miss ros-lehtinen: thank you -- ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that the ranking member of the committee on foreign affairs, my friend, mr. berman, be allowed to control 15 minutes of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you. madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in opposition to house con.res. 51 directing the president to remove united states armed forces from libya. the president has failed to make the illegal -- legal even constitutional case he owes to the congress and american people before committing american forces to a voluntary conflict. but the situation as it stands today is an important -- poses an important u.s. national security consideration and it requires this body to oppose the kucinich resolution. these are, what are these considerations, madam speaker, these are the sudden u.s. withdrawal from libyan operations proposed by this resolution

ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. pursuant to house resolution 328, i call up the joint resolution, h.j.res. 68, and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house joint resolution 68, joint resolution authorizing the limited use of the united states armed forces in support of the nato mission in libya. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? mr. jackson: mr. speaker, i rise to make a point of order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. the gentleman will state his point. mr. jackson: mr. speaker, i understand the gravity of the legislation before us but i rise to make a point of order that this bill violates clause 11 of rule 21. it states it shall not be in order to consider a bill or a joint resolution which has not been reported by a committee until it has been available to members for 72 hours. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution

ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you. i rise in strong support of house resolution 292 sponsored by our distinguished speaker. . as the resolution states at the outset, the armed forces of the united states may only be used to defend and advance the national security interests of the united states. not to enforce, to quote the president, the writ of the international community, end quote. not -- nor because of the united nations -- nor because of the arab league. yet these are what the president has repeatedly pointed to in justifying sending u.s. forces into action in libya. but what he has not done is explain to the american people and to congress how the situation in libya, if allowed to spiral out of control, poses a threat to u.s. national secuty interests. it is an increasingly important region, mr. speaker, with implications stretching into other areas that are vital to our nation. little if any details have been provided in response to repeated questions garding u.s. goals, the scope of the operation, and other is

ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased and honored to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, subcommittee on africa, global and human rights. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: i thank the distinguished chairwoman for yielding and thank her for her leadership on human rights issues. let me just say, mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to h.j.res. 68. you know, when the u.s. intervention in libya began last march i raised and i was among many several still unanswered questions about our involvement. they included questions about the identity and the aims of the rebels, the varying presidential statements that seemed to shift like the wind, the level of u.s. involvement, the possibility of gaddafi retaliating against american interests outside libya and whether u.s. ground troops may be requested at some point, though the resolution seems to clearly say that that would not be authorized by congress. in the course

ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. honored to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, subcommittee on africa, global and human rights. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: i thank the distinguished chairwoman for yielding and thank her for her leadership on human rights issues. let me just say, mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to h.j.res. 68. you know, when the u.s. intervention in libya began last march i raised and i was among many several still unanswered questions about our involvement. they included questions about the identity and the aims of the rebels, the varying presidential statements that seemed to shift like the wind, the level of u.s. involvement, the possibility of gaddafi retaliating against american interests outside libya and whether u.s. ground troops may be requested at some point, though the resolution seems to clearly say that that would not be authorized by congress. in the course in the debate ab

ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker.nd honored to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, subcommittee on africa, global and human rights. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: i thank the distinguished chairwoman for yielding and thank her for her leadership on human rights issues. let me just say, mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to h.j.res. 68. you know, when the u.s. intervention in libya began last march i raised and i was among many several still unanswered questions about our involvement. they included questions about the identity and the aims of the rebels, the varying presidential statements that seemed to shift like the wind, the level of u.s. involvement, the possibility of gaddafi retaliating against american interests outside libya and whether u.s. ground troops may be requested at some point, though the resolution seems to clearly say that that would not be authorized by congress. in the course in the debate

ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm very proud to yield the remaining time to the gentleman from illinois, mr. kinzinger, a member of the committee on energy and commerce and a captain in the u.s. air force reserves. mr. kinzinger: i appreciate the gentlelady yielding. ladies and gentlemen, we are at a moment in time, the middle east is awakening to freedom. they are seeing the opportunities that lay before them that we have experienced for hundreds of years. and they are begging for freedom. you know the greatest disinfectant to terrorism is not necessarily bombs, or armies, it's freedom. this war, this action in libya i believe sells itself. i believe it is in the united states interest and in the interest of freedom-loving people everywhere to support it. but, mr. president, you need to come to congress, and you need to say what our interests are there. and allow congress to vote on that because i believe the actions in libya sell itself. people all across are begging for this and in 50 years when boys and girls

ms. ros-lehtinen: well, i thank the lady from washington for yielding me the time and i'm inspired to hear my wonderful colleagues, proud women women, proud to be -- republican women, proud to be republican as well as plugging our gender because we have a very positive story to tell our country and as the -- my wonderful friend, the colleague from the state of washington, pointed out, my name is ileana ros-lehtinen and i represent florida's proud and beautiful 18th congressional district that covers from ball harbor all the way down to sunny key west, 265 miles of coastal beach area. i'm a daughter, a mother, a grandmother a wife of a vietnam veteran a former educator and a former small business owner. i fled castro's communist cuba with my parents when i was 8 years old. i'm proud to be a naturalized american. cuban by birth, american by choice. i am also a republican woman. i enter public service after talking to my parents, at a small, bilingual school we operated together. after hearing from the parents at the school i operated about their hopes and dreams and the problems and concerns