Joel Hefley: “Today America begins to tell Boutros Boutros-Ghali that he cannot send our sons and daughters to war, that only the…”

“Today America begins to tell Boutros Boutros-Ghali that he cannot send our sons and daughters to war, that only the Congress and the American President can do that. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war and the President the authority of being Commander in Chief as the gentleman has just indicated. We must be cautious in protecting that. As an original cosponsor of this bill, I believe it is imperative that we establish our authority and the authority of the President. No American should be placed in harm's way by anyone other than the American Congress and the American President. Our soldiers should risk their lives only when U.S. national security interests are at stake. I do not believe that the Secretary General of the United Nations even knows what our national security interests are. We can never again allow another Somalia. Because U.S. interests became intertwined with U.N. interests, 19 Americans lost their lives. This must never happen again.”