[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 35 (Friday, February 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E423-E424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    HOUSE ACTS TO REVITALIZE OUR NATIONAL DEFENSE AND REEVALUATE OUR 
                  RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED NATIONS

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                          HON. C.W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 23, 1995
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, last week, the House, with my 
strong support, approved H.R. 872, the National Security Revitalization 
Act, legislation to maintain our national defense's strength and 
credibility, and to ensure that no U.S. troops are forced to serve 
under foreign commands.
  This legislation which we have approved, 1 of the 10 points of the 
Contract With America, is designed to refocus our Nation's military 
priorities. The measure counters the policies of an administration that 
has cut the defense budget too deep, spread U.S. forces too thin on 
peacekeeping missions irrelevant to U.S. security interests, and 
subordinated U.S. policy to United Nations dominated goals.
  As the chairman of the National Security Appropriations Subcommittee, 
I deal on a daily basis with the costs of providing for our Nation's 
defense. In my service on the subcommittee, I have fought cuts to our 
defense budget that I believe place it in dangerous decline. If steps 
are not taken to reverse this alarming trend, our ability to defend 
vital U.S. 
[[Page E424]] interests will continue to deteriorate with potentially 
disastrous consequences.
  While our Armed Forces have been forced to work within greatly 
increased budget restraints, they have been deployed on more peacetime 
and humanitarian missions per year than ever before--missions that were 
often unplanned and unbudgeted. Besides humanitarian and peacekeeping 
operations already underway in Rwanda, Bosnia, and the Middle East, the 
U.S. faced several new missions including military intervention in 
Haiti, preemptive buildups in Kuwait and Korea and the movement of 
forces off the coast of Somalia to assist the withdrawal of U.N. 
personnel. Nearly 100,000 troops have been deployed on these operations 
in just the past 4 months, and almost 50,000 remain deployed today. The 
costs of such demanding efforts totals over $2.5 billion.
  Mr. Speaker, such costs do not begin to reveal the effects of these 
deployments on troop morale and readiness. In fact, to finance these 
operations the Department of Defense uses operation and maintenance 
accounts which results in funds being diverted from critical tasks such 
as training, base support operations and equipment maintenance. I am 
pleased that today we approved a supplemental appropriation to cover 
these costs and to prevent damage to the readiness and training of our 
troops.
  However, today's appropriation does not address the manner in which 
this President and the civilian leadership at the Pentagon are 
committing our diminishing defense resources both unilaterally and 
through multilateral operations with the United Nations. Haiti is just 
a recent example of our military forces being placed at serious risk in 
pursuit of ill-defined objectives outside the scope of their 
traditional and essential mission of protecting the national security 
interests of the United States. H.R. 872 will drastically reform our 
Nation's contributions to the United Nations and U.N. operations, and 
gives Congress a greater say in committing troops abroad.
  The National Security Revitalization Act recognizes a fundamental 
reality about U.S. involvement in the United Nations--while the price 
tag for peacekeeping has skyrocketed, the United Nation has had little 
success making any country more peaceful. In fact, the term ``U.N. 
peacekeeping'' has virtually become a cruel oxymoron. There is no 
better illustration of this than the war in the former Yugoslavia. It 
is the United Nation's most expensive operation at $1.6 billion a year, 
of which the United States is billed for about 31.7 percent or about 
$500 million annually. Money which has purchased little in the way of 
peace.
  H.R. 872 will fight the growing influence of the United Nation's over 
America's troops and budget. The measure would deduct from our Nations' 
annual United Nation peacekeeping dues the extra costs the Pentagon 
incurs in United States-let military missions that receive the blessing 
of the United Nation--like Haiti. In addition, the bill prohibits 
American troops from serving under U.N. commanders unless the President 
cites a national security need.
  Mr. Speaker, approval of the National Security Revitalization Act is 
good news for U.S. foreign policy and U.S. taxpayers. It is high time 
we reaffirmed our Nation's commitment to a strong national defense and 
reigned in U.N. peacekeeping which is out of control.


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