Political Quotes

“Members of the committee, before the House completes work on this important bill, I think that it is imperative that the House is provided with one more opportunity to clarify its position with respect to the Constitution and our power under article I, section 8, clause 11 of the Constitution, which reads as follows, that Congress has the power to declare war. This amendment says none of the funds in this act may be used for military operations in or against Libya except under a declaration of war against Libya pursuant to clause 11 in section 8 of article I of the Constitution. So what this amendment does is it recognizes Congress' power to appropriate and links it, in this case, to Congress' ability to declare war and enables this House to definitively--definitively--make a statement that it is our prerogative, our Constitutional right, to determine whether or not this Nation goes to war, and we are not going to see any war funded absent a declaration of war by this Congress. It is imperative that we act, because by September, this administration will have spent $1 billion on the war without Congress having any say in that whatsoever. We will have gone to a war without any ability of Congress to have a voice. Now, to its credit, this House has taken up numerous proposals relative to the war in Libya that have sought to limit the sphere of conduct of hostilities against Libya--no ground troops and no money to rebels.…”