[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H452]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE RUSH TO WAR

  (Mr. DUNCAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, President Bush sent the Secretary of State, 
the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and 
others to brief House Members prior to and during the previous Gulf 
War. This has not been done this time.
  Most Members of this body know only what they have read or heard in 
news reports. Why this rush to war? Why all this eagerness to send 
young American men and women into harm's way? The case has not been 
made.
  I am certainly not defending Saddam Hussein. I voted for the last 
Gulf War and many have forgotten how close that vote was. But last time 
Hussein had moved on another country and was threatening others. Many 
nations, including our own, have weapons of mass destruction, nuclear 
and otherwise. Has there been any overt action or indication that 
Hussein is getting ready to use his? We have not been told.
  The American people are not clamoring for war, Mr. Speaker. War 
should be the most reluctant decision we make, and then only when there 
is no other reasonable choice. As ABC's Forrest Sawyer asked on 
Nightline last night, Are we about to do more harm than good?

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