Joe Cunningham: “this is very difficult for me, because there is nobody on the other side that I respect more, and he knows I speak that…”

“this is very difficult for me, because there is nobody on the other side that I respect more, and he knows I speak that from my heart, than the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha). The gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer), who is a veteran, I have a lot of faith in. Mr. Chairman, I soul-searched this very issue myself, and the bottom line is it is our responsibility as Members of Congress, and I think that is where the line splits. We have a responsibility. It is difficult for me to blast the White House on getting us into the Somalia extension, putting us in Haiti against Congress, and putting us in Bosnia, arming the Muslims against the wishes of Congress and putting up billions of dollars, and then come out in support of this bill that does those very same things. This makes Congress uphold its responsibility, and I think it is very, very important that this debate is going on. President Bush came to Congress and asked Congress to vote on this. President Clinton never does that. He just goes ahead and does it. In the case of Somalia, as we downsized, we denied armor, the White House denied armor to them and we lost 22 Rangers. In the case of Haiti, and especially in Bosnia where we are arming the Muslims and there are 10,000 Mujahedin and Hamas there, that is going to cause in my opinion World War III.”