Porter Goss: “I rise regrettably opposed to the amendment, the well-crafted amendment from my good friend and colleague, the…”

“I rise regrettably opposed to the amendment, the well-crafted amendment from my good friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler). It is a good amendment and has led to good debate, but I have a different view of this situation. I think that the underlying resolution, H.Con.Res. 42 that we are talking about cannot be supported in its present form because it is essentially a blank check that grants the Clinton administration authorization to send troops to Kosovo without any limitations or restrictions. I think that is much too broad. The Fowler amendment, on the other hand, would go to the opposite end of the spectrum denying the administration the authority to send troops under nearly all but the most dire circumstances. While the President is the primary architect of American foreign policy, and we all understand that, Congress nevertheless has very important obligations in this area, most notably oversight, overseeing the deployment of our troops. That is one of the reasons we are here. We do this on behalf of the people we represent back home.”