mr. gaddafi leaves. leon panetta said no. he does not know of anyone speaking of troops on the ground. >> michael shear speaking of the confirmation hearing of leon panetta. >> the confirmation hearing of leon panetta for

mr. gaddafi would leave. mr. panetta said absolutely not. i do not know of anybody who is thinking of boots on the ground. >> michael shearer covering the hearing today of leon panetta. you can read his work at nytime s.com. in about 15 minutes, a hearing on property is. president obama has ordered federal agencies to eliminate properties that are not being used which would save money. a committee was set up to recommend which federal properties should be put up for sale. we will have the subcommittee holding a hearing this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. come alive on c- span. until then, we will bring you part of the senate armed services hearing with leon panetta, including the beginning of the hearing, with statements from opening members -- opening statements from members and from leon panetta. >> good morning, everybody. -- overmittee meets to so the course of this long and distinguished career in public- service, we welcome you to the committee today and we thank you, mr. panetta for your decades of dedicated service to our nation and your wil

mr. berman: i just listened to my chairman, i'm very fond of her, make a very compelling case for the national security interests we have in seeing through this operation that is now going on against gaddafi and libya. in detail with specifics i completely support it. the only thing i didn't hear was, mr. president, while you didn't consult with us enough and you haven't provided all the information, i want to thank you as our president and our commander in chief for pursuing america's national security interests in this current operation. great job, keep it going, be a little better on the information, a little more on the consulting, but stick with it. that's what i didn't hear. i want to compliment mr. kucinich for offering this resolution. we disagree on the president's policy. my colleague wants to withdraw forces while i support the ongoing operations in libya. but unlike the majority, mr. kucinich is taking seriously this body's fundamental responsibility to legislate on the use of force. the president commenced combat operations in libya to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. a massacre at the hands of gaddafi's forces. there was bipartisan support for this effort. and the preside

mr. gaddafi? >> could you comment on the french government's relationship with the turkish government in terms of the middle east uprising? [unintelligible] in libya, the turkish government has blamed the french government, claiming that the french government did not wait for the results of mediation conducted by the turkish .overnment' and now you have launched a plan in israel and the palestinian conflict while the turkish government is working on the process of reconciliation between hamas and fatah? and last week there was a huge terrorist organization [unintelligible] how you define the relationship? >> on the first question, the answer to your question -- just one figure. everyone would know the situation in libya, estimates that the number of casualties, people killed by the regime, with plans, tax, heavy weapons against his population, it was around 10,000 or 15,000 people. i am not sure that the coalition did the same job. >> it is an understatement. >> we're fighting for the libyan popul

mr. berman: i just listened to my chairma i'm very fond of her, make a very compelling case for the national security interests we have in seeing through this operation that is now goinon against gaddafi and libya. in detail with specifics i completely support it. the only thing i didn't hear was, mr. president, while you didn't consult with us enough and you haven't provided all the information, i want to thank you as our president and our commander in chief for pursuing america's national security interests in this current operation. great job, keep itgoing, be a little better on the information, a little more on the consulting, but stick with it. that's what i didn't hear. i want to compliment mr. kucinich for offering this resolution. we disagree on the president's policy. my colleague wants to withdr forces while i support the ongoing operations i libya. but unlike the majority, mr. kucinich is taking seriously this body's fundamental responsibili to legislate on the use of force. the president commenced combat operations in libya to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. a massacre at the hands of gaddafi's forces. there was bipartisan support for this effort. and the president pre

mr. speaker. it is true gaddafi's a bad guy. he needs to go. but the problem is for those who say will this mean the end of the bush doctrine? i don't know this president's been enforcing the bush doctrine, but the problem is as my friend, mr. burton, pointed out, we don't know who is going to replace gaddafi. it's not in our national interest to help what may be another iran with khomeini and ahmadinejad come to powe and especially when we are releasing oil at a time when that oil should be saved in case it all goes to blazes in the middle east and we don't have any coming from there. now, i'm not crazy about the exceptions, either. the search and rescue, intelligence surveillance, and reconnaissance, aerial refueling, operational planning because this administration is probably going to describe everything they do as falling into those ceptions, but it's a step in the right direction. and some have said, and i know their hearts and i know they mean well, we want to support our troops and i don't like it when people say let's back out and cut

