Norman D. Dicks: “First of all, I would like to again thank the chairman for his great work and the work of the staff. The President did…”

“First of all, I would like to again thank the chairman for his great work and the work of the staff. The President did lay out the rationale for why we got involved in Libya. He said that we were there to help protect the Libyan people. There were two resolutions adopted by the United Nations. And it wasn't just the United Nations. You had the Arab League and NATO involved in this. And, yes, I think the President would have been better advised to have asked for authorization, but this was a situation where the Libyan people were going to be slaughtered and the President felt that he had to act. Some of us just got back from a trip. We saw the men and women who handle the equipment, who fly in there, do the jamming, all the different things that are done. They have done a phenomenal job. And now the President has turned the leadership of this over to NATO and they are taking the lead, though the gentleman from New Jersey is quite correct; they cannot do all these things without tankers, without other things, some of the special intelligence and reconnaissance that we have that just isn't out there for anybody else. So I hope that tomorrow's debate will be on the merits. Let's look at this thing; let's talk about it. I think this will be a worthwhile discussion. But remember, there was going to be a no-fly zone, an embargo. We were going to protect the people. I think the President laid out exactly what this was about.…”