military equipment, including heavily armored Humvees, body armor, unmanned aerial vehicles and ammunition. [S 2400, 5/19/04, #100]

DeWine Voted Against $1 Billion For National Guard and Reserve Force Protection, Including Body Armor.  The vote was to kill a Landrieu amendment, which “Landrieu repeatedly stated on the floor . . . would ensure that National Guard soldiers had ‘helmets’ and other ‘force protection’ equipment intended to ‘minimize causalities.’”  Landrieu’s press release in March said the Marine Corps Reserve detailed it needed to replenish its supply of “helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests,” – Senator Landrieu’s amendment would have appropriated $1 Billion.  The National Guard Association of the United States supported the amendment.  Mike DeWine voted with Republicans to kill it.  [S. Amdt. 452 to S. 762, Vote #116 4/3/03; Landrieu Press Release, 3/26/03; Media Matters, 9/22/06]

DeWine Voted Against $300 Million in Safety Equipment for Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan – Including Body Armor.  The Dodd amendment would have “provide[d] safety equipment through the Rapid Fielding Initiative and the Iraqi Battlefield Clearance program.”  The $300 million would be added to the “underlying bill for small arms protection inserts (SAPI) body armor and battlefield cleanup. In his October 2, 2003, floor statement, he noted there was ‘not enough money in the bill to do both,’ citing a September 26, 2003, report by the assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller that requested an additional $420 million for the battlefield cleanup alone.”  [S. Amdt. 1817 to S. 1689 Vote #376 10/2/03; Media Matters, 9/22/06]

FACT: DeWine Sent Troops to Iraq Without Body Armor

General Abazaid Did Not Dispute Troops Lacked Body Armor.  At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing Sept. 24, 2003, Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command, did not dispute the estimate that 40,000 troops were without the newer design, and said the $300 million was needed to buy more of the vests.  Abizaid said: “Now, I can't answer for the record why we started this war with protective vests that were in short supply. But I can tell you that by November, every soldier that's serving in Iraq will have one.  It's very important.”  [FactCheck.org, 3/16/04]

Pentagon Study Found 80 Percent of Marine Deaths Could Have Been Prevented With Additional Body Armor. This month, it was reported by the New York Times that a Pentagon study found that as many as 80 percent of Marine deaths in Iraq could have been prevented with increased body armor. 526 marines have been killed in combat in Iraq.  [New York Times, 1/7/06]

Armor In Question Has Been Available Since 2003. “Such armor has been available since 2003, but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials,” the New York Times reported. [New York Times, 1/7/06]

Ohio Solider Said Armor Should Be Available, Demanded Answers. "If it's going to protect a soldier or save his life, they definitely should have been afforded the opportunity to wear it," said Staff Sgt. Shaun Benoit, 26, of Conneaut, Ohio. "I want to know where there was a break in communication." [Associated Press, 1/8/06]

FACT: DeWine Wanted Funds to Go to Wasteful Reconstruction Rather than Troops

“Waste, Fraud and Abuse” Were Rampant in Reconstruction Efforts. “American companies are barred by law from paying bribes or taking kickbacks abroad. But Iraq is still largely a lawless place. And one company director for a British firm doing business in Baghdad says that makes all the difference. ‘I’ve never seen corruption like this by expatriate businessmen. It’s like a feeding frenzy,’ he says. One prominent Iraqi businessman said he was told he’d have to raise his bid by $750,000 to get a major contract, so long as he kicked back that amount to the contractor’s rep. […] Halliburton, a chief U.S. contractor under intense scrutiny for its ties to Cheney, has been accused of gouging prices on imported fuel—charging $1.59 a gallon to import nearly 200 million gallons of gasoline. SOMO, the Iraqi national oil company, indicated it can buy the same fuel at no more than 98 cents a gallon. ‘Why they don’t have the Iraqis bring it in rather than have Halliburton charge high prices for it, I don’t know,’ says a Democratic official on the Government Reform Committee, which first raised the issue. […] Behnam Polis, the Iraqi minister of Transportation, told Newsweek that another American contractor, Stevedoring Services of America, was overcharging in its administration of Umm Qasr. ‘They’re unloading cargo at $12 a ton. That’s a lot. Ports in Dubai and Kuwait do it for $3 a ton,’ he said. [Newsweek, 12/10/2003]

