[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7871]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN LIBYA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Woolsey) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from 
Puerto Rico for allowing me to speak out of order. Thank you very much.
  We recently passed the 2-month mark since the military air campaign 
in Libya began. This is significant because the War Powers Act requires 
that a President must receive a congressional mandate for any military 
action within 60 days. The deadline came and went without any 
resolution being brought before this body, which is a signal that our 
engagement in Libya is lingering without much accountability or checks, 
without a vigorous debate about the consequences of what we are doing 
there.
  Who knows exactly what our mission is and how we will know when we 
have achieved it? What is the end game? What are the metrics or 
benchmarks for success?
  At the same time, this week we will debate an amendment to the 
defense bill that would expand the authorization for use of military 
force, empowering the President, any President, to fire bombs and 
missiles against any nation or nonstate actor that appears to pose a 
threat. And without so much as a check-in or consultation with 
Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I have had enough. I have had enough of this state of 
permanent warfare. I have five grandchildren, and not one of them knows 
what it is like to live in a country that is not at war with someone 
and killing someone else's grandchildren. It is time to put the brakes 
on. It is time for Congress to draw some clear lines, and Libya is the 
perfect place to do so.
  I am proud to support the amendment offered today by my friend, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), that will specifically prohibit 
the deployment of ground troops in Libya. We cannot afford any further 
expansion of this engagement. We owe it to the American people who are 
footing the bill and, of course, to our servicemen and -women who are 
already fighting on two fronts.
  To keep this mission from mushrooming into a full-blown ground war 
and military occupation, we must stop now. We must not put boots on the 
ground in Libya, and we must close any loophole that allows any 
President to do so.
  We still have combat troops in Iraq. We are spending a staggering $10 
billion a month on an ongoing war in Afghanistan that has been a 
devastating moral and strategic failure. We can't keep doing this, Mr. 
Speaker. Our military is at a breaking point. The American people's 
patience is wearing thin. Two wars are already more than we can handle.
  Let's define the mission in Libya, let's complete it, and let's get 
out. Anything less is a replay of Iraq and Afghanistan, where we must 
move quickly to bring our troops home.

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