[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1894 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1894

 To provide that a plaque be placed at the diplomatic entrance of the 
                          Department of State.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 20, 1999

  Mr. Leach introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide that a plaque be placed at the diplomatic entrance of the 
                          Department of State.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PLACEMENT OF PLAQUE AT THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

    The Secretary of State shall cause to be placed at the diplomatic 
entrance of the Department of State a plaque containing the following 
text:

                   ``principles for prudent diplomacy

    ``(1) Good intentions are a necessary but insufficient grounds for 
action; consequences and costs must be taken into consideration before 
policies are put into effect.
    ``(2) Intervention in civil wars seldom works.
    ``(3) Hubris is a hallmark of all politics; it is always dangerous.
    ``(4) Moralizing is no substitute for acting morally; while nothing 
is more compelling than a good example, little is more resented than 
gratuitous lecturing.
    ``(5) Trade embargoes tend to be counter-productive.
    ``(6) Great powers don't need to threaten; the greater the power, 
the more cautious should be its application.
    ``(7) Power can be illusory; many conflicts do not yield to its 
application.
    ``(8) Beware of domino decisionmaking processes which prevent 
changes in strategy when initial judgments prove frail.
    ``(9) Never fail to put yourself in an adversary's shoes; leaving 
an opponent without an exit reduces options for both sides.
    ``(10) Nationalism is a force which policy makers habitually 
underestimate.
    ``(11) There are more similarities than differences in religions of 
the world, but dissimilarities become accentuated in the way religion 
mixes with politics in various cultures.
    ``(12) Policies which lack support of the American people are 
unsustainable.
    ``(13) Great causes may necessitate great sacrifice, but force 
should be the last resort; peace is preferable to war.''.
                                 <all>