Authorizing Limited Use of Armed Forces in Libya
Floor Speech
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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, engaging our armed forces is not a vote I take lightly. Like many, I was reluctant to enter our nation into another conflict. But the situation in Libya is different.
This is a nation where the people were giving their lives to fight for a legitimate voice in their government. For these actions, their murderous dictator vowed to hunt them down like ``rats and cockroaches.'' Chilling words as Muammar el-Qaddafi is no stranger to taking the lives of the innocent. He has more American blood on his hands than any terrorist other than Osama bin Laden.
The international community sought our help in Libya. The Arab League supports the NATO mission and this is historic, as it is the first time the organization has supported an international intervention in an Arab country. The United States' role can make a difference in Libya. To say otherwise is to question the very values our own nation was founded upon. I believe that our limited mission in Libya is needed and I stand with President Obama.
Let's remember two things. The movement to overthrow longtime Libyan dictator Colonel Qaddafi began with the Libyan people. The United States should stand with the people of Libya and their fight for freedom and human rights.
We must also remember that under Colonel Qaddafi, Libya was involved in aircraft hijackings, extraterritorial assassinations, bombings at European airports, and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin nightclub popular with American Armed Forces. Libya had a central role in orchestrating and financing the in-air bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, which killed 270 people, including 190 Americans. Libya was also central in the bombing of French UTA flight 772 in 1989, which killed 177 people from 18 nations, 7 of whom were American citizens.
The violence of Colonel Qaddafi is known to many nations around the world. In the early 1970s, Libya sent military troops and financed extremist Palestinian activities in Lebanon. Libya gave safe haven to Black September, the Palestinian terrorists that seized Israeli athletes as hostages at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Later in the decade, Libya sent armed forces into Chad and Uganda. Throughout the 1970s and well into the 1980s, Colonel Qaddafi either financed or materially supported revolutionary efforts in Chad, Corsica, Eritrea, Germany, Iran, Italy, Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Japan, Lebanon, Philippines, Sardinia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, and Tunisia. Ending the reign of Colonel Qaddafi and his destabilizing influence is in the interest of the world.
I've heard from many of my constituents concerned that our engagement in Libya will become our next Iraq or Afghanistan. I share those concerns and have expressed them to the White House and was assured that our operations in Libya would be limited.
I have voted against the use of ground troops in Libya and my vote today affirms that position. I do not believe that the United States can afford to be involved in further prolonged foreign entanglements and nation building. H.J. Res. 68 authorizes the limited support for the NATO mission to one year. Would I be more comfortable with a shorter timeframe? Yes, but so likely would Colonel Qaddafi. Nothing would give him more comfort than a short deadline for him to cling to so he can continue to slaughter his own people into submission.
The situation in Libya is unlike that in Iraq or Afghanistan. The mission in Libya has broad international support. I've mentioned the Arab League and NATO, but also the United Nations, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Libyan Transitional National Council, and former Libyan Ambassador Ali Aujali support our mission. Traditional Libyan allies, such as China, Russia, and Turkey, have begun talks with the newly formed Libyan Transitional National Council. I strongly support the building of international goodwill and cooperation as integral to our nation's as well as global security.
My vote today is for the brave and courageous people of Libya. My vote today is for continued rebuilding of our international reputation.
Mahalo nui loa.
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