Mike Levin: “the issue is not whether Congress has the power to force withdrawal of ground forces. We have that power. We should have…”

“the issue is not whether Congress has the power to force withdrawal of ground forces. We have that power. We should have that power. We should defend that power. And we have exercised that power, recently in Haiti and Somalia before that. We have exercised that power to pull out ground forces when the power has contributed to U.S. security. So the issue is not whether we have the power to act in the way the Appropriations Committee proposes. The question is whether or not it is a wise exercise of congressional power to set a deadline for a pullout in Kosovo, thereby creating a year or two of dangerous uncertainty which would result in increased risks to our troops and to our interests. It is not the power of Congress that is at issue; it is the wisdom of exercising that power in the way proposed under these circumstances which we will be debating today and tomorrow.”