A lecture by US Congressman Les AuCoin titled "Who Sends America to War?" delivered to the "Leadership and Public Policy" class at Pacific University on February 4, 1991. The class was designed to have Congressman AuCoin meet with the students for one and a half hours each month to "try to see how America works-- examining the distinctions between democratic governance in theory and as it is practiced by real people with real passions, feares, prejudices, principles, cynicism, and idealism." Discussing the Persian Gulf War, Congressman AuCoin states "The United States has unleashed the most powerful air campaign in military history and is posed for the largest tank and infantry battles in history. I find disturbing flaws in our policy. But I [sic] what I find more disturbing is President Bush's view that he, alone, has the power to wage this war-- notwithstanding the terms of the War Powers Resolution or Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution....What we have here is a President who refused to follow the law. His Administration went to ridiculous length to define 'hositilies' so as to avoid sending a report to Congress that would have triggered the War Powers Act and required an affirmative vote by Congress in order to maintain the troop development."
A speech by U.S. Congressman Les AuCoin given at Chamber Awards Banquets on three occasions in late January 1980 in Redmond, Roseburg, and Astoria. In his speech, Congressman AuCoin discussed multiple political issues, including the U.S. economy and inflation, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iran hostage crisis, and the Chrysler bailout of 1979. This is one of a collection of digitized objects from the Les AuCoin Papers (MS.147) at the Pacific University Archives. AuCoin served in the Oregon House of Representatives (1971-1975) and in the United States House of Representatives from Oregon's 1st District (1975-1993).