mr. speaker. it is true gaddafi's a bad guy. he needs to go. but the problem is for those who say will this mean the end of the bush doctrine? i don't know this president's been enforcing the bush doctrine, but the problem is as my friend, mr. burton, pointed out, we don't know who is going to replace gaddafi. it's not in our national interest to help what may be another iran with khomeini and ahmadinejad come to power. and especially when we are releasing oil at a time when that oil should be saved in case it all goes to blazes in the middle east and we don't have any coming from there. now, i'm not crazy about the exceptions, either. the search and rescue, intelligence surveillance, and reconnaissance, aerial refueling, operational planning because this administration is probably going to describe everything they do as falling into those exceptions, but it's a step in the right direction. and some have said, and i know their hearts and i know they mean well, we want to support our troops and i don't like it when people say let's back out and

mr. speaker, the original mission was not to get gaddafi.mission, as explained by the president, was to help for humanitarian purposes those civilians that gaddafi was threatening. at this time, mr. speaker, i yield one minute to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from ohio, mr. kucinich. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for one minute. mr. kucinich: i want to thank the gentleman and associate myself with his remarks right now. we were told this is about protecting civilians. this has become a cover for regime change. just because we can change a regime with military power doesn't mean we should do it and using military action doesn't mean that you're going to achieve the objectives that maybe you haven't even clearly defined. furthermore, if our allies make a mistake, do we follow them? if our allies are going out of the war, why should we go in? right now you have china's foreign minister saying, we hope the two parties in the conflict can attach importance to the country and the people's interests and ern

mr. speaker, the original mission was not to get gaddafi. the original mission, as explained by the president, was to help for humanitarian purposes those civilians that gaddafi was threatening. at this time, mr. speaker, i yield one minute to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from ohio, mr. kucinich. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for one minute. mr. kucinich: i want to thank the gentleman and associate myself with his remarks right now. we were told this is about protecting civilians. this has become a cover for regime change. just because we can change a regime with military power doesn't mean we should do it and using military action doesn't mean that you're going to achieve the objectives that maybe you haven't even clearly defined. furthermore, if our allies make a mistake, do we follow them? if our allies are going out of the war, why should we go in? right now you have china's foreign minister saying, we hope the two parties in the conflict can attach importance to the country and the people's int

mr. speaker, the original mission was not to get gaddafi.ssion, as explained by the president, was to help for humanitarian purposes those civilians that gaddafi was threatening. at this time, mr. speaker, i yield one minute to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from ohio, mr. kucinich. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for one minute. mr. kucinich: i want to thank the gentleman and associate myself with his remarks right now. we were told this is about protecting civilians. this has become a cover for regime change. just because we can change a regime with military power doesn't mean we should do it and using military action doesn't mean that you're going to achieve the objectives that maybe you havet even clearly defined. furthermore, if our allies make a mistake, do weollow them? if our allies are going out of the war, why should we go in? right now you have china's foreign minister saying, we hope the two parties in the conflict can attach importance to the country and the people's interests and ernestly

gaddafi driven from key towns. germany abstained in the vote that authorized action and deployed no troops to conduct it. today, mr. obama alluded to a significant role for germany in the post gaddafi era. in terms of getting the libyan people back on their feet. economic, political work that will have to be done. my expectation is going to be that there will be full and robust german support. >> chancellor merkel swiftly confirmed this. >> translator: gaddafi needs to step down and will step down in the future, we agree germany will be showing it is responsible and committed to the libbian cause. >> merkel denies it's driven wedge between her country and washington. >> it's joint will that the nato mission is successful. >> in the capital, russian envoy met with the tnz, which ten countries recognized as the legitimate government but the u.s. has not so far. one mideast am list predicted a rockie reconstruction effort if washington continues to hold out on the front. >> the united states is so am biv leapt about this. we met with them, but we don't recognize them many in europe do. hard to rebuild a country if th

hoping is that sooner or later colonel gaddafi disappears from the scene to short circuit these arguments. >> steve kingston in washington. the estate in washington. mr. bartlett is one of the congressman who is filing the lawsuit against president obama. he argues that this is not a war and does not need approval by congress. >> we are calling it a war. he is using our planes and missiles to kill people. those who are being affected by our plans and our missiles would believe this is a war. there is a lot of misunderstanding of the war powers act. what it requires is that there are only three conditions under which the president can commit our troops. one of those is we have declared war. the second is if we have given him legislative approval. the third is if we are under attack or attack is imminent. none of those three things occurred. the minute he started the war in libya, he was in violation of the war powers act. under any of those three conditions, he can commit our troops. if he has not had our permission, which is the third one, he has 60 days to get our permission. if he does not get our permission, he has to pull out within the next 30 d

