Joel Hefley: “I think that for us not to do this and to wait until it was too late would be a terrible mistake. I think, as a member…”

“I think that for us not to do this and to wait until it was too late would be a terrible mistake. I think, as a member of the Committee on Armed Services, there are four considerations that we need to consider before we send troops into Kosovo. First, the manner in which this administration has circumvented the legislative process when it comes to deployment of U.S. military forces around the world has been unprecedented, so it should come as no surprise that the President does not want us to debate this today. The President is the Commander in Chief, but he has a consultative partner in the Congress. He ought to consult us about these things. When we were debating Bosnia, Mr. Chairman, when we were going to debate it that night, the President told me he did not care what we thought about Bosnia. He did not care. He was sending troops into Bosnia anyway. That should not be the attitude of the Chief Executive. So we are doing something right here today. Even if he does not care what we think, we are doing something that should be done. Secondly, before we send troops in we should have a measure of success.”