[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 112 (Friday, August 12, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        AGAINST HAITIAN INVASION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Cooper] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COOPER. Madam Speaker, evidence is mounting that the 
administration is planning to invade the country of Haiti while 
Congress is in the upcoming August recess. I have even heard rumors 
that troops from Fort Campbell on the Tennessee-Kentucky line already 
have orders to deploy to Haiti.
  We in Congress need to have a full and fair debate on Haiti. I demand 
a vote before recess on whether the United States should invade Haiti. 
Already I have cosponsored 2 pieces of legislation which would achieve 
this objective, H. Con. Res. 269, the Goss-Kyl resolution against using 
force in Haiti unless American citizens are in clear and present 
danger; also H. Con. Res. 276, the Skaggs-Boelert-Durbin resolution, in 
light of the U.N. resolution allowing use of force to hasten departure 
of the Haitian military dictatorship, demanding that the President, our 
President, get congressional approval before intervening militarily.
  As the Persian Gulf crisis showed, when a President has time to 
inform the American people, he needs to do so. He needs to make sure he 
has the public's support. There is no imminent crisis forcing an 
invasion now in Haiti. There has been plenty of time to have a full and 
fair congressional debate.
  Mr. President, we need a vote now, and I will vote against invading 
Haiti.
  It is not enough to get U.N. approval as the administration has done. 
U.N. approval has nothing to do with U.S. approval. American interests 
must always come first.
  I was for U.S. military involvement in the Persian Gulf crisis 
because there were vital United States interests at stake. The Pentagon 
supported our involvement there because we could win with minimum U.S. 
casualties and Saddam Hussein had been using weapons of mass 
destruction. We also in that instance had great international 
cooperation.
  But I am against an invasion of Haiti. No major national interests 
are at stake in Haiti and there are no clear reasonable objectives for 
a military intervention. Even though some United States military 
experts think that an invasion itself would be relatively simple, 
building a democratic state in Haiti would take years. The Haitian 
military leadership is mounting a 2,000-strong civilian paramilitary 
group not to resist the invasion but to terrorize their fellow 
citizens. A civil war is likely to result after an invasion. Do we want 
to be in the middle of Haitian factions fighting each other? Remember, 
the last time we invaded Haiti, we stayed 19 years. Our Nation surely 
has higher priorities in the international community than being the 
world's policeman.
  Madam Speaker, Aristide may have been democratically elected, but he 
seems to be an undemocratic leader. While he was in power in 1991, he 
flaunted his contempt for the rule of law and for democratic 
institutions.
  Madam Speaker, I would urge the administration to get permission from 
this country to make sure that we have congressional approval and 
public support before we invade Haiti, before we use any military force 
in Haiti. We must ask our President not to take advantage of the 
congressional recess to start an invasion in Haiti.

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