The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate
the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Amendment No. 5 printed in the CONGRESSIONAL
RECORD offered by Mr. PAUL:
At the end of the bill, insert after the last
section (preceding the short title) the following
new section:
SEC. . (a) The amounts otherwise provided
in title I for the following accounts are hereby
reduced by the following amounts:
(1) “DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE—Drug
Enforcement Administration—Salaries and
Expenses”, $293,048,000.
(2) “DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE-MILITARY
—OTHER DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
PROGRAMS—Drug Interdiction and
Counter-Drug Activities, Defense”,
$185,800,000.
(3) “BILATERAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE
—Funds Appropriated to the President
—Department of State—Assistance for
Plan Colombia and for Andean Regional
Counternarcotics Activities”, $1,099,000,000.
(b) None of the funds made available in
title I for “Military Construction, Defense-
Wide” may be used for construction outside
of the United States or any of its territories
or possessions.
(c) None of the funds made available in
title II may be used for operations in Kosovo
or East Timor, other than the return of
United States personnel and property to the
United States.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the
order of the House of Wednesday,
March 29, 2000, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. PAUL) and the gentleman
from Florida (Mr. YOUNG) each will
control 10 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. PAUL).
2000 Ron Paul 22:2
Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Chairman, I yield myself
such time as I may consume.
(Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission
to revise and extend his remarks.)
2000 Ron Paul 22:3
Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Chairman, I would
first like to assure the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. OBEY) that I am not
dealing with a fly, a gnat, or a flea
with my amendment. I would rather
not categorize this as dealing with an
elephant for obvious reasons.
2000 Ron Paul 22:4
But I would like to say that my
amendment deals with what I consider
a monster, and that monster to me is
careless foreign military interventionism
in which we engage way too
often and something we are getting
ready to further engage ourselves now
in Colombia.
2000 Ron Paul 22:5
I am quite convinced that, when
most of the Members go back to their
districts, they never brag and they
never say that, “I go to Washington,
and I always vote for the United States
to be the policemen of the world.
I enjoy deferring to the United Nations
and NATO forces for us to pursue some
of our policies overseas.” Quite frankly,
I believe most of us go home and
say that we do not believe that the
United States should be the policemen
of the world.
2000 Ron Paul 22:6
Earlier on, we debated the issue of
whether or not our allies are paying
their fair share, and it is obvious they
are not. So not only do we defer to
them for policy and we extend ourselves
throughout the world, we actually
end up paying the bill, as most
American citizens know.
2000 Ron Paul 22:7
Last year, when we were dealing with
Kosovo and our initial involvement in
there, we had several votes on the floor
dealing with the sentiment of the Congress.
For the most part, the sentiment
was strongly opposed to our military
troops being placed in Kosovo.
2000 Ron Paul 22:8
But, unfortunately, when it came
time to deal with the funding, we were
all too anxious to permit and authorize
and appropriate the money to go into
Kosovo. Today we are continuing to
fund our activities in Kosovo as well as
Bosnia, East Timor, and now with
plans to go into South America, principally
Colombia.
2000 Ron Paul 22:9
My amendment deals with this. It
would strike these funds, and it would
permit funds to be used in Kosovo to
bring troops home. Some people argue
that if we strike funds for areas like
Kosovo, that we are deserting our
troops and it will be detrimental to
their morale. Quite the opposite.
think it would absolutely be helpful,
because the morale of our servicemen
cannot get much lower. The morale is
low because they do not know what
their real function is in areas where
we’re involved. They have become policemen
dealing with local laws as well
as Peace Corps type operators.
2000 Ron Paul 22:10
The morale would be tremendously
helped by bringing these troops home.
This is what this amendment deals
with. And it strikes the funding for the
expansion of our efforts in Central
America.
2000 Ron Paul 22:11
In Colombia, there are a lot of weapons
already, and we are responsible for
80 percent of them. There is one irony
about this bill that strikes me. The administration
and many here on the
floor who vote for these weapons are
the same individuals who are anxious
to prohibit the right of an American
citizen to own a cheap weapon in selfdefense.
At the same time, they are
quite willing to tax these individuals
and take their money to spend it on
the weapons of war around the world
and become involved in no-win situations.
2000 Ron Paul 22:12
I cannot think of a worse situation
where there is a four-way faction in Colombia
for us to get further involved.
Buying 63 helicopters is bound to cause
trouble and some will be shot down
thus requiring more involvement by
American troops.
2000 Ron Paul 22:13
It is time to reassess this policy; to
come home. We should not be the policemen
of the world. The American
people are not anxious for us to do this.
They have spoken out. A recent poll
has shown that 70 percent of the American
people are very anxious for us not
to be involved in policing the world.
They certainly are not interested in us
placing United States troops under the
command of U.N. and NATO forces.
2000 Ron Paul 22:14
This is a good time for the Members
of the Congress to decide whether or
not they would like to vote clearly and
say to the American people, “I do not
endorse the concept that we should
have an open-ended commitment to the
world, to be the policemen of the
world.” This is what this amendment
says. Quite frankly, the large majority
of the American people are strongly
supportive of this position.
2000 Ron Paul 22:15
This is a clear amendment. This is
not dealing with a gnat or a flea. This
is dealing with a principle. Some say
this amendment deals with a principle
of foreign policy, and we should defer
to the President.
2000 Ron Paul 22:16
That is not correct. Under the Constitution,
the words “foreign policy”
do not exist. All the obligations fall on
the Congress, especially with the power
of the purse. The President is the Commander
in Chief. But he should never
send troops around the world without
permission, which all Presidents continuously
have done in the last 50
years. This amendment addresses that
subject.
2000 Ron Paul 22:17
I would have preferred an amendment
that would have struck some of these
funds from overseas and placed them
into beefing up the military, increasing
the pay of our military personnel, giving
them better housing and better
medical care, as well as having some of
those funds spent here at home. That
amendment was not permissible under
the rule.
2000 Ron Paul 22:18
But this point, if my colleagues are
anxious to make it, can be made by
voting for this amendment. If you are
sick and tired of America being the
patsy, sick and tired of us picking up
the bill, sick and tired of our troops
being exposed around the world, this is
the amendment to support.
2000 Ron Paul 22:19
I think this is a very important
amendment, and I the American people
support it.
