Steny Hoyer: “as kindly as I can, let me say that Neville Chamberlain rose up and said, let us mediate. I believe we are doing the…”

“as kindly as I can, let me say that Neville Chamberlain rose up and said, let us mediate. I believe we are doing the right thing with our allies, for the right reason, in the right way to minimize risks to our people. I rise in strong opposition to the two resolutions sponsored by the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell) and to this bill sponsored by the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling). Unlike the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler), I do not believe that this resolution or this bill has the limited effect that she argues that it does. That perhaps is a legitimate and honest difference of opinion. Mr. Speaker, we have seen an extraordinary event occur here in Washington last week. Not just 19 NATO nations, but 42 nations came to America and celebrated 50 years of commitment to keeping the peace. We are now confronting, in the midst of Europe, where NATO has pledged to keep the peace, the most egregious violation of human rights, the most egregious disruption of the security of the European region as we have seen since 1968. The bill that is presently before us says that we shall not use elements. I agree with the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton); I am not sure of what that definition is. But I do know and believe that our enemies will interpret that as a constriction on our maneuverability and ability to act. That is a dangerous policy.”