[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 58 (Thursday, May 12, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         THE BOSNIA RESOLUTION

  Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I have spoken before on the subject of the 
Bosnia resolution we are going to be voting on, as I understand it, 
about noon today. I will try not to be repetitious.
  I think this is a very important vote that I hope the Members of the 
Senate will reflect on very carefully, because we may be setting a 
precedent, if the vote goes the way I think it should not go, to find 
the Senate trying to dictate on foreign policy. I have always thought 
the U.S. Senate and the Congress as a whole have grave responsibilities 
in the area of international relations, obviously, but it seems to me 
on this particular occasion we are bordering on taking a step beyond 
what I think would be due bounds and due consideration, given the 
situation that we face today. I therefore hope the Senate will be wise 
enough to support the amendment that will be offered by the majority 
leader. That amendment, as I understand it, exactly represents what 
this Senator's point of view has always been.
  As a member of the Armed Services Committee, we are very much 
involved in all of these things. I believe there is plenty of room for 
discussion and argument, a venting of frustrations on a situation that 
I think has been very troubling and very much a concern of most of us 
in the Senate as a whole.
  I would simply like to point out, Mr. President, I agree basically 
with the Mitchell amendment, which basically says what I have always 
felt: That I wish we could lift the embargo that I think has not been 
fair to the side we have generally supported in the Bosnian war. And 
yet we should recognize and realize, Mr. President, that the realities 
of the situation are that we are not in Bosnia with ground troops; we 
are part of a United Nations effort. Therefore, for us to take the 
unilateral action that is suggested by the amendment being offered in 
opposition to the majority leader's amendment is a step in the wrong 
direction.
  We need only to look at the testimony that we are hearing right now 
in the Armed Services Committee with regard to the situation which 
caused a great deal of hardship and heartache in Somalia. Here, again, 
we were involved as part of a United Nations' effort.
  The distinguished President pro tempore of the Senate, who is sitting 
in the chair, and I have talked previously about how far we should be 
going, whether or not the United Nations should always be 
``automatically''--I put that in quotes for obvious reasons--the police 
force of the United Nations. I think not. But once we have made a 
decision, as we did in Somalia, once we have made a decision, as we 
have in the difficult situation in Bosnia, then I do not believe, in 
the middle of that kind of an action, we can simply say, ``Oh, well, 
we're not going to do it that way; we're going to do a unilateral 
action.''
  The amendment offered as an alternative to the Mitchell amendment is 
a very mischievous one that could set, I fear, a great deal of bad 
precedent in the future. Simply stated, the President of the United 
States and his administration must set foreign policy.
  I wish we could lift the embargo, but I think we can only do that as 
one member, an important member, of the United Nations. Therefore, it 
seems to me if we take the action that is suggested by some, if we take 
unilateral action for the lifting of the embargo, we would set 
ourselves apart from the United Nations and, therefore, weaken the 
effort that the United Nations has been putting forth in Somalia, in 
Bosnia, and elsewhere.
  So I simply hope that we will have the wisdom, Mr. President, to 
recognize that discretion being the better part of valor in this 
particular situation, in the opinion of this Senator, would be simply 
to support the amendment offered by the majority leader.
  I thank the Chair and I yield the floor.

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