[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7877]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 LIBYA

  (Mr. BURTON of Indiana asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I was disturbed this morning when 
I was watching the news and I saw the President with the Prime Minister 
having a press conference in England and the President, in his 
comments, indicated that we are in a war and we're going to be all 
together to win this war in Libya.
  As far as I know, the Congress of the United States has not declared 
war. We have not been really consulted about Libya. Yet we're spending 
probably a couple billion dollars over there right now. And with the 
President's remarks, you might wonder if we're going to have boots on 
the ground and be involved not only in the Middle East but now over in 
Libya. We don't have the money to do that nor has Congress been 
consulted.
  Section 3 of the War Powers Act says: ``The President in every 
possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United 
States Armed Forces into hostilities.'' He ``shall.''
  He didn't. And we ought to be very concerned about that, whether 
we're Democrats or Republicans.
  The power to go to war must be vested in the Congress of the United 
States. Not just the President but the Congress. He is not a king; he's 
a President. And we must make sure that Congress is involved in the 
decisionmaking process.

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