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 35:1 Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, we have
heard from several Members already
about being unhappy with the legislative
process today. The votes did not
go exactly the way I wanted, but I am
not all that unhappy with what happened
because there was a serious effort
for this House to restore some of
the responsibility that they have allowed
to gravitate to the administration
and to our Presidents over the
many years.
1999 Ron Paul 35:2 Today’s legislative process was chaotic,
but I think it was chaotic for a
precise reason. We are trying to rectify
something that has been going on for
more than 50 years, and it is not just
this President. It is every President
that we have had since World War II.
We have in the Congress permitted our
Presidents too much leeway in waging
war.
1999 Ron Paul 35:3 This was an effort today to restore
that responsibility to the House. It was
done sloppily, but considering the alternative
of doing nothing, this was
much better.
1999 Ron Paul 35:4 So I am very pleased with what happened
today. I am disappointed that
there was such strong feelings about
the outcome. But I suspect they were
not unhappy with the process as much
as they were unhappy with not winning
the votes.
1999 Ron Paul 35:5 But nevertheless the votes were very
important today. One of the most significant,
if not the most significant: we
on this House floor today voted up and
down on a war resolution. This is not
done very often and under the circumstances
that exist today, probably
the first time.
1999 Ron Paul 35:6 But that was an easy vote. The House
overwhelmingly voted not to go to war.
This makes a lot of sense. This is a
very good vote. Why should we go to
war against a country that has not aggressed
against us?
1999 Ron Paul 35:7 So this was normal and natural and a
very good vote. The problem comes
with the other votes because they do
not follow a consistent pattern.
1999 Ron Paul 35:8 I think there are too many Members
in this House who have enjoyed the
fact that they have delivered the responsibility
to the President. They do
not want war, but they want war. They
do not want a legal war, they want an
illegal war. They do not want a war to
win, they want a war that is a half of
a war. They want the President to do
the dirty work, but they do not want
the Congress to stand up and decide
one way or the other.
1999 Ron Paul 35:9 Today we saw evidence that the Congress
was willing to stand up to some
degree and vote on this and take some
responsibility. For this reason I am
pleased with what happened. So voting
against the war that has no significant
national security interest makes a lot
of sense to me.
1999 Ron Paul 35:10 Another vote, the vote to withhold
ground troops unless Congress authorizes
the funding for this; this is not
micromanaging anything. This is just
the Congress standing up and accepting
their responsibilities. So this in many
ways was very good. This means that
the people in this country, as they send
their messages to the Members of Congress,
are saying that this war does not
make a whole lot of sense. If the people
of this country were frightened, if they
felt like they were being attacked, if
they felt like their liberties were
threatened, believe me the vote would
have been a lot different.
1999 Ron Paul 35:12 Mr. President, you have overstepped
your bounds already. Slow up. Do not
get this notion that you should send in
ground troops. It makes no sense to
this House.
1999 Ron Paul 35:13 Now the interesting thing is that was
a resolution, it was a House Resolution,
that probably really does not
have much effect other than a public
relation effect because it would have to
be passed by the Senate, it would be vetoed
by the President, we would have
to override his veto. So, in the practical
legislative sense it does not mean
a whole lot, but it means something in
the fact that we brought it to the floor
and we were required to vote on it.
1999 Ron Paul 35:14 Another resolution that was defeated
unfortunately, and it was defeated by a
two-to-one margin; this would have
said that the President would have to
cease, we should have told him to
cease, because we have not given him
the right to wage war. As a matter of
fact, even today we said there will be
no war, there will be no declaration of
war, so we should consistently follow
up and say what we should do is withdraw
and not fight a war.
1999 Ron Paul 35:15 Likewise, when we come to the endorsement
of the military bombing,
fortunately it went down narrowly. But
it in itself, too, does not have any legal
effect. That is a House Concurrent Resolution
that has no effect of law other
than the public relations effect of what
the Congress is saying.
1999 Ron Paul 35:16 But I think it is a powerful message
that the American people have spoke
through this House of Representatives
today to not rubber stamp an illegal,
unconstitutional and immoral war. The
only moral war is a war that is fought
in self-defense. Some claim that this is
a moral war because there are people
who have been injured. But that is not
enough justification. The moral and
constitutional war has to be fought in
self-defense.Note:
1999 Ron Paul 35:1
the administration probably should be capitalized: the Administration.
