Gilbert Gutknecht: “Mr. Speaker, these are times that try our souls. These are decisions that all Members of Congress hope they will never…”

“Mr. Speaker, these are times that try our souls. These are decisions that all Members of Congress hope they will never have to make. All of us have in our own way prayed for the wisdom of Solomon. As the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) said earlier in quoting Abraham Lincoln, "We cannot escape history." Our ancestors understood that negotiation alone would not bring freedom or peace to the colonies. Today we stand on the shoulders of the patriots who knew that freedom is not free. Patrick Henry warned that peace could always be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. He closed with, "Forbid that Almighty God." Nearly 64 years ago to this very week, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain believed that he could reason and negotiate with a despot. He returned from Munich smiling, waving a paper, touting, "Peace in our time." A few days later, a wiser Winston Churchill went to the House of Commons and said, "Mr. Prime Minister, you have been given the choice between war and dishonor. You have chosen dishonor, and we shall surely have war." How much blood? How much treasure could have been spared had we have stopped the despot when all he wanted was liebensprau?”