Opponents Were Concerned That Lack of Infrastructure to Get Missing Body Armor Overseas Meant Likely the Money Would Go To Halliburton, Others. Representative Jane Harman, Ranking Member on the House Intelligence Committee, stated, “our troops, our veterans and America's families deserve better. Members of this body rightly have complained about the Bush Administration's lack of a sustainable strategy for Iraq and the lack of a sincere attempt to explain the supplemental's details. The failure to spend funds wisely in Iraq and Afghanistan is already having a profound effect on our fighting men and women there. Earlier this week newspapers reported that ceramic inserts for soldiers' flak jackets - to be paid for with $300 million already appropriated - still have not been delivered and might not arrive until December! This is irresponsible. US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are targets of daily attacks; wearing the inserts is literally a matter of life and death should they be hit by assault rifle fire.” [Office of Jane Harman Statement, 10/16/2003]

Narrator: “ . . . the death penalty for terrorists . . . “

Onscreen: [death penalty for terrorists [HR10 #513, #514]]

FACT: Sherrod Brown Supported Death Penalty for Terrorists.

Sherrod Brown Supported The Death Penalty for Terrorists.  Brown voted for the Carter, R-Texas, amendment that would change the federal criminal code to apply the death penalty or life imprisonment for a terrorist offense that results in a person's death.  [HR 10, Vote #514, 10/8/04]

Sherrod Brown Supported The Death Penalty for Possession of Terrorist Weapons.  Brown voted for an amendment that would make the unauthorized possession of shoulder-fired guided missiles, atomic weapons, dirty bombs and smallpox virus a federal crime punishable by mandatory penalties of up to $2 million in fines plus 30 years in prison, life imprisonment or death if the violation results in a person's death. [HR 10, Vote #513, 10/8/04]

Narrator: “ . . . and to protect our troops from roadside bombs.”

Onscreen: [Force Protection from Roadside Bombs [HR4939 #65, #257]]

FACT: Brown Supports Force Protection and Equipment to Defeat IEDs

Brown Voted for the $65 Billion Emergency Supplemental That Included Funding for Force Protection and Equipment to Combat IEDs.  He voted for Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery.  The bill included some $65.86 billion for war related costs in Iraq and Afghanistan, approximately the amount requested by the President.   In addition to providing increased levels of funding for new and refurbished equipment, and for enhanced force protection, the Committee recommendation fully funds the budget request of nearly $2 billion to procure and develop equipment to defeat Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). [HR 4939, Vote #65 3/16/06; HR 4939, Vote # 257 6/13/06]

Brown Voted For Democratic Alternative Containing Funds to Improve the Quality of Life for Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He voted for an amendment sought to add $3.6 billion to the bill to improve the quality of life for the members of the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This includes refurbishing used equipment that would be useless left unrepaired.  Without this funding, that equipment is unusable for 2 years and our readiness to deal with other problems around the world is substantially inhibited.  [H.Amdt. 407 to HR 3289 Vote # 547, 10/16/03]

Brown Voted For Democratic Alternative Containing Funds to Improve the Quality of Life for Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He voted for an amendment sought to add $3.6 billion to the bill to improve the quality of life for the members of the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This includes refurbishing used equipment that would be useless left unrepaired.  Without this funding, that equipment is unusable for 2 years and our readiness to deal with other problems around the world is substantially inhibited.  [H.Amdt. 407 to HR 3289 Vote # 547, 10/16/03]

The Democratic Substitute Spent More on the Military and Less on Iraqi Construction.  "House Appropriations ranking member David Obey plans to offer a comprehensive substitute amendment to a Republican-drafted, $86.7 billion, FY04 supplemental spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan.  Obey told reporters the measure would shift money away from reconstructing Iraq -- for which Appropriations Chairman Young has budgeted $18.65 billion -- and add spending to the military section, which would provide $65.1 billion under the chairman's mark.  The panel is expected to approve the $86.7 billion measure today, however, beating back Obey's amendment and sending the bill to the House floor. 'I believe both needs are being understated and hidden by the administration,' Obey said. 'The biggest problem is the immediate needs of the military are being understated.  I do not regard this as a partisan issue.'" [Congress Daily, 10/3/03]

Narrator: “What kind of man would use our troops to smear his opponent?

DeWine: a man who doctored photos of 9/11 for political gain . . .”

