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An amendment proposed by Congresswoman Barbara Lee that would have ordered an investigation into recent revelations that the Bush administration may have distorted or withheld information regarding Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction fell 33 votes shy of passage Wednesday. 

Lee said the close vote reflects the nation’s desire to see that the truth about the reasons for the war comes out. “I am pleased to see that there is growing support for our effort to receive straight answers from the administration,” she said. 

The amendment would have called on the General Accounting Office to determine whether the Department of Defense and other intelligence agencies gave false information or failed to give information to United Nations weapons inspectors about Iraq’s possession of weapons prior to the invasion. 

Lee said the amendment would have investigated whether intelligence was shared “in a timely” manner. 

“This nation launched a preemptive war based on what it claimed was indisputable evidence,” she said. “If that evidence was not so solid and especially if it was distorted, then we severely undercut our ability to convince the world about future dangers from weapons of mass destruction in other countries.”