The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr.
PEASE). Under a previous order of the
House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
PAUL) is recognized for 5 minutes.
1999 Ron Paul 20:1 Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, last week
the House narrowly passed a
watered-down
House concurrent resolution
originally designed to endorse President
Clinton’s plan to send U.S. troops
to Kosovo. A House concurrent resolution,
whether strong or weak, has no
effect of law. It is merely a sense of
Congress statement.
1999 Ron Paul 20:2 If last week’s meager debate and vote
are construed as merely an endorsement,
without dissent, of Clinton’s policy
in Yugoslavia, the procedure will
prove a net negative. It will not be seen
as a Congressional challenge to unconstitutional
presidential war power. If,
however, the debate is interpreted as a
serious effort to start the process to restore
Congressional prerogatives, it
may yet be seen as a small step in the
right direction. We cannot know with
certainty which it will be. That will depend
on what Congress does in the future.
1999 Ron Paul 20:3 Presently, those of us who argued for
Congressional responsibility with regards
to declaring war and deploying
troops cannot be satisfied that the
trend of the last 50 years has been reversed.
Since World War II, the war
power has fallen into the hands of our
presidents, with Congress doing little
to insist on its own constitutional responsibility.
From Korea and Vietnam,
to Bosnia and Kosovo, we have permitted
our presidents to “wag the Congress,”
generating a perception that
the United States can and should police
the world. Instead of authority to
move troops and fight wars coming
from the people through a vote of their
Congressional representatives, we now
permit our presidents to cite NATO
declarations and U.N. resolutions.
1999 Ron Paul 20:4 This is even more exasperating knowing
that upon joining both NATO and
the United Nations it was made explicitly
clear that no loss of sovereignty
would occur and all legislative bodies
of member States would retain their
legal authority to give or deny support
for any proposed military action.
1999 Ron Paul 20:5 Today it is erroneously taken for
granted that the President has authority
to move troops and fight wars without
Congressional approval. It would be
nice to believe that this vote on
Kosovo was a serious step in the direction
of Congress once again reasserting
its responsibility for committing U.S.
troops abroad. But the President has
already notified Congress that, regardless
of our sense of Congress resolution,
he intends to do what he thinks is
right, not what is legal and constitutional,
only what he decides for himself.
1999 Ron Paul 20:6 Even with this watered-down endorsement
of troop deployment with
various conditions listed, the day after
the headlines blared “the Congress approves
troop deployments to Kosovo.”
1999 Ron Paul 20:7 If Congress is serious about this
issue, it must do more. First, Congress
cannot in this instance exert its responsibility
through a House concurrent
resolution. The President can and
will ignore this token effort. If Congress
decides that we should not become
engaged in the civil war in Serbia,
we must deny the funds for that
purpose. That we can do. Our presidents
have assumed the war power, but
as of yet Congress still controls the
purse.
1999 Ron Paul 20:8 Any effort on our part to enter a civil
war in a country 5,000 miles away for
the purpose of guaranteeing autonomy
and/or a separate state against the
avowed objections of the leaders of
that country involved, that is Yugoslavia,
can and will lead to a long-term
serious problem for us.
1999 Ron Paul 20:9 Our policy, whether it is with Iraq or
Serbia, of demanding that if certain actions
are not forthcoming, we will unleash
massive bombing attacks on
them, I find reprehensible, immoral, illegal,
and unconstitutional. We are
seen as a world bully, and a growing
anti-American hatred is the result.
This policy cannot contribute to long-term
peace. Political instability will
result and innocent people will suffer.
The billions we have spent bombing
Iraq, along with sanctions, have solidified
Saddam Hussein’s power, while
causing the suffering and deaths of
hundreds of thousands of innocent
Iraqi children. Our policy in Kosovo
will be no more fruitful.
1999 Ron Paul 20:10 The recent flare-up of violence in
Serbia has been blamed on United
States’ plan to send troops to the region.
The Serbs have expressed rage at
the possibility that NATO would invade
their country with the plan to reward
the questionable Kosovo Liberation
Army. If ever a case could be made
for the wisdom of non-intervention, it
is here. Who wants to defend all that
the KLA had done and at the same
time justify a NATO invasion of a sovereign
nation for the purpose of supporting
secession?
“This violence is all
America’s fault,”
one Yugoslavian was
quoted as saying. And who wants to defend
Milosevic?
1999 Ron Paul 20:11 Every argument given for our bombing
Serbia could be used to support the
establishment of Kurdistan. Actually a
stronger case can be made to support
an independent Kurdistan since their
country was taken from them by outsiders.
But how would Turkey feel
about that? Yet the case could be made
that the mistreatment of the Kurds by
Saddam Hussein and others compel us
to do something to help, since we are
pretending that our role is an act as
the world’s humanitarian policeman.
1999 Ron Paul 20:12 Humanitarianism, delivered by a powerful
government through threats of massive bombing
attacks will never be a responsible way to
enhance peace. It will surely have the opposite
effect.
1999 Ron Paul 20:13 It was hoped that the War Powers Resolution
of 1973 would reign in our president’s authority
to wage war without Congressional approval.
It has not happened because all subsequent
Presidents have essentially ignored
its mandates. And unfortunately the interpretation
since 1973 has been to give the President
greater power to wage war with Congressional
approval for at least 60 to 90 days as long as
he reports to the Congress. These reports are
rarely made and the assumption has been
since 1973 that Congress need not participate
in any serious manner in the decision to send
troops.
1999 Ron Paul 20:14 It could be argued that this resulted from a
confused understanding of the War Powers
Resolution but more likely it’s the result of the
growing imperial Presidency that has developed
with our presidents assuming power, not
legally theirs, and Congress doing nothing
about it.
1999 Ron Paul 20:15 Power has been gravitating into the hands
of our presidents throughout this century, both
in domestic and foreign affairs. Congress has
created a maze of federal agencies, placed
under the President, that have been granted
legislative, police, and judicial powers, thus
creating an entire administrative judicial system
outside our legal court system where constitutional
rights are ignored. Congress is responsible
for this trend and it’s Congress’ responsibility
to restore Constitutional government.
1999 Ron Paul 20:16 As more and more power has been granted
in international affairs, presidents have readily
adapted to using Executive Orders, promises
and quasi-treaties to expand the scope and
size of the presidency far above anything even
the Federalist ever dreamed of.
1999 Ron Paul 20:17 We are at a crossroads and if the people
and the Congress do not soon insist on the
reigning in of presidential power, both foreign
and domestic, individual liberty cannot be preserved.
1999 Ron Paul 20:18 Presently, unless the people exert a lot
more pressure on the Congress to do so, not
much will be done. Specifically, Congress
needs a strong message from the people insisting
that the Congress continues the debate
over Kosovo before an irreversible quagmire
develops. The President today believes he is
free to pursue any policy he wants in the
Balkans and the Persian Gulf without Congressional
approval. It shouldn’t be that way.
It’s dangerous politically, military, morally, and
above all else undermines our entire system
of the rule of law.
Notes:
Verses 1999 Ron Paul 20:1 through 1999 Ron Paul 20:11 were spoken on the House floor. The rest of this
chapter was inserted into the Congressional Record as an extension of remarks.
1999 Ron Paul 20:11
an act as the worlds humanitarian policeman
probably should be to act as the worlds humanitarian policeman.
1999 Ron Paul 20:18
Its dangerous politically, military, morally
probably should be
Its dangerous politically, militarily, morally.
