ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of the US Congress during the Somali crisis and reviews the legislative process during that period. The dominant Africa issue in the latter part of the second session of the 102nd Congress was the anarchy and famine that developed in Somalia, a nation of about 6.5 million people. By the end of the second session (December 1992), a total of seven hearings had been held on Somalia—two in the Select Committee on Hunger, three in the House Subcommittee on Africa, and two in the Senate Subcommittee on Africa. With the new policy from the White House, the debate in Congress shifted from congressional authorization to how soon American troops should withdraw from Somalia. The withdrawal of US troops marked the beginning of a shift toward isolationism in the US Congress that was demonstrated by greater wariness over subsequent deployments to Haiti and Rwanda.
