Cord Byrd: “It would be irresponsible to vote now to take the troops out. My colleague, Senator Warner, and I are not saying take…”

“It would be irresponsible to vote now to take the troops out. My colleague, Senator Warner, and I are not saying take the troops out. We are not saying we should withdraw the troops. Certainly, we would not say vote now to take the troops out. That would be very irresponsible. What we are trying to do is establish an orderly procedure, over a period of more than a year from now, at which time the President, the new President, be it Mr. Gore or be it Mr. Bush, can come to the Congress and ask for authorization to continue the deployment of American troops, if he can make the case, if there is justification for it. There are those of us in the Senate today who are supporting this amendment who, if that case is made, if a good case is made, a persuasive case is made--I do not assume I would vote against it. I might vote for it. But we are trying to lay down an orderly process whereby there will be plenty of time. What we are trying to do is take back the authorities of the Congress which have been usurped by the administration. We have slept on our rights. I do not blame the administration; I blame the Congress. We have slept on our rights. So we are not saying take the troops out. But we do think it would be the wrong thing to attempt to vote to take the troops out now.”