mr. speaker. it is true gaddafi's a bad guy. he needs to go. but the problem is for those who say will this mean the end of the bush doctrine? i don't know this president's been enforcing the bush doctrine, but the problem is as my friend, mr. burton, pointed out, we don't know who is going to replace gaddafi. it's not in our national interest to help what may be another iran with khomeini and ahmadinejad come to power. and especially when we are releasing oil at a time when that oil should be saved in case it all goes to blazes in the middle east and we don't have any coming from there. now, i'm not crazy about the exceptions, either. the search and rescue, intelligence surveillance, and reconnaissance, aerial refueling, operational planning because this administration is probably going to describe everything they do as falling into those exceptions, but it's a step in the right direction. and some have said, and i know their hearts and i know they mean well, we want to support our troops and i don't like it when people say let's back out and

gaddafi regime war criminals to justice? the hon. foreign affairs minister. [applause] >> mr. speaker, i am equally concerned about the huge number of fair fight allegations with respect to sexual violence as the use as a tool for. i have had discussions with the foreign affairs critic on this issue. i had a specific briefing on what we might do in canada to tackle this issue, working with the international criminal court, or providing tangible assistance on the social services side or the prosecution or policing a side. i would be pleased to work with a member on something that should be at uniting force. [applause] >> we see tremendous change in the arab world, and canadians support that change, and they want to see our government do more trade at countries pledged $20 billion or more for the arab spring, and there was nothing new from canada at, nothing for egypt. the speech in 2008 promised to create democratic developing institute. the question is, why isn't it canada supporting these new democracies, and why is the government out of step with the rest of the world? [appl

mr. speaker, if this resolution passes and we weaken nato's mission, gaddafi may very well prevail. his forces will then kill, rape, and torture all those libyans who oppose him as he is already trying to do. gaddafi has reportedly kidnapped thousas of people, including young students to serve as human shields and march at the vanguard of his forces. if any of his own soldiers refuse to gun down unarmed innocent civilians, they are shot immediately. once he's done with his own people, he'll turn his attention to those nato and middle eastern nation that is attacked him and seek revenge. remember, this is a man who is already responsible for the deaths of 189 innocent passengers on pan am 103. let's face it, this is not about whether the obama administration has been fellow enough in explaining the libyan rationale to congress. members understand why the president intervened. we can read. we can think. we can decide. the real question is, will we politicize this effort in the same way that the republican congress politicized president clinton's successful intervention in a nato-led m

mr. speaker, if this resolution passes and we weaken nato's mission, gaddafi may very well prevail.is forces will then kill, rape, and torture all those libyans who oppose him as he is already trying to do. gaddafi has reportedly kidnapped thousands of people, including young students to serve as human shields and march at the vanguard of his forces. if any of his own soldiers refuse to gun down unarmed innocent cilians, they are shot immediately. once he's done with his own people, he'll turn his attention to those nato and middle eastern nation that is attacked him and seek revenge. remember, this is a man who is already responsible for the deaths of 189 innocent passengers on pan am 103. let's face it, this is not about whether the obama administration has beefellow enough in explaining the libyan rationale to congress. members understand why the president intervened. we canead. we can think. we can decide. the real question is, will we policize this effort in the same way that the republican congress politicized president clinton's successful intervention in a nato-led mission i

mr. chairman. i have heard many cases where you have tried to justify the ends or the means for the end -- and eddie have talked about libya and muammar gaddafi in your handling of this. those are two very, very separate issues. people have very differing opinions about what is happening in libya but still have strong concerns about the way the administration has handled the process itself. i do not think it is helpful to meld the two together and i think of waters down the issue at hand. i find a humorous, sitting here on the foreign relations committee, the most deliberative body in the world, some say. basically you guys have not provided witnesses from the department of justice or the pentagon. we seem to take that as a humorous thing. the administration has basically said there's no reason for us to get any better resolution from congress, and yet the senate today in this urge to be relevant is rushing to give the administration irresolution even though it is basically saying in this case that the senate is irrelevant. i want to ask this one question -- now you have taken this argument and seen the response you got from both sides of the

mr. bob gates, somebody has to educate this gentlemen, he is mixing liberia with libya, lebanon, he wasn't sure what country had gaddafi. i think the u.s. should be heavily involved in this issue because he has killed americans as you know and he is now flooding europe with immigrants from africa and he ss following that to cause hey vock for europe. so the u.s. should be involved especially right now with the issue in libya. host: we're going to take a few more minutes to talk about the issue of the u.s. involvement in nato. but i want to show you this story about knut gingrich. you probably heard stories about the massive reg izz nations about his campaign is concern. he is set to give a speech sunday evening and the speech will go on as planned to make foreign policy speech. one of the things that was brought up during the discussion with reporters is knut gingrich and his campaign. >> i don't know. newt is one of our most durable idea men in the republican party. he's filled with vision and ideas. but presidential campaigns are difficult undertakings. there's often a lot of turmoil in the campaign. we'll just have

