... and Senator Joe Lieberman, and Senator John McCain and Senators Inhofe, Kyl, Lott, Craig, Hatch, Stevens, Bond & Cochran, not to mention the Senate Leadership (Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell) of both parties. He does like Senator John Warner though.
This video is of Hagel speaking from the Senate floor on Monday, making good on the promise of John Warner's letter to introduce amendments and fight until the Warner-Levin resolution is debated in the Senate. Hagel takes on Senators (both R and D, but mostly R) who have called the resolution "ambiguous", "irresolute", "inconsistent", "meaningless", "irrelevant" "unprecedented", and claiming that "one cannot support the troops while criticizing the mission", by showing these self-same Senators supported similar binding and non-binding resolutions when Bill Clinton was president.
Additional detail and supporting links below the fold.
The full text of Chuck Hagel's statement linked here.
The video features this recent Kay Hutchison (R-TX) quote from last month: "The worst thing we can do as a Congress is to undercut the president internationally. Passing a resolution that is not binding — the president is the commander in chief — I think sends exactly the wrong message."
Senator Hutchison is, of course, referencing President Bush. In December of 1995, she apparently felt differently about undercutting President Clinton internationally. This is the non-binding resolution she sponsored on the floor of the Senate (full text):
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 35--RELATIVE TO BOSNIA
(Senate - December 13, 1995) [Page: S18565]
Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Craig, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Lott, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Brown, Mr. Burns, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Coats, Mr. D'Amato, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Faircloth, Mr. Frist, Mr. Grams, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Helms, Mr. Kempthorne, Mr. Murkowski, Mr. Pressler, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Smith, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Thompson, and Mr. Thurmond) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was considered and not agreed to:
S. Con. Res. 35
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
SECTION 1. EXPRESSING OPPOSITION TO THE DEPLOYMENT DECISION.
The Congress opposes President Clinton's decision to deploy United States military ground forces into the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina to implement the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its associated annexes.
SEC. 2 EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES MILITARY PERSONNEL WHO ARE DEPLOYED.
The Congress strongly supports the United States military personnel who may be ordered by the President to implement the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its associated annexes.
SEC. 3. TRANSMITTAL OF RESOLUTION.
The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this concurrent resolution to the President.
The resolution failed 47-52 in favor of Senate Resolution 44 a few days later (more on 44 in my last diary).
As I post this diary, a note on some relevant Valentines Day news. Senator Harry Reid has jettisoned the Warner/Levin amendment to take up the House version
x-posted at Divided We Stand United We Fall.