Richard Gephardt: “I rise today in disappointment and sorrow that this bill which I think is terribly ill-advised will be passed by our…”

“I rise today in disappointment and sorrow that this bill which I think is terribly ill-advised will be passed by our House of Representatives. I have served in this House for 18 years and I have witnessed the fiercest debates on both domestic and foreign policy. But I have seen that even though we have differed sometimes on foreign and defense policy, that for all the time that I have been here and before, this has been a country, this has been a House of Representatives that could find its way to support a bipartisan internationalist foreign and defense policy for our country. I think back to the 1920's when there were isolationists in both parties, but America finally rejected isolationism and fought World War II, and after World War II came together in the greatest act of compassion in the world, and sensibility, and supported the Marshal Plan. Republicans and Democrats together. We formed the United Nations, whereas in the early part of the century we decided we did not want the League of Nations and backed out of the world after World War II and in a bipartisan way we created a multilateral action for world peace. After the Marshal Plan and the United Nations, we fought a cold war for 45 years, and together, Republicans, Democrats, Americans, we stayed involved as the leader of this world and rejected isolationism, rejected pulling back into our borders, rejected the idea that we could be self-sufficient, alone in this world.”