[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 31 (Thursday, February 16, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1895-H1896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     FOREIGN COMMAND OF U.S. TROOPS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Salmon] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SALMON. Mr. Speaker, one of my staff was in a grocery store, 
local grocery store, just a few days ago and happened to be in the toy 
section of the store and lo and behold here is what he found and picked 
up. These are little toy soldiers, just like we used to play with when 
we were little boys and girls. It says ``U.N. troops.''
  Mr. Speaker, how far have we gone? How far has this madness gone? It 
used to be, when I was a little boy, I would play with my G.I. Joe. 
They were American soldiers we used to play with. They were not United 
Nations troops.
  I think maybe the reason these kinds of toys are being marketed now 
is because maybe it is becoming acceptable that we no longer have our 
sovereignty any more, we no longer have control. We have given control 
of U.S. troops, our young men and young women, put them in harm's way, 
put them under the direct jurisdiction of the United Nations.
  In fact, in 1988, there were only 5 peacekeeping operations being 
operated by the United Nations across the world. Today the United 
Nations supports 17 peacekeeping operations. More and more, these 
missions involved internal unrest, including ethnic clashes as opposed 
to conflicts between nations.
  Mr. Speaker, today is a landmark day. We passed a wonderful piece of 
legislation that redirects our attention, that refocuses our priority 
on America, on America's vital interests, what is beneficial to this 
country and not the world at large.
  This is a wonderful day, and I think it was one of the most impactful 
bills, but unfortunately the media out there has decided to neglect any 
discussion of this bill. I will not comment as to why. But I will 
comment that these toy soldiers, they are meaningless, you can throw 
them away, they can end up in the wastebasket, it does not matter. But 
young men and young women, their lives do matter. When they are 
fighting on foreign soil, we have an obligation in this body to be sure 
they are standing up for our interests, our vital national security 
interests, and not for some utopian concepts of peacekeeping in areas 
that we really cannot keep the peace.
  This bill, H.R. 7 that we just passed, is very impactful in that it 
restricts the deployment of U.S. troops to missions that are in our 
interest. It demands that U.S. troops be commanded by U.S. commanders, 
not by U.N. bureaucrats.
  It reduces the cost to the United States for U.N. peacekeeping 
missions and demands that the United States Representatives to the 
United Nations press for reforms in the management practices of the 
United Nations.
  Mr. Speaker, I have also got to mention that I believe we have got to 
keep our eye on that one big ball that is out there, that $5 trillion 
Federal debt that we have. Not only do we not have human lives to waste 
abroad for needless causes, but we do not have the capital as well. We 
have a debt to pay off. As Mr. Kim pointed out adequately, we have paid 
a disproportionate share of the cost of peacekeeping. We pay 33 
percent. The next highest country, Japan, pays in the neighborhood of 
13 percent. That is unreasonable.
  We pay 25 percent of the costs for upkeep and maintenance of the 
United Nations. If we were getting what we paid for, it might be a 
different story. But I do not think we are.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate this body for doing some 
wonderful work today, and, hopefully, the measure will pass the other 
body and President Clinton will get significant support from the people 
out there, the voters, calls from the real people out there, the 
voters, calls from the real 
[[Page H1896]] people out there who do not want their young people's 
lives wasted in the future needlessly.
  Maybe these soldiers, these toy soldiers, it is okay to risk their 
lives because they do not mean much, but our young men and women, they 
do matter.
  President Clinton, please do not veto this legislation.
  

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