Willie Hefner: “I have served for many years on the Committee on Appropriations. It is interesting to come here and see history…”

“I have served for many years on the Committee on Appropriations. It is interesting to come here and see history rewritten, history changed. I remember many years ago when, and the gentleman just made a statement, and certainly I do not want to see the blood of one American boy lost, made the statement if we lose one person, we are going to hold the President of the United States accountable. We lost 240 people in Lebanon to a terrorist strike, and we did not hold President Reagan responsible for this, because we thought he was working in the best interests of the United States. But we have had the Republicans absolutely not supporting the situation in Bosnia, which is an uneasy peace, but there is peace in Bosnia now. There are not grandmothers that are being shot and children shot, they are going back to school. In Haiti, they opposed the mission in Haiti, and so far it has not been perfect, but it is working. This is, in my view, politics at its crassest, and to me, it is unbecoming of this body. Certainly Saddam has to be the most ruthless dictator in the history of mankind, that would rank right along with Genghis Khan and people of that stripe. And certainly the President of the United States has an awesome responsibility. I do not know what all the problems are in getting cooperation with our allies, but that has always been a problem.”