House panel OKs subpoena for Rice

WASHINGTON, April 25 (UPI) -- A House committee voted Wednesday to authorize a subpoena of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a move the White House said it would fight.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform voted 21-10 to authorize the subpoena as part of its inquiry into administration claims during the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq that Iraq tried to acquire uranium from Niger, The New York Times reported.

Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said he regretted having to subpoena Rice.

"I would like Secretary Rice to suggest a date that would be convenient for her to testify before our committee," he said. "But if we are stonewalled, we can't hesitate to use the power we have."

The decision followed a vote earlier Wednesday by the House and Senate Judiciary committees to authorize subpoenas of two other administration figures in its inquiry into last year's firings of eight U.S. attorneys by the Justice Department -- White House political affairs director Sara Taylor and Monica Goodling, one of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former aides. The House committee also approved a request to grant immunity to Goodling for her potential testimony.