 Onscreen: [DeWine.  DeWine attack ad.  “DeWine’s campaign doctored an image” Source: Toledo Blade 7/20/06]

FACT: DeWine Doctored Image of Twin Towers in Political Ad

DeWine Faked Imagery from 9/11.  “The footage is haunting — and, it turns out, is fake.  The campaign of DeWine, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, acknowledged as much Wednesday night, saying its media consultant used gimmickery to create smoke billowing from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The commercial shows the North Tower unaffected at that moment — even though it was the first to be struck by a hijacked jetliner.  That would make the “footage” impossible, said U.S. News & World Report, which broke the story in its online edition.”  [Plain Dealer, 7/20/06]

Senator DeWine’s Ad Produced by Same Firm that Made the Swift Boat Ads in 2004.  “The senator was notified Wednesday by a reporter at U.S. News & World Report that the image of the burning Twin Towers could not have depicted the actual event because the smoke was blowing the wrong way . . . DeWine's campaign spokesman, Brian Seitchik, called the image in the original ad a" graphic representation," produced by the advertising production firm Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm . . . "The senator thought it depicted the actual events of 9-11 and when he found out that wasn't the case, he wanted an actual picture used," Seitchik said." I don't think it would be noticeable to the naked eye." . . . Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm did not immediately return calls seeking comment.  The firm also produced the controversial Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads in 2004, which accused Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry of lying about his decorated Vietnam War record.”  [AP, 7/19/06]

Narrator: “ . . . missed critical meetings on the Intelligence Committee . . .”

Onscreen: [Missed 47.5% of Intelligence Committee Public Meetings Source: Gov’t Printing Office; C-SPAN.ORG]

FACT: DeWine Skipped Almost Half of Intel Committee Public Hearings

DeWine Claims Spending Up to Half of His Time on Intelligence Committee. DeWine told the Canton Repository that he “probably spends 40 percent to 50 percent of his time on Intelligence Committee work”. [Canton Repository, 8/11/06]

Over His Career, DeWine Missed Nearly Half of Public Meetings. 101 public committee meetings were held since 1995, when DeWine started his assignment on the committee. Of the 101 meetings, DeWine missed at least 48 of them. [Government Printing Office, c-span.org]

DeWine Missed At Least 48 Public Meetings. DeWine missed public meetings of the Senate Intelligence Committee on 5/16/2006, 2/2/2006, 7/21/2005, 7/19/2005, 6/16/2005, 5/24/2005, 4/19/2005, 2/16/2005, 6/18/2003, 10/9/2002, 4/25/2002, 4/17/2002, 2/7/2001, 9/26/2000, 6/14/2000, 6/8/2000, 2/2/2000, 6/9/1999, 2/26/1999, 2/4/1999, 7/8/1998, 5/22/1998, 5/21/1998, 2/11/1998, 2/4/1998, 10/1/1997, 9/18/1997, 3/13/1997, 12/11/1996, 12/4/1996, 11/26/1996, 10/23/1996, 9/25/1996, 9/5/1996, 8/1/1996, 7/17/1996, 6/19/1996, 5/23/1996, 5/21/1996, 3/27/1996, 3/19/1996, 2/28/1996, 2/22/1996, 9/20/1995, 8/9/1995, 6/21/1995, 6/14/1995, and 5/3/1995. [Government Printing Office, c-span.org]

DeWine Ranks Among Worst for Attendance. During the 109^th Congress, the combined attendance for DeWine’s committee colleagues was 60%, while DeWine’s attendance was a mere 33%. Only one member of the fifteen-member committee missed more meetings than DeWine. [Government Printing Office, c-span.org]

DeWine’s Missed Meetings Include:

• TWO Hearings on the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001
• 5/24/2005, 4/19/2005 [Government Printing Office]
• FIVE Annual Assessments by the Heads of the Intelligence Community
• 2/2/2006, 2/16/2005, 2/7/2001, 2/2/2000, 2/22/1996 [Government Printing Office; c-span.org]
• SEVENTEEN Confirmation Hearings for High-Ranking Intelligence Positions (These Meetings included confirmation hearings for some of the highest ranking intelligence officers who led the intelligence community leading up to the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks.)
• 5/16/2006, 7/21/2005, 7/19/2005, 6/16/2005, 6/18/2003, 10/9/2002, 4/25/2002, 4/17/2002, 2/26/1999, 2/4/1999, 7/8/1998, 5/22/1998, 5/21/1998, 10/1/1997, 3/13/1997, 6/14/1995, and 5/3/1995 [Government Printing Office; c-span.org]

