Ralph Hall: “I rise today to express my dire concern and the concern of many of my constituents in my district and in my State…”

“I rise today to express my dire concern and the concern of many of my constituents in my district and in my State regarding any further deployment of U.S. troops to Kosovo. I have always supported our uniformed service members and will continue to do so, but I just cannot support the deployment of our sons and daughters to locations around the world where we, as an administration, we, as a Congress, we, as a country, have not explicitly spelled out our objectives. Do I regret suffering around the world? Of course. Everyone here does on both sides of the aisle. But would I sacrifice one American life for all of Bosnia, Iraq or Kosovo? I absolutely would not without a true national interest, or a plan to successfully enter, a plan to successfully succeed and a plan to successfully leave. Originally the administration assured Congress that it would not send troops to Kosovo without first providing this body a chance to consider such an action, but the administration knows that this Congress will always support our troops once they are deployed, so off they went.”