[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2431]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        WE CAN NEVER SAY ENOUGH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, much has been said, but then you 
can never say enough when the lives of thousands of people are at 
stake. You can never say enough when bloodshed is imminent, when chaos 
is all around.
  I have been told that the primary responsibility of leadership is to 
lead, and I want to commend the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), 
Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, for his leadership on this 
and many other issues with which we have been confronted. Recognize 
that in times of crisis you have to act; you have to do something. You 
cannot just sit back and wait and hope.
  So, Mr. President, I join with all of my colleagues. I join with 
those in the international community, those who expect this country, a 
world leader, to take the initiative and the responsibility to lead, to 
bring together international thought, international action, establish a 
real presence in Haiti, establish a presence that will say to the 
people, come and let us reason together. Otherwise the whole island may 
be utterly destroyed by the edge of the sword; if not the sword, then 
the M1s, the grenades, the homemade bombs.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a situation where it is difficult to see how our 
country, the United States of America, the protector, guarantor of 
rights, if we do not see the humaneness of intervention, and we are not 
talking about intervention to take over, we are not talking about being 
oppressive, we are talking about enough presence to settle the climate, 
to create the environment where people can at least sit at the table, 
work out an agreement, settle in.
  So, Mr. President, I hope that you have heard what my colleagues have 
been saying. I hope that you and your advisers are listening, and I 
hope that you understand that the fate of a Nation is actually hanging 
in the balance, and to imagine that we have the power, we have the 
ability to save that Nation.
  I think it is our duty, it is our responsibility, it is our heritage. 
It is only what could be expected of a Nation that wants to be the 
leading Nation of the world. Then we have to take that responsibility. 
We have to lead, and the best way to demonstrate leadership is to send 
in enough force to have a presence to bring about a peaceful solution 
to this imminent bloodbath that is about to occur.

                              {time}  2115

  Please, Mr. President, listen to the voices of reason and take action 
now.

                          ____________________