Over Last Two Years, DeWine Missed Two-Thirds of Public Committee Meetings. 12 open meetings were held and DeWine missed eight of them. [Government Printing Office documents, c-span.org]

DeWine Missed Crucial Hearing Seven Months Before 9/11/2001. On February 7, 2001, the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies issued their annual reports to the committee at a public hearing. During his testimony, CIA Director George Tenet warned, “Usama bin Ladin and his global network of lieutenants and associates remain the most immediate and serious threat.” DeWine missed the hearing. [cia.gov, Government Printing Office]

Since 9/11/2001, DeWine Missed At Least 12 Public Meetings. Even after the U.S. was attacked, DeWine continued his pattern of absences. DeWine missed meetings on 5/16/2006, 2/2/2006, 7/21/2005, 7/19/2005, 6/16/2005, 5/24/2005, 4/19/2005, 2/16/2005, 6/18/2005, 10/9/2005, 4/25/2005, and 4/17/2005. [Government Printing Office, c-span.org]

DeWine Considers PATRIOT Act “Essential” Yet He Missed Two of Three Open Hearings in 2005 Concerning the Act. At the one hearing for which DeWine was present, he attended only briefly, made no statement, and asked no questions. [Canton Repository, 8/11/06, Government Printing Office; c-span.org]

DeWine Missed At Least Eight of Ten Public Meetings Leading Up to 9/11/2001. Between February 4, 1999 and September 11, 2001, DeWine missed at least eight and as many as ten of ten public Meetings that preceded 9/11/2001. [Government Printing Office]

DeWine Missed All Public Meetings During Two Years Leading Up to 9/11/2001. Moreover, in the two years leading up to 9/11/2001, DeWine did not attend a single public hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee. [Government Printing Office]

Narrator: “ . . . misled us on weapons of mass destruction . . . ”

Onscreen: [Misled us on WMD in Iraq; Source: Toledo Blade, 7/10/02]

FACT: DeWine Misled of WMD Intelligence

Pre-War: DeWine Claimed He Saw Classified Information That Proved Iraq Had WMD.  The Toledo Blade reported in July 2002 that, “[DeWine] repeated his insistence that Saddam Hussein has chemical and biological weapons and is trying to get nuclear weapons. He refused to be specific, saying, ‘A lot of this stuff is classified.’”  [Toledo Blade, 7/10/02]

DeWine Admitted He Had Doubts But Loyalty for Bush Won Out. “When the moment arrived for Mike DeWine to vote yea or nay on whether President Bush should have the authority to wage war against Iraq, the Ohio Republican delivered a curious speech. Eloquent as his words were, they did not disguise the severe turn. The senator began with a thoughtful discussion of his many doubts. He ended with a strikingly incompatible expression of support for the president.  Loyalty played a role, a president gaining the trust of an ally, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, in a trying moment.”  [Akron Beacon Journal, Editorial, 2/1/04]

Narrator: “ . . . then tried to cover up intelligence failures.”

Sherrod Brown: “I’m Sherrod Brown, I approve this message.”

Onscreen: [Voted to cover up intelligence failures; Source: HR2658, #284, #290; S 1689, #395.

Sherrod Brown U.S. Senate sherrodbrown.com.  APPROVED BY SHERROD BROWN. PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF SHERROD BROWN.]

FACT: DeWine Tried to Cover Up Intelligence Failures

DeWine Voted Multiple Times Against Establishing an Independent Commission to Investigate Prewar Iraqi Intelligence.  On July 16, 2003, DeWine cast one of the deciding votes to kill an amendment that would authorize $5 million for the creation of a 12-member commission to investigate the role of policymakers in the development and use of intelligence leading up to military operations in Iraq.  The commission would have the power to hold hearings, accept evidence, and subpoena witnesses.  The commission would have to present its findings and recommendations to Congress and the president nine months after its first meeting.  On October 17, 2003, DeWine again voted against a similar proposal.  [HR 2658 Vote #284, 7/16/03; HR 2658 Vote # 290, 7/17/03; S 1689, 10/17/03, #395; CQ Daily Monitor, 10/17/03]

Los Angeles Times: Intelligence Committee Should Be Renamed “Senate Cover-up Committee.”  “In a world without Doublespeak the panel … would be known by a more appropriate name — the Senate Cover-up Committee. Although the committee is officially charged with overseeing the nation’s intelligence-gathering operations, its real function in recent years has been to prevent the public from getting hold of any meaningful information about the Bush administration.” [Los Angeles Times, editorial 2/19/06]

FACT: Mike DeWine Still Supports “Stay the Course” in Iraq.

