[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16046-16047]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       CONGRESS SHOULD THINK TWICE BEFORE THRUSTING U.S. INTO WAR

  (Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge the Congress to think twice 
before thrusting this Nation into a war without merit, one fraught with 
danger of escalating into something no American will be pleased with.
  Thomas Jefferson advised, ``Never was so much false arithmetic 
employed on any subject as that which has been employed to persuade 
nations that it is in their interests to go to war.'' We have for 
months now heard plenty of false arithmetic and lame excuses on which 
we must pursue a preemptive war of aggression against an impoverished, 
third-world nation 6,000 miles from our shores that does not even 
possess a navy or air force, with the pretense that it must be done for 
national security interests.

[[Page 16047]]

  For some reason, such an attack makes me feel much less secure while 
our country is made more vulnerable.
  Congress must consider the fact that those with military experience 
advise a go-slow policy, and those without military experience are the 
ones demanding this war.
  We cannot ignore the fact that all Iraq's Arab neighbors are opposed 
to this attack and our European allies object as well. If the military 
and diplomatic reasons for policy restraint make no sense, I advise 
they consider the $100 billion it will cost and that will surely 
compound our serious budgetary and economic problems we face here at 
home. We need no more false arithmetic on our budget or false reasons 
for pursuing this new adventure into preemptive war and worldwide 
nation-building.

                          ____________________