[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7837]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      COST OF FAILURE INFINITELY GREATER THAN THE PRICE OF VICTORY

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, Dante said that nothing was necessary for 
the spread of evil but that good men do nothing.
  Yesterday, last night, shamefully the House of Representatives voted 
to do nothing. It sent an uncertain trumpet, not only to our NATO 
allies, but to one of the evils of this world: Slobodan Milosevic.
  Let me read from a speech given by John McCain, not a member of my 
party, but one of this body, the Congress of the United States, that 
knows about war and knows about the American interest, not the partisan 
political interest. He said this:
  Let me close by saying that both the Congress and the administration 
must show resolve and the confidence of a superpower. Our cause is 
just, and our early success is imperative. Let us keep our nerve and 
see the things through to the end. No matter how awful the images of 
war appear on television, the cost of failure, John McCain said 
correctly, are infinitely greater than the price of victory.
  Madam Speaker, we failed last night. Let us not fail in the days 
ahead.

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