The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Tierney). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, if the President were to ask me for advice on foreign affairs, this is what I would say: Don’t do it, Mr. President. It is a bad idea. There is no need for it. There is great danger in doing it. America is against it, and Congress should be. The United Nations is against it. The Russians, the Chinese, the Indians, the Pakistanis are against it. The whole world is against it. Our allies are against it. Our enemies are against it. The Arabs are against it. The Europeans are against it. The Muslims are against it.
We don’t need to do this. The threat is overblown. The plan is a hysterical reaction to a problem that does not yet exist. Hysteria is never a good basis for foreign policy. Don’t we ever learn? Have we already forgotten Iraq?
The plan defies common sense. If it is carried out, the Middle East and possibly the world will explode. Oil will soar to over $100 a barrel, and gasoline will be over $5 a gallon.
Despite what some think, it won’t serve the interests of Israel. Besides, it is illegal. It is unconstitutional. And, Mr. President, you have no moral authority to do it.
We don’t need it. We don’t want it. So, Mr. President, don’t do it. Don’t bomb Iran.
The moral of the story, Mr. Speaker, is this: If you don’t have a nuclear weapon, we will threaten to attack you. If you do have a nuclear weapon, we will leave you alone. In fact, we will probably subsidize you. What makes us think Iran does not understand this?
Mr. Speaker, I would like now to yield to my friend from North Carolina (Mr. Jones).
Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Paul for so many years coming down to the floor to defend the Constitution of the United States.
The United States Constitution, article I, Section 8, clause 11, vests in the Congress the exclusive power to declare war. Many of us in the past few days have put in a resolution, H.J. Resolution 14, to say that the President should not go into and bomb Iran unless he comes to the Congress so that the Congress can meet its constitutional responsibility.
James Madison said, “ ….. The power to declare war, including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature ….. the Executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war.”
I want to thank you, Ron Paul, for always being a spokesman and a protector of the Constitution.
Mr. PAUL. I thank you very much for those comments.
Reference: Library of Congress: February 06, 2007
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