Political Quotes

“We are setting an all-time record for spending Senate time on the military construction bill this year. Never has it taken this long to pass military construction. Since this bill is under my management, I am not real happy about the precedent that we are setting. I do want to rise in support of the Byrd-Warner amendment. This debate today is not about withdrawal, or even the continued deployment, of our troops in Kosovo. What it is about is more important: the role of Congress and its relationship with the executive branch of this Government under our Constitution. Congress has a constitutional responsibility to vote on long-term military commitments, especially when they are offensive and not defensive in nature. Kosovo is not a defensive response to an armed attack against the United States or its allies. There is no pressing emergency requiring the President to act with dispatch. In such cases, it is very important for Congress to act on its role. It is easy to see the need for the exercise of Congressional responsibility in the case at hand since the administration has already spent $21.2 billion since 1992 in the Bosnia/Kosovo area. Contrary to the rumors, and even as stated by my good friend from Massachusetts who has interpreted this as a step to withdraw, the Byrd-Warner amendment makes specific provisions for Congress to continue American presence beyond July 1, 2001.”