Conscientious Objector in the House.

• Author: Conniff, Ruth
• Position: Rep. Barbara Lee

In a display of cowardice that has become a ritual in Washington under the Clinton Administration, Democrats and Republicans alike chose to ignore the fact that the U.S. Constitution gives Congress, not the President, the power to declare war, and rubber-stamped the President's decision to begin bombing Yugoslavia at the end of March.

Consulted at the last minute, almost as an afterthought, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed House Resolution 130. The resolution dodged questions about whether the war is a good idea. Instead, it treated the President's decision to bomb as a foregone conclusion, and changed the subject to praise America's boys and girls in uniform: "Whereas the President has authorized U.S. participation in NATO military operations against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," the resolution declared, "... Be it resolved that the House of Representatives supports the members of the United States Armed Forces who are engaged [in those operations] ... and recognizes their professionalism, dedication, patriotism, and courage."

Members' names were projected on the wall above the floor of the House, as the clerk called the roll. A sea of green lights appeared, signaling 424 "yes" votes. One red light appeared next to the name of the single member of Congress who voted "no."

That one little light belonged to Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of Oakland, California.

"I was surprised," says Lee, a fifty-three-year-old, gravelly voiced African-American woman. "Being the only `no' vote is troubling. It's staggering. You wonder if there's something you've missed."

But when she talked to her colleagues after the vote, Lee says, many of them agreed with her that the decision to bomb was made with too much haste, and that it violated the War Powers Act. "They felt the same way I did, but they didn't want to vote `no,'" she says. "It was kind of a do-nothing, don't-take-a-position resolution. Members of Congress didn't want to go on the record either for or against the decision to bomb. I think that was bad. Congress has a responsibility and a right to be involved. We should have had a straight up or down vote."

If such a vote had been taken, Lee still would have opposed using military force.

"I believe in peace. I've been a peace activist all my life," she explains. "I believe the way we resolve conflict is not through military action and bombing. We left Kosovo alone for a long, long time. We didn't get involved. I don't...