Date: 1986-05-05
Speaker: IKE SKELTON (democrat)
Chamber: H

who worked in a truly bipartisan fashion to bring this resolution to the House and within 3 days of our sponsorship we had well over 230 cosponsors. Mr. Speaker. the issue before Congress today is much greater than one resolution. one debate. or even one vote. Words. resolutions. and votes do not measure courage. They merely record it. No action we take in this body today. however noble. however eloquent. can equal the nobility and eloquence of Mrs. Thatcher on April 14. 1986. The Iron Lady of Britain cast a tall light across all of Europe and all of history. It is our proud duty today to record that history. That is the simple purpose of this resolution. The praise we bestow must be more than empty words. It must be a lesson for every new generation of children who march to the drum beat of democracy or to the stench of dictatorship. Each succeeding generation must learn over and over again that compassion does not mean surrender. that freedom sometimes requires sacrifice and that no decent nation. and ours above all others. wants to use force. but our reluctance to use force cannot be an absolute in the face of tyranny. Our duty to defend our citizens must come first today. tomorrow. and forever. Courage comes In many forms. Each of us sees examples of courage everyday in our districts. but these examples carry one thing in common--the brave person acts without knowledge or guarantees of sucess. When Mrs. Thatcher permitted our F111s to. leave Britain. she could not have known the outcome. but she did know the cost: Criticism from her opponents. terrorist strikes against her countrymen. condemnation by her neighbors. Many of those were excuses to say no. A lesser leader would have said no. but the Iron Lady said "Yes." 1H.2340 Fortunately for all of us. our P dent and his dependable friend. . garet Thatcher. did no forget the p of appeasement. Their courage t ered miles above others. If there is doubt that the President. and Prime Minister did the right th that doubt is removed by the act of other European nations since defensive strike. Every day we read reports of Libyans expelled f these nations as new terrorist plots uncovered. In hindsight. Mrs.. Tha ers neighbors are taking action. she acted with foresight and for t we praise her today. Mr. Speaker. the action we are at to take today. approving a resolu of Americas gratitude for the as ance provided by the Government the people of Great Britain. has cial significance as the Tokyo sun continues. As Mr. Reagan concl his talks with our allies. Congress the special opportunity to join Presidents freedom journey. Our vorable action on this resolution tc will send an unmistakable sigrn the summit nations! that this g body stands squarely behind our P dent. and stands squarely behind 1 garet Thatcher. As the" legislative body represen the will of the American people. must not delay action on this res tion any longer. Our constituents the American people demand no le I am reminded particularly of words of one of my neighbors in hometown when I told him of offer of the resolution by the gei man from Missouri myself. His reaction was right to point. He said. "Its about time."