[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8673-8674]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT

  (Mr. GARAMENDI asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, America's intervention in Libya was 
initially based on the international community's ``Responsibility to 
Protect,'' a mandate agreed upon in the wake of the horrific Rwanda 
genocide. This important international doctrine calls for international 
intervention in a country where a government is unable or unwilling to 
protect its civilians, or is actively assaulting and killing 
inhabitants in that country.
  I agree with this doctrine and America's initial response to the 
Qadhafi threat to wipe out a large segment of the Libyan population. 
For 3 months, the U.S. and U.N. have engaged in military action. At 
this time, it is unclear if the mission is any longer one that fulfills 
the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, or if it has changed into a

[[Page 8674]]

larger and/or different role. Given the continued military action and 
the lack of clarity of the U.S. mission's goal, I support House 
Resolution 292, which requires the administration to provide 
information on the American military, diplomatic, and humanitarian 
activities in Libya and seeks clarity on America's objective and 
strategy to achieve that goal.

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