Dana Rohrabacher: “this legislation makes a loud and clear statement to the world. As we have heard earlier, the cold war is over. The…”

“this legislation makes a loud and clear statement to the world. As we have heard earlier, the cold war is over. The United States bore the burden for decades. Our troops were put in harm's way to save the peoples of the world from fascism and then communism. In the postcold war world we will no longer require our people to carry an unfair burden for the sake of the rest of humanity. This is not isolationism. This is America comes first as policy. This is not anti-United Nations. This is pro our national interests. Americans have sacrificed their lives and well-being for an ungrateful world for far too long. Our troops should not be put under U.N. command because the United Nations does not care as much about them as American commanders will care about them. If our President does put them under U.N. command, we should be informed. That is what this legislation says, and, if our troops are sent on long-term, costly operations, Congress should be in on the decisionmaking. We will no longer be making military commitments like we did in Somalia, or Rwanda, or Haiti unless Congress approves. This administration has been depleting our limited defense resources on United Nations and other missions that have little to do with our country's security. The cold war is over. The American people deserve a break. Our military personnel deserve our total support if they are put in harm's way.”