[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9693-S9694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       THOUSANDS OF BOSNIANS FLEE

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, just a short while ago, CNN reported that 
the so-called U.N. safe area of Srebrenica had fallen--Bosnian Serb 
tanks have reached the town center and thousands of the 40,000 Bosnians 
in the enclave have begun to flee.
  The main argument made by the administration in opposition to 
withdrawing the U.N. forces and lifting the arms embargo on Bosnia was 
that such action would result in the enclaves falling and would lead to 
a humanitarian disaster. Well, that disaster has occurred today--on the 
U.N.'s watch, with NATO planes overhead.
  If it was not before, it should now be perfectly clear that the U.N. 
operation in Bosnia is a failure. Once again, because of U.N. 
hesitation and weakness we see too little NATO action, too late. Two 
Serb tanks were hit by NATO planes today--hardly enough to stop an all-
out assault that began days ago. As a result, in addition to thousands 
of refugees, the lives of brave Dutch peacekeepers are in serious 
danger.
  Mr. President, there can be no doubt, the U.N.-designated safe areas 
are safe only for Serb aggression. What will it take for the 
administration and others to declare this U.N. mission a failure? Will 
all six safe areas have to be overrun first?
  It is time to end this farce. It is time to let the Bosnians do what 
the United Nations is unwilling to do for them. The Bosnians are 
willing to defend themselves--it is up to us to make them able by 
lifting the arms embargo.
  Mr. President, I have just been on the telephone with the Prime 
Minister of Bosnia, along with Senator Lieberman, Prime Minister 
Silajdzic in Sarajevo. He was giving us the latest conditions in 
Srebrenica, one of the safe havens, where 40,000 men, women, and 
children are now fleeing Serb aggression. He also indicates that other 
safe havens are under attack, or threatened attack.
  It seems to me that if there was ever a moment when we ought to have 
a 

[[Page S 9694]]
unanimous vote in this Chamber, it ought to be when we take up the 
resolution to lift the arms embargo. I do not know how many times it 
has been on the floor, how many votes we have had. We have had strong 
bipartisan support. And, in my view, I think it is growing.
  I am not asking about committing American troops. We are talking 
about giving these poor people who are being killed by the dozens every 
day a chance to defend themselves by lifting the arms embargo, which 
they have a right to do as a member of the United Nations, an 
independent nation under article 51 of the U.N. Charter.
  The right of self-defense is an inherent right, in my view. We deny 
them that right by not lifting the arms embargo.
  I said before, the U.N. mission is a failure. I commend the courage 
of the U.N. protection forces there. But it seems to me that the policy 
is not going to change. They have had little pin pricks and they called 
them air strikes. They knocked out two tanks. That was the effort by 
NATO. According to the Prime Minister, the U.N. representative, Mr. 
Akashi, waited until it was too late for the air strikes to have any 
impact.
  So we hope to work in a very bipartisan way--or a nonpartisan way, 
better yet--on this issue in the next week.
  I ask unanimous consent that a fax just received in the last hour 
from the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the Government's 
prime minister, Mr. Silajdzic, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

         The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
                                                    July 11, 1995.
     Hon. Rober Dole,
     Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Dole: Today, the United Nations allowed the 
     Serb terrorists to overrun the demilitarized ``safe area'' of 
     Srebrenica. Helpless civilians in this area are exposed to 
     massacre and genocide. Once and for all, these events 
     demonstrate conclusively that the United Nations and the 
     international community are participating in genocide against 
     the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
       The strongest argument of the opponents of the lifting of 
     the arms embargo toppled today in Srebrenica. They claimed 
     that the lifting the arms embargo would endanger the safety 
     of the safe areas. The people in Srebrenica are exposed to 
     massacre precisely because they did not have weapons to 
     defend themselves, and because the United Nations did not 
     want to protect them. Attacks are also under way against the 
     other safe areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
       That is why we think it is extremely important that the 
     American Senate votes to lift the arms embargo on the 
     legitimate Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
       If the Government of the United States of America claims 
     that it has no vital interests in Bosnia, why then does it 
     support the arms embargo and risk being associated with 
     genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
       It is essential that the elected representatives of the 
     American people immediately pass the bill to life the arms 
     embargo. This will provide a clear message that the American 
     people do not want to deprive the people of Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina of the right to defend themselves against 
     aggression and genocide.
           Sincerely,
                                             Dr. Harris Silajdzic,
                                                   Prime Minister.

  Mr. DOLE. I will conclude by saying we have always had the argument 
that if we lifted the arms embargo, it would result in the fall of 
these enclaves, these safe havens, and that would lead to humanitarian 
disaster. That argument is gone today because it has been overrun by 
the Serbs. Forty-thousand people are fleeing, and other safe havens are 
being attacked. So that argument is gone.
  It ought to be perfectly clear that the U.N. operation is a failure. 
Once again, because of U.N. hesitation and weakness, we see too little 
NATO action too late. Two Serb tanks were hit by NATO planes, hardly 
enough to stop the all-out assault that began days ago. As a result, 
the lives of thousands of refugees and of the brave Dutch peacekeepers 
are in serious danger. The safe areas are safe only for Serb 
aggression. They are not safe for anybody else--not for the poor 
Moslems who are there, not for the peacekeepers, or the U.N. Protection 
Forces. They are being taken hostage again.
  So what will it take for our Government and other governments to 
declare this U.N. mission a failure? Will all six areas have to be 
overrun? Maybe it will take that much.
  So it is the view of many of us--and this is not partisan --that it 
is time to end this farce and let the Bosnians do what the United 
Nations is unwilling to do for them. The Bosnians are willing to defend 
themselves. In fact, this letter says that it is up to us to make them 
able by lifting the arms embargo. This letter says it is essential that 
the elected representatives of the American people immediately pass a 
bill to lift the arms embargo. This will provide a clear message that 
the American people do not want to deprive the people of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina of the right to defend themselves against aggression and 
genocide and possible massacre of thousands of civilians.

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