[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 12, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H14356-H14357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SEND THE RIGHT MESSAGE: SHOW SUPPORT FOR AMERICAN TROOPS SENT TO BOSNIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Weldon] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening in 
anticipation of this body voting on a resolution in regard to the 
situation in Bosnia sometime before the end of this week.
  Mr. Speaker, like many of my colleagues in this body, I have 
expressed grave reservations over the last several months about the 
possibility of placing our ground troops in the Bosnian theater. I have 
recorded my vote on at least two occasions in opposition to sending 
ground troops in, despite having supported the President's use of U.S. 
forces for air strikes, for the sealift and airlift, and for the 
command and control and other support necessary for NATO's involvement 
in that part of the world.
  While I have opposed the use of ground forces in Bosnia, and while 
this body has gone on record on at least two occasions in stating its 
opposition to the use of ground forces, at one time by a vote that 
gathered in excess of 300 Members of this body in a bipartisan manner, 
all of us know that in fact the President has made his own decision to 
deploy troops and, in fact, that deployment is taking place as we speak 
here this evening.
  Therefore, it would be my hope that the resolution that we consider 
this week does not, in fact, send in any way a signal to our troops 
that we do not support them.
  Mr. Speaker, I come tonight before our colleagues and I ask them to 
consider cosponsoring this evening, or tomorrow morning, sometime 
tomorrow, House Concurrent Resolution 118. This bipartisan legislation 
was introduced by myself and my good friend, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, Paul McHale, who is also a member of the Committee on 
National Security.
  Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 118 is a sense of the 
Congress resolution that has had its language mirrored in two other 
pieces of legislation; one that has since been introduced in the House, 
and a second that has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Dole, 
that basically puts this body on record saying that while we have voted 
against sending ground troops into Bosnia, that in fact the President 
as Commander in Chief of the military has the authority to do that and 
has done such.

  Therefore, while he has taken actions that we have, in fact, 
expressed our concern with and oppose, it is time now to support the 
troops as they follow out the requirements laid out by their Commander 
in Chief, the President of this country.
  So, Mr. Speaker, our resolution states we in fact support the troops, 
even though we have opposed the policy. But it goes on to state 
something even more important, Mr. Speaker, something that I think 
every Member of this body wants to express their support for. That is, 
now that we have committed troops to Bosnia, and now that this 
President as Commander in Chief has spoken, we want to make sure that 
there is no second guessing of the military requirement to support 
those troops; that in fact when General Joulwan, who is the theater 
commander for the entire operation in the Bosnian theater, asks for 
support, troops, or equipment, that there is not a second guessing of 
that request; that that request is dealt with immediately and is dealt 
with in a forthright manner.
  The reason why it is important for this body to emphasize that 
support being immediate, Mr. Speaker, is because of what occurred in 
Somalia, where a similar request came in by the commander in charge of 
the Somalian theater in August, 1 month before an air fight occurred 
between American forces and one of the Somali warlords, which caused 18 
young Americans to be killed.
  There are some who have said that if we had given that commanding 
officer the support he asked for, perhaps we could have saved those 18 
lives. So, while we may disagree with the President's policy, but he 
has the right to do what he has done, and while we want to support our 
troops, let us also go on record, Mr. Speaker, in a very emphatic way, 
and say that we want to make sure that the administration knows, that 
the Pentagon knows, that when the commanding officer in Bosnia asks for 
additional backup, that he gets immediate consideration. That is 
perhaps the most important statement that we can make this week.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope our colleagues will cosponsor House Concurrent 
Resolution 118 and will also vote for it if given the opportunity to 
consider its passage when it comes to the House floor. House Concurrent 
Resolution 118 enjoys broad bipartisan support. The gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, Jack Murtha, one of our leading members of 

[[Page H14357]]
the minority party on defense, is supportive, as is the gentleman from 
California, Duke Cunningham, as are members of our Committee on 
National Security, the gentleman from Rhode Island, Patrick Kennedy, 
and the gentleman from Hawaii, Neil Abercrombie, as well as some of our 
younger Members, the gentleman from Montgomery County, PA, Jon Fox, and 
others who are joining with us in making this statement.
  Mr. Speaker, I would encourage our colleagues to join with us tonight 
and tomorrow in supporting House Concurrent Resolution 118, to send the 
right message from this body as to where we stand in terms of full 
support for a decision that many of us oppose, but now must show that 
the troops will not be shortchanged when it comes to protecting their 
lives and their well-being.

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