2,703 U.S. fatalities in Iraq as of 9/25/06 [CNN.com, Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, 9/25/06]

19,910 U.S. casualties in Iraq as of 9/25/06 [CNN.com, Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, 9/25/06]

123 Ohioan fatalities as of 9/25/06 [Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, 9/25/06]

Army Chief of Staff to Rumsfeld: Reduce Troop Levels in Iraq or Dramatically Increase Budget.  “The Army's top officer withheld a required 2008 budget plan from Pentagon leaders last month after protesting to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that the service could not maintain its current level of activity in Iraq plus its other global commitments without billions in additional funding.  The decision by Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff, is believed to be unprecedented and signals a widespread belief within the Army that in the absence of significant troop withdrawals from Iraq, funding assumptions must be completely reworked, say current and former Pentagon officials.”  [L.A. Times, 9/25/06]

Four Thousand U.S. Troops Have Combat Tours Extended to More than One Year.  “The Army has extended the combat tours of about 4,000 soldiers who would otherwise be returning home, a defense official said Monday.  The 1st Brigade of 1st Armored Division, which is operating in the vicinity of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, will be kept in place for several weeks beyond their scheduled departure, the official said.  The brigade has about 4,000 soldiers in Iraq . . . They were scheduled to be there a maximum of 12 months, but they are not the first to be extended.”  [AP, 9/25/06]

Senate Intelligence Committee Issues Report: No Link Between Saddam and Al Qaeda.  “Saddam Hussein rejected overtures from al-Qaida and believed Islamic extremists were a threat to his regime, a reverse portrait of an Iraq allied with Osama bin Laden painted by the Bush White House, a Senate panel has found.  The administration's version was based in part on intelligence that White House officials knew was flawed.” [Associated Press, 9/9/06]

DeWine Dissented From Report. Plain Dealer: DeWine’s “Partisan Obstructionism” “Crippling” Senate Oversight.  After the Senate released the first two of five sections of the Phase II report on pre-war intelligence in September, the Cleveland Plain Dealer hammered Chairman Pat Roberts and Senator Mike DeWine by formally dissenting from the report’s conclusions. “Roberts’ transparent attempt to whitewash the INC's [Iraqi National Congress] intelligence meddling signals that he may go to the mat to prevent a full and fair investigation of any politically motivated intelligence distortions by key Bush administration figures….  Roberts’ partisanship is crippling his committee's ability to function as a key partner in U.S. national security strategy, [his] dissent on the INC report was signed by only five of seven other Republican committee members, including Mike DeWine of Ohio….  This is partisan obstructionism, pure and simple. It does not belong at this level of U.S. leadership and governance.”  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, Editorial, 9/12/06]

Roberts, DeWine, Stonewalled On Phase II.  In February 2004, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted unanimously to expand the scope of the Iraq inquiry – into what is now commonly referred to as the “Phase II report”—to include an evaluation of how policymakers used the intelligence available to them.  After months of stonewalling by Pat Roberts and Republicans, they agreed to set November 14, 2005 as the deadline to report on Phase II.  But Roberts and Republicans on the Committee reneged on their deal and blew off the deadline.  In fact, Roberts called Phase II “a monumental waste of time.”  After promising to complete a draft “statements” section of Phase II by April 5 of this year, Roberts again let the deadline pass without action.  Two of the five sections of the report were finally released in September, but the most controversial sections were delayed until after the elections.  [U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 3/31/05; CNN, 11/1/05; Face the Nation, 11/6/05; Roberts Press Release, 3/14/06; The Hill, 4/25/06; CQ, 7/11/06; Cleveland Plain Dealer, Editorial, 9/12/06]

Senate Intelligence Committee Investigation Incomplete More Than Three Years after Start of War. “We've been waiting for well over two years for the Senate Intelligence Committee to finally hold the Bush administration accountable for the fairy tales it told about Saddam Hussein's weapons. Republican leaders keep saying it is a waste of time to find out whether President Bush and other top officials deliberately misled the world. But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's bizarre responses the other day to questions about that very issue were a timely reminder of why this investigation needs to be completed promptly, thoroughly and fairly.  Unfortunately, Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Senate panel, is running it in a way that makes it unlikely that anything useful will come of it.”  [New York Times, Editorial, 5/7/06]