Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, and fellow Atlasians :
In all my days in the service of our republic — days that have seen hostile armies ravage our soil, seen disunionist agitators tear at the fabric of our federal compact, seen governments rise and fall within these hallowed halls — never have I offered legislation upon these floors with a greater sense of regret for my people. Not one of us here today wanted this war. That we find it necessary to wage it now is consequence of perhaps the worst military blunder since 1812. Many have been vexed, even angry, that it has come to this, have argued that it needed not be so. The bill now before us will do nothing to assuage those fears.
It makes no difference. We are at war : this is the plain fact of the matter. Our citizens have been attacked by a foreign power; the world has been enraged; our choice is not between war and peace, but between limited war and world war — a choice others will make for us, if we do not make it ourselves.
Friends and colleagues, on these conditions I recommend to you this Declaration of War, a war the lives of all posterity demand we wage, lest our broken oaths strike the spark of an inferno to burn the whole world over. We will fight this war, and we will win it; and, in doing so, spare ourselves and the rest of mankind the cold silence of oblivion.
I could not agree more with this sentiment. This is not a fight any of us want, but it is what we are called to. There is no option of appeasing with evil after being attacked. We must declare war and win.
