[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5394]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          THE CRISIS IN KOSOVO

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise with a heavy heart. I would 
like to talk about the budget, saving social security, saving Medicare, 
but I think the crisis in Kosovo demands our attention.
  The Constitution says, ``We, the people of the United States, in 
order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic 
tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general 
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our 
posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United 
States.''
  Article 1, section 8, says ``The Congress shall have the power to 
declare war.'' I wonder when we are going to accept responsibility for 
our actions and debate a declaration of war when we are about ready to 
bomb a sovereign state. If we want to do that, let us accept our 
responsibilities, and let us do it as a body.
  Until that time, let us not hide behind the curtains or the skirts of 
the President of the United States under the War Powers declaration. 
Let us get some guts and let us fight for freedom.

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