[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 13, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  IMPUGNING THE PRESIDENT'S MOTIVES WON'T HELP THE HOUSE FULFILL ITS 
                    CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

  (Mr. SKAGGS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SKAGGS. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, the gentleman from 
Illinois [Mr. Durbin], the gentleman from New York [Mr. Boehlert], and 
I are cosponsoring a bipartisan effort to make sure this House fulfills 
its constitutional responsibilities in the matter of Haiti and votes 
prior to any invasion.
  I have talked extensively with members of the administration about 
this, and while we disagree about the underlying policy considerations, 
I am absolutely convinced of the honesty and straightforwardness of 
their motives. The President is seeking a resolution in Haiti for 
reasons he thinks are in the national interest and important 
internationally. It does not serve the purposes of an informed and 
respectful bipartisan engagement on this issue to have the motives of 
the President or the administration impugned in the course of a very, 
very important debate, a debate that ought to be carried out by this 
body on the merits, with serious regard to our constitutional 
responsibilities and without suggesting that there are ulterior motives 
at work.

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