gaddafi falls. >> thank you, and thank you both for your service. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you both for your service. secretary gates, i echo the high praise that we all have for you and for your efforts. speaking about afghanistan, as we deal with the reality of a drawdown coming ahead and the numbers and all the discussion that goes on there, i am going to make it a little more parochial. we have several thousand troops with the first striker brigade combat team of the 25th infantry that just a ploy. they moved out just this past month. the concern i am hearing from some of the folks up north is, we want to be in that phase where we are withdrawing and coming out of afghanistan, but we are concerned that our loved ones, who have just now gone in, are going to be on the back end of that withdrawal. so you have these forces moving out. you mentioned that between now and 2014, the amount of money that we will see going in to afghanistan will be dramatically reduced. what assurances can you give to those who are just now going into afghanistan and who will be there thro

mr. chairman. i have heard many ces where you have tried to justify the ends or the means for the end -- and die have talked about libya and muammar gaddafi in your handling of this. those are two very, very separate issues. people have very differing opinions about what is happening in libya but still have strong concerns about the way the administration has handled the process itself. i do not think it is helpful to meld the two together and i think of waters downhe issue at hand. i find a humorous, sitting here on the foreign relations committee, the most deliberative body in the world, some say. basically you guys have not provided witnesses from the department of justice or the pentagon. we seem to take that as a humorous thing. the administration has basically said there's no reason for us to get any better resolution from congress, and yet the senate today in this urge to be relevant is rushing to give the administration irresolution even though it is basically saying in this case that the senate is irrelevant. i want to ask this one question -- now you have taken this argument and seen the response you got from both sides of the a

mr. chairman. i have heard many cases where you have tried to justify the ends or the means for the end -- and eddie have talked about libya and muammar gaddafiyour handling of this. those are two very, very separate issues. people have very differing opinio about what is happening in libya but still have strong concerns about the way the administration has handled the process itself. i do not think it is helpful to meld the two together and i think of waters down the issue at hand. i find a humorous, sitting here on the foreign relations committee, the most deliberative body in the world, some say. basically you guys have not provided witnesses from the department of justice or the pentagon. we seem to take that as a humorous thing. the administration has basically said ther's no reason for us to get any better resolution from congress, and yet the senate today in this urge to be relevant is rushing to give the administration irresolutn en though it is basically saying in this case that the senate is irrelevant. i want to ask this one question -- now you have taken this argument and seen the response you got from both sides of the aisle, are

mr. obama has to go through. i think you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. we'd better get a enthusiastic. host: libyan rebels are out of money. war're waging a drawn-out to oust gaddafind have run out of money. he accused the west of not meeting promises to deliver urgent financial aid. the comments came as cracks were appearing in the nato alliance over its three month bombing campaign against gaddafi. right below that they list iraqi war deaths. so far, since 2003, there have been four thousand four hundred 66 fatalities. 3514 have been in hostile action. shreveport, louisiana. republican line. caller: i would have to say ron paul. he is the only person who understands that our country, understands that our country, freedom cannot exist without -- with the central bank's controlling our country. host: a tweet, "no enthusiasm goes with the political times. no enthusiasm about anything at moment." oklahoma. an independent. caller: i would like my candid it to be rick perry that he is not a candidate yet. i think he would be a great leader. he seems to be doing pretty well down there in texas. host: a couple of e-mail us have come in. in ancient times, an enthusiast w

mr. speaker, don't you think that money, that millions of money could be better spent building america instead of blowing up libya? and who are these rebels in libya that we're supporting? of course, omar gaddafirant, but we may end up replacing an oppressive regime with an extreme radical regime. now, isn't that lovely? congress should cut off all funds to the president's little war in libya and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. garamendi: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: you're recognized. mr. garamendi: it appears this morning and today that the house of representatives and congress will be carrying out its constitutional responsibilities dealing with the war in libya. resolutions will be on the floor. appropriately we will be voting today on whether we want to end, limit or extend. for me i think we have to carry out the u.n. resolution that calls for the right to protect or the obligation and duty to protect. that's why the libyan situation started. that needs to be completed. i would suggest that the hastings resolution that gives a year is good in that it provides the necessary r