[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5275]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1210
            LEGAL AUTHORITY FOR WAR IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY?

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, the United States is engaged in a 
new concept of war. No longer will the United States go to war only 
when it is in our national security interest. The Obama Doctrine is 
``war in the name of humanity.''
  Secretary Gates said military intervention in Libya is not necessary 
for our national interest. So now we drop bombs in countries when we 
self-righteously decide the ruler is mean to his people. Is this a 
lawful reason, a legal reason for war in Libya?
  My concern is that the Constitution does not give the President 
unilateral authority to commit our military to foreign entanglements in 
the vague philosophy of humanity. There has been no prior consulting 
and consent of Congress. The War Powers Act only gives the President 
authority to enter into war without consulting Congress when a national 
emergency is created by an attack on the United States, its territories 
or possessions, or its Armed Forces.
  There is no such national emergency. So what is the legal authority 
for military intervention in Libya? We need some answers. Are you in, 
Mr. President? And that's just the way it is.

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