Rand Paul: “Mr. Speaker, very quickly, borders are important because that is what our Constitution gives us the authority to defend.…”

“Mr. Speaker, very quickly, borders are important because that is what our Constitution gives us the authority to defend. Our Constitution does not give us the authority to defend Europe or anybody else. Also we have a moral authority to defend ourselves and not to pretend that we are the policemen of the world. What would Americans say if China were in the Gulf of Mexico and said it was their oil and had troops stationed in Texas. That is the equivalent of us having our Navy in the Persian Gulf and saying it is our oil and placing troops in Saudi Arabia. Using gas on our own people? I understand a few people died at Waco, and it happened that illegal war gasses were used during that operation. Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose House Joint Resolution 75 because it solves none of our problems and only creates new ones. Though the legislation before us today does wisely excise the most objectionable part of the original text of H.J. Res. 75--the resolution clause stating that by not obeying a U.N. resolution Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been committing an 'act of aggression' against the United States--what remains in the legislation only serves to divert our attention from what should be our number one priority at this time: finding bringing to justice those who attacked the United Stats on September 11, 2001.”