William Tauzin: “this is the second time in my tenure in this body that we are called upon to vote to commit the sons and daughters in…”

“this is the second time in my tenure in this body that we are called upon to vote to commit the sons and daughters in the uniform of this country to war, to put their lives on the line for this country again, and this is indeed a profound moment in the history of this Chamber. We should ask ourselves carefully why we do this. Do we do it just in anger, just for revenge? No greater authority than St. Thomas Aquinas taught me as a young lad the meaning and the understanding, the definition of self-defense. Our greatest duty under the Constitution is to protect and defend the citizens of this country from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. It is for that reason we rise in support of this resolution. We have literally in this world allowed terrorism to exist too long. We have been on the defensive too long. We have taken too many body blows. It is time civilized man goes on the offensive. Today, we go on the offensive. And we commit our sons and daughters to that enormous chore. This week, a reporter caught a citizen in New York taking dust off a car and putting it into a jar and he asked, ``Is that your car?'' The citizen said, ``No. These are my friends. We have lost our friends.'' It is time to put an end to this madness.”