Steve Buyer

Mr. BUYER

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, in 30 seconds I cannot say much. Let me say this, let me assure my colleagues this is a good bill. In tribute, respect and honor of the 21st TAACOM, my reserve unit that went to the gulf war, 2 hours ago I learned they are now headed to Europe to, Bosnia. So let me say I wish them Godspeed. I will be with you on Sunday. I will always be with you in spirit. We have shared a bond and union together that none of us will ever forget. So when we stand on this floor and talk about support of the troops, it really comes down to moments like this. Do we believe in the modernization of equipment, giving you what you need and the resources you need to protect the force, for you to do your job, to do it well and to do it proudly? We will be there with you. Please, support this bill.

Mr. BUYER

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox].

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Gilchrest].

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maine [Mr. Longley] a comrade of mine from the Gulf war. (Mr. LONGLEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Montgomery], a very respected Member of this institution.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Fowler]. (Mrs. FOWLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have left?

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. BLUTE].

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kansas [Mr. Brownback]. (Mr. BROWNBACK asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Foley].

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Barrett]. (Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute and 20 seconds to the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Chrysler].

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York [Ms. Molinari] who accompanied me on a trip to the Balkans.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California [Mr. Dornan]. (Mr. DORNAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Spence], chairman of the Committee on National Security. (Mr. SPENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds to respond to the last speaker. I would say that foreign policy must be guided by our heads, not our hearts. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Evans] in the spirit of bipartisanship that brings the Buyer-Skelton amendment. (Mr. EVANS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 304, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 302) relating to the deployment of United States Armed Forces in and around the territory of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina to enforce the peace agreement between the parties to the conflict in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California. [Mr. Gallegly]. (Mr. GALLEGLY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I wish unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the resolution just considered, and that I may include extraneous material for the Record.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time. Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me extend a compliment to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Torricelli], for his demeanor and his statesmanlike conduct in how he has handled the debate. Just let me compliment the gentleman for that. This is a debate about two very distinct views of foreign policy. There are those of us who tie the use of military to vital national security interests because we believe that placing troops in harm's way on foreign soil is of no ordinary magnitude. The other is the Clinton administration would like for the United States to become the world's policeman and the guarantor of global security. U.S. troops should only be used on the ground to ensure regional security, not to intervene in civil wars which have no real threat of spreading to that instability of a region. While I have heard the argument, it rings hollow. The United States, as the world's only superpower must exercise a policy of restraint in our involvement in conflicts overseas. Ours is a responsibility to provide overall military and economic security to regions of the world. If the United States intervenes in intracontinental conflicts, regional powers are allowed to escape their responsibilities. When will Europe take a role in policing its own region? The answer is when Europe no longer has the expectation that the United States will be there to rescue them whenever they have a problem. Mr. Speaker, we are closing this century now. For the fourth time, the United States will be on the ground in Europe. Think of that, for the fourth time. Truly, Europe can be a quarrelsome bunch and the United States leadership in NATO unifies and strengthens Europe. But as my colleagues know, the United States must send a message that the post-cold-war policies and doctrine for the security of Europe must reflect 1995, not 1945. The United States has a key and vital role to play in the peace process, and I compliment the President of the United States for bringing the parties to the table. The role for which we should play is do not put troops on the ground. The United States should act responsibly in the cohesion of NATO; the IFOR commander should be a commander from Europe, not the United States. The United States should supply our air power, our seapower, our airlift, our sealift, our intelligence, the architecture of intelligence from the sky and our satellites and logistics, but not that on the ground. However, when U.S. forces deploy on the ground as peacekeepers, we go there without the protection of neutrality, and they become targets and casualties. There are those who have claimed the moral obligation. Well, let me say this. When we view disasters in this country, whether it be by tornado, hurricane, earthquake, fire, you name it, we see that destruction and it is repulsive to us, but we understand it because we say it is a natural disaster. However, when we look and view what mankind can do to one another, it is violent to our values. But if we permit our foreign policy to be guided by our hearts, then the United States will find our troops in over 67 hot spots throughout the world. If we want the United States to become the world's policeman, just say so. I do not believe that the United States can be the world's policeman. When I was in Sarajevo, a mother, yes, cried and wept in my arms to communicate to me that she lost a son. That is moving to me. But it is also just as moving when I go to the funerals of American soldiers and have to be able to look into the eyes of an American mother and be able to communicate to her that her son or her daughter has given that life to protect vital national security interests. That is why we tie foreign troops' commitments to vital national security interests, because we cannot be everywhere in the world. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is very clear. It is clear because we say we are reiterating a policy from before, where we stated we oppose U.S. ground troops. We want to intervene, but we do not agree with that policy. We believe we have the confidence in these troops that they will do their job. They are gallant, they are brave and they are courageous. We also do not want a repeat of Somalia. I have spoken with a father who lost his son. We do not want that. We want the President and the Secretary of Defense to rely upon the field commanders when they make military decisions. We also want to make sure they get the resources and the equipment they need to do their job. Last is a paradox, and that is if we are going to arm and train the Moslems, then we should take sides. And if we do that, then we do not go on the ground. If we want to go on the ground, then we do not arm and train the Moslems. But to do both or to claim that somehow we will get other countries to do it, and our pawprints are all over it, subjects and opens our American soldiers to become targets and casualties, and it is wrong. Please support the Buyer-Skelton resolution. God bless us all.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois, Henry Hyde, for the perspective of a former commander of the naval reserves, a hero of World War II. (Mr. HYDE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, I would respond to the gentleman that there has been no credible response in this debate to his question.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Missouri, [Mr. Skelton], for a dialog.

Mr. BUYER

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I wish I could stand here and support my colleague, the gentleman from Indiana. I cannot because his resolution obfuscates the issue. I can understand also why my colleague, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Edwards] came to the floor here upset because he also understands that all these whereas clauses in the Hamilton resolution makes it a flawed resolution. That is why so many are upset here today. This is not just one of these issues of just support the troops. This bill has a lot of flawed statements in it. We understand that. Let me share with my colleagues, we have voted on this issue. We just voted on it. Let me tell Members what it says. It says that this Congress is confident that members of the U.S. armed forces in who it has the greatest pride and admiration will perform their responsibilities with professional excellence, dedicated patriotism, and exemplary courage. We have just voted to support these troops. We will support these troops. We grow the defense budgets and provide for them every day and we will continue to do that in the future. Do not support this resolution.