[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 177 (Thursday, November 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S16848-S16849]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             LANDMINES--A DEADLY THREAT TO AMERICANS ABROAD

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last night, I along with a number of our 
colleagues in both bodies, Republican and Democrat, those who have 
responsibility for foreign policy decisions, gathered with the 
President for nearly a couple of hours to talk about the situation in 
Bosnia, and whether and under what circumstance American troops might 
be sent there.
  And in the future, when the discussions in Dayton, OH, are over, I 
will speak more about what I think can be and should be America's role 
in Bosnia, as the leader of NATO. But during the discussion last night, 
I could not help but think, whoever goes into the former Yugoslavia, 
assuming there is a peace agreement and the fighting has stopped, and 
the tanks are rolled back and the troops withdrawn, there is 1 killer 
that will remain--actually, not 1 killer, there are over 2 million 
killers that will remain in the former Yugoslavia. Those are, of 
course, the landmines that have been put there.
  These landmines do not sign peace agreements. The landmines do not 
withdraw. The landmines do not say, ``We have agreed to stop killing.'' 
In fact, the landmines do not agree that they will kill and maim only 
combatants. They will destroy the life of whoever steps on them