[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 13, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
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]

 
                                 HAITI

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, I join in the remarks of the Senator 
from South Carolina very strongly, and I commend him for his speech. I 
shall be very brief because he has spoken so eloquently.
  Invading Haiti at this point would be a misuse of our military for 
political purposes. Invasion of Haiti at this point would be an attempt 
to control this body, the Senate of the United States, through 
political use of our military. I object to that as a former second 
lieutenant who served in the United States Army in Vietnam. That does 
not give me any more qualifications than any other citizen, but I feel 
very strongly that when you take all the arguments and the logic for 
invading Haiti, you could use those same arguments to station troops on 
every street in Washington, DC.
  We have here more than a killing a day. The public interest is 
safety. Yet our citizens cannot come here and freely move about. There 
is poverty on our streets. We have such problems right here within a 
mile of the Capitol among our own people. We could use troops to 
control the crime here.
  So if the President does want to show he can command the military and 
move them into combat, the same logic could call for stationing troops 
on every street in Washington, DC.
  Taxpayers will pay for an invasion for years. It is not just the cost 
of an invasion. There will be lawsuits against the United States when 
trucks destroy bridges and roads. There will be other costs. Once we 
invade a country, too often we become obligated to support it.
  We have plenty of places in our own country in every city, ranging 
from Indian reservations to inner cities, where there is poverty, 
crime, and other problems we need to deal with.
  So, Mr. President, I hope we do not invade Haiti.

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