[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 72 (Friday, June 10, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
   THE D-DAY CELEBRATION--A REMINDER THAT PEACE IS PRESERVED THROUGH 
                                STRENGTH

  (Mr. HANSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California 
[Mr. Hunter].
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I wanted to respond to the distinguished gentleman who 
just talked about the visit to the D-day celebration by Democrats and 
Republicans, and let me just say as one Republican that I concur in his 
statement that it is important to those who celebrate D-day to remember 
that this country needs to be strong, to remember that we preserve 
peace through strength, and from my perspective, I would like to see 
every single American go to Normandy and understand that the few 
dollars we save by cutting the defense budget may be paid for 
ultimately in American blood when we are found to be weak by an 
adversary or a potential adversary and that weakness is exploited.
  I think D-day is a reminder to all of us that America needs to stay 
strong, and I am reminded that after World War II, after D-day, after 
we had the mightiest military in the world and we started to 
demobilize, General Marshall was asked one day, ``How is the 
demobilization going?'' He said, ``This isn't a demobilization; this is 
a rout.''
  I would suggest that what we are doing in slashing the defense 
budget, as we did yesterday, is exactly the same thing we did after 
World War II, and we are not going to be prepared for what happens in 
the Korean Peninsula and we are not going to be prepared for what 
happens in the Balkans, and it is going to accrue to the detriment of 
the American people.
  I would like to see everybody in the White House, everybody in the 
administration, and every American have a chance to set foot in 
Normandy and understand what occurred and why it occurred.

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