The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a
previous order of the House, the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. PAUL) is recognized
for 5 minutes.
1999 Ron Paul 25:1 Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, I rise this
evening to address the crisis that is ongoing
now in Yugoslavia. For a war to
be moral, we must have a reason to go
in. National defense is a moral justification.
If we are attacked, it is a
moral war. Getting involved in any
other kind of war is not considered to
be moral.
1999 Ron Paul 25:2 A legal war in this country is one
that is declared, declared by the Congress.
Any other war is illegal. The war
in Yugoslavia now pursued by our administration
and with NATO is both
immoral and illegal and it should not
be pursued. We will be soon voting on
an appropriation, probably next week.
There may be a request for $5 billion to
pursue the war in Yugoslavia. I do not
believe that we should continue to finance
a war that is both immoral and
illegal.
1999 Ron Paul 25:3 It has been said that we are in Yugoslavia
to stop ethnic cleansing, but it
is very clear that the goal of the NATO
forces is to set up an ethnic state.
1999 Ron Paul 25:4 It is totally contradictory. There is a
civil war, and it is horrible, going on in
Yugoslavia today, but this is no justification
for outsiders, and especially
United States of America, to become
involved without the proper proceedings.
1999 Ron Paul 25:5 I believe that our colleague, the gentleman
from California (Mr. CAMPBELL),
deserves to be complemented because
he is making a determined effort
to put the burden on the Members of
Congress to vote one way or the other.
Since World War II we have fought numerous
wars, and they have never been
fought with a declaration of war, and it
is precisely for that reason, because
they have not been fought for truly national
security reasons, that we have
not won these wars. If a war is worth
fighting, it is worth declaring, and it is
worth winning.
1999 Ron Paul 25:6 I am delighted that this effort is
being made by the gentleman from
California (Mr. CAMPBELL) and others
here in the Congress because for so
long, for 50 years now, we have permitted
our Presidents to casually and
carelessly involve our troops overseas.
So I see this trend as putting more
pressure on the Congress to respond to
their responsibilities. I think this is a
very, very good move and going in the
right direction.
1999 Ron Paul 25:7 It has been asked why in the world
might we be there if it is not a concern
for the refugees, because obviously we
have hundreds of thousands, if not millions,
of refugees in many, many places
around the world. We do not go to
Rwanda to rescue the refugees, we did
not go into Yugoslavia to rescue the
Serbian refugees when they were being
routed from Bosnia and Croatia, but all
of a sudden the refugees seem to have
an importance.
1999 Ron Paul 25:8 Most people know why we went to
the Persian Gulf. It was not because we
were attacked. It was because of a financial
commercial interest: oil. But
what is the interest in this area in
Yugoslavia? I am not sure exactly what
it is. There has been a lot of postulations
about this, but I am not convinced
that it is all of a sudden the
concern for the refugees.
1999 Ron Paul 25:9 Yesterday in the Washington Post an
interesting article occurred on this
subject, but it was not in the news section;
it was in the business section.
There was a headline yesterday in the
Washington Post that said: Count Corporate
America Among NATO’s
Staunchest Allies. Very interesting article
because it goes on to explain why
so many corporations have an intense
interest in making sure that the credibility
of NATO is maintained, and they
go on to explain that it is not just the
arms manufacturers but the technology
people who expect to sell weapons
in Eastern Europe, in Yugoslavia,
and they are very interested in making
use of the NATO forces to make sure
that their interests are protected. I
think this is not the reason for us to go
to war.
1999 Ron Paul 25:10 There is talk now of calling up all
our Reserves or many of our Reserves
at the same time there are hints now
that there may be the institution of
the draft. So this is a major problem
that this country is facing, the world is
facing, and up until now we, the Congress,
have not spoken.
1999 Ron Paul 25:11 On February 9 of this year I introduced
a bill that would have prohibited
this by prohibiting any funds being
spent on a war in Yugoslavia. I say it
is too bad we did not pass that legislation
a long time ago.
Notes:
1999 Ron Paul 25:5
the gentleman from California (Mr. CAMPBELL), deserves to be complemented. Here, Ron Paul refers to The Honorable Tom Campbell.
1999 Ron Paul 25:11
On February 9 of this year I introduced a bill. Here, Ron Paul refers to a bill he discussed in
1999 Ron Paul Chapter 6.
