David Skaggs: “I think we were all heartened by the developments over the weekend when the Secretary General of the United Nations was…”

“I think we were all heartened by the developments over the weekend when the Secretary General of the United Nations was able to put together an agreement with Iraq concerning the current crisis there. It is certainly a promising development, and we all hope and pray that it will be the solution to the crisis. But given Saddam Hussein's history of broken promises, we all will remain skeptical and will wait to be shown that this time it is for real. It is understandable, therefore, that the President has stated that the United States forces currently deployed in the region will stay there for the foreseeable future, and again, given the history of broken promises, it is entirely possible that we may face again soon the question of the use of military force against Iraq. So, it is important, even though we have this moment to catch our breath, to remind ourselves of Congress' responsibility in this matter. In my opinion, and I think an opinion widely shared, the initiation of military action that is contemplated in Iraq clearly implicates Congress' responsibilities under the war-making clause of section 8, article 1, of the Constitution.”