OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Responsibility to Protect

Floor Speech

Date: June 3, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Foreign Affairs

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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 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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