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©Los Angeles Times
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 16, 2001
WASHINGTON -- One by one, members of the House -- virtually all wearing red, white and blue ribbons -- stood up Friday night to voice their full support for granting President Bush authority to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against those responsible for the deadliest terrorist assault in U.S. history.
Except for Rep. Barbara Lee, a liberal Democrat from Oakland, Calif., who opposed the resolution that earlier in the day passed the Senate unanimously. The House approved the measure, 420-1.
"Let's step back for a moment and think through the implications of our action today so that it does not spiral out of control," Lee told her colleagues.
Military action will not prevent terrorism, she asserted. "This is a very complex issue," she explained later in an interview. "Military action is a one dimensional reaction to a multi-dimensional problem."
It was not the first time she had swam against a strong tide. She was the lone dissenter in the 424-1 House vote in 1999 to authorize the bombing of Serbia.
Lee, 55, daughter of a retired Army officer, said she hopes her colleagues and constituents understand her vote. "I think people understand votes of conscience," she said.
"Only the most foolish or the most callous would not understand the grief that has gripped our people and millions across the world," she said in her House speech. But she added, "Some of us must urge the use of restraint" in responding to the terrorism.