[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    OUR ARMED FORCES SHOULD NOT BE PLACED UNDER CONTROL OF FOREIGN 
                               COMMANDERS

  (Mr. COOLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COOLEY. Mr. Speaker, today we will vote on the conference report 
on S. 1124, the 1996 Department of Defense authorization bill. I will 
vote for this bill because it contains so many good things: COLA equity 
for our military retirees, a needed pay raise for our Armed Forces, 
money to repair substandard family housing, and funds to protect this 
Nation from a deadly missile attack.
  This bill does many good things, but, Mr. Speaker, S. 1124 has been 
changed to permit the men and women of our armed services to be placed 
under control of foreign commanders. This is wrong. I object to this 
provision.
  In the future, the United States will certainly take part in 
international disputes. But when American volunteers volunteer to serve 
this Nation in armed conflict, they deserve to be led by Americans and 
not by foreign commanders.
  I will vote for S. 1124 this time. As is so often the case, I must 
accept some good with the bad.

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