Political Quotes

“for a deliberative democracy, going to war is an agonizing task. It is a slow, cumbersome, sometimes combative process itself. It is discomforting to all. With regards to Kosovo, I understand the President's vision of what our world should be and what the United States' role in such a world should be. I believe I also understand the foundations of his vision of the role of the United States in a Europe fundamentally different than the one into which NATO was born--where barbarians are not allowed to butcher, and where long term stability on the continent must be defended to maintain the standard of living we have fought so hard to achieve. I also understand the intent of the authors and sponsors of this resolution. For our Nation to prevail in war, both the citizenry and the Congress must be united behind the Commander in Chief during times of war. I commend my colleague from Arizona for his intent. As Members of the Senate, we must make no mistake about the importance of this vote, but we must also keep in mind the three critical interpretations this vote represents, regardless of the specific wording of the resolution: First, this vote will be interpreted as a vote on whether we approve of the President's strategy so far--a strategy which seems to have initially failed to achieve at least one of our primary goals: to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.”