[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 171 (Wednesday, November 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H11665-H11666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       QUESTIONS FOR COLIN POWELL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Dornan] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, I say to my colleague, ``Lincoln Diaz-
Balart, 

[[Page H 11666]]

my colleague from Florida, what a week; huh? What a day.''
  Mr. Speaker, I only have 5 minutes tonight. I could have spoken about 
one of the greatest pro-life victories in the last 20 years, at least 
since I was sworn in on January 4, 1977. I could speak about this 
excellent victory, the very last vote tonight where we have locked in 
permanently a ban on any redefining of the American family. I could 
talk about some battles I have been having with the liberal press of 
late trying to distort my flying record in the Air Force. I wish I had 
flown helicopters, but Newsweek is wrong. I flew jet fighters, and I 
wish I had done both, but I did not, and I did not crash one airplane, 
let alone four, and we are working out some sort of an apology or 
retraction with Newsweek as we speak. The Hill, one of our little local 
papers here, accused me of an ethnic slur that is really disgusting. If 
it were not at the end of the year with every precious minute for 
legislative time on the House floor, I would take an hour. You freshmen 
should know this, Robert of Maryland. One-hour point of personal 
privilege, not if they attack you on radio or television; it is an old 
law, two centuries old If you are attacked in writing and it slurs your 
character, you can stand up at any point in the day and say, ``Mr. 
Speaker, I have a point of personal privilege.'' Everything comes to a 
screeching halt and you get 1 hour to defend your honor, and in an age 
devoid of heroes, when honor does not seem to count for much in many 
pursuits of life, honor is everything we have in public life.
  But I am not going to talk about any of that. I want to talk about 
what Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Party, did. He sent me a 
free copy of U.S. News & World Report on top of the one the U.S. News 
puts in our office anyways. Thank you, Mort Zuckerman, and it says on 
the cover: Republican National Committee, Haley Barbour, chairman. 
Every time you start to worry about how we are doing, the Republicans, 
I want you to remember how they are doing.
  So, I lifted up this little Haley card, and it says the Democrats, is 
the party over? They know they are in trouble, and it is even worse 
than they think. And here is a little donkey sitting on a gravestone. I 
remember when they did this to the Republican Party after Goldwater 
brought us down to 143 only on our side, the lowest since the 
Depression, and then Nixon, Lord rest his flawed career and wonderful 
soul, he brought us down to 143 the year I came, in 1977. We were 143, 
144 2 years before that, and they wrote the Republican Party off.
  So, is the party of Jefferson, the great American patriot who said, 
``The least government is the best government,'' over? Is the party of 
Andy Jackson, who redefined the Presidency and is one of the most 
ignored great Presidents of our time, is his party over? I do not think 
so. Maybe the part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and flirtation with 
socialism is over, but before we write off the Democrats, I have a way 
to save the Democratic Party and to save the two-party system, and here 
it is:
  Mr. Speaker, did you read George Will's column in Sunday's paper, 22 
questions for Colin Powell? Well, I have 22 more questions that I am 
going to submit for the Record tonight for Colin Powell because guess 
what? My pal, Colin, No I recommended him to George Bush in 1988 in 
writing--thank you, right in the nick of time--in writing that I want 
George Bush to pick Colin Powell. I did not know if Dan Quayle was on a 
short or a long list, but I wanted him to pick Colin Powell, and that 
was 7 years ago. And Colin knows I think well of him, but I found out 
from his strange answers to a lot of questions and volunteering that he 
is a Rockefeller Republican, he is a Democrat, and he would make a 
superb Democrat of character and integrity. If Colin Powell would 
declare as a Democrat against Bill Clinton In New Hampshire, he would 
whip him good. He would save the party of Jefferson and Jackson. The 
American people would have one wonderful choice 1 year from this week 
on the 5th of November in 1996, and the two-party system would be 
saved. But by Colin Powell, a moderate Democrat of great character, 
coming into the Republican process, mucking it up, he emboldens Pat 
Buchanan, he unleashes all these other multimillionaires, the 
billionaire Ross Perot gets energized and goes like a bull in the China 
closet destroying the whole process, and look what this very same 
article says:
  Writing off the Democrats; is the party over? Powell counts the days 
and strokes the Democrats. He has already said he could be either one. 
It says that Richard Armitage, my pal and Colin Powell's close friend, 
called the Democratic Leadership Council, what is left of their 
moderate wing, to congratulate them on their approach to affirmative 
action.
  What is going on here? Colin, if you are listening, and I understand 
you are watching some of the Presidential debates, I hope you are 
taking notes. Here are 22 questions for you, Colin. I will see how many 
I can get through before the hammer gets down.
  The list of 22 questions for Colin Powell in its entirety is as 
follows:

                 Twenty-Two Questions for Colin Powell

       1. General, do you oppose the use of U.S. ground troops in 
     Bosnia?
       2. Should the debt ceiling be raised without a specific 
     plan to balance the federal budget?
       3. Should the $500 child-tax credit be a part of this 
     year's budgetary plans to help ease the financial pressures 
     on the American family?
       4. Should the Consumer Price Index be lowered in order to 
     reduce payments to federal beneficiaries?
       5. Should agricultural policy be fundamentally changed in 
     order to adhere more to free market principles?
       6. Should capital gains tax cuts be made?
       7. Should U.S. troops ever be placed under foreign/U.N. 
     command officers and NCOs and if yes, should Congress place 
     strict limits on such command and control arrangements?
       8. Should women be allowed into combat? Can they opt out on 
     eve of deployment where raping and torture of POWs is common 
     practice?
       9. Why didn't you resign as Chairman of the JCS in protest 
     over President Clinton's policy of lifting the ban against 
     homosexuals in the military or the equally offensive 
     cancellation of the regularly scheduled pay raise for active 
     duty soldiers?
       10. After supporting the Bush Base Force Plan, why did you 
     then support the Clinton Botton-Up Review defense plan which, 
     by some accounts, is under funded by as much as $150 billion?
       11. What would you do with regards to the growing threat of 
     ballistic missiles including specific programs such as Navy 
     upper-tier and the 24 year old ABM Treaty with the melted 
     down Evil Empire?
       12. Should foreign aid to the former Soviet Union 
     (including our DoD funding) be conditioned to ensure Russia 
     actually dismantles offensive nuclear, biological, and 
     chemical weapons programs?
       13. Should dual-purpose technology be transferred to 
     communist China while China proceeds with a dramatic military 
     buildup?
       14. Should human rights and democratic principles be 
     heavily considered in granting Most-Favored-Nation trading 
     status to totalitarian nations like China or Vietnam? Should 
     we keep sanctions against Fidel Castro's oppressive regime in 
     Cuba.
       15. Should the United States have diplomatically recognized 
     Vietnam while questions remain unanswered by the communists 
     in Vietnam about what they know concerning Americans still 
     listed as POW/MIA, such as extensive Politburo and Central 
     Committee records?
       16. Should Clinton have been allowed to financially bail-
     out Mexico without congressional approval or oversight?
       17. Should the nations of Poland, Hungary, the Czech and 
     Slovak Republics be allowed into NATO? If so, when? Why not 
     Poland in 1996?
       18. Should Chile be allowed to join as a member of NAFTA?
       19. Should partial-birth abortions be outlawed? And except 
     for life-of-the mother, what about banning all abortions in 
     military facilities?
       20. Should groups that receive federal money be allowed to 
     lobby Congress for further funding, i.e. the AARP?
       21. How should the U.S. better protect its sovereign 
     borders to illegal immigration and enforce U.S. laws?
       22. Should Hillary Clinton be subpoenaed to testify in 
     regard to her phone conversations with Maggie Williams and 
     Susan Thomases the morning of July 22, 1993 the day that 
     Bernard Nussbaum blocked investigators from properly 
     searching Vince Foster's office?
       P.S. Can you tap your friends in the National Security 
     Community for believable cost figures on Haiti and Bosnia 
     through September 30, 1995?

  Mr. Speaker, the others I submit for the Record, and I will take an 
hour special order tomorrow. Read all of George Will's 22, my 22, and 
hope that Colin Powell will give us some answers before the debate in 
Florida on the 18th where I hope the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Diaz-
Balart], will introduce me.

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