Political Quotes

“I congratulate Senator Dole for his work on his amendment which he has put before this body regarding the United Nations and our work with it. It has helped to begin a debate that is long overdue. The last 2 years have witnessed a dramatic expansion of international peacekeeping initiatives extending to nearly every continent of the globe. We also have seen the United Nations move beyond peacekeeping to peacemaking operations that carry a greater risk of combat operations by the participants. The United States, by its role and the power of its veto in the Security Council, had a decisive voice in the establishment of every one of these operations. We bear over 30 percent of the assessed costs of each operation and a substantial portion of the voluntary contributions to many--at a cost now running into the billions of dollars. And we have borne a higher cost, namely we have sent thousands of our sons and daughters in the Armed Forces to participate in these operations and have lost a number of them to death or injury in the line of duty. To date, our Government's decisionmaking on multilateral peacekeeping has been ad hoc. In the turbulence of a post-cold-war world, rapid change has outrun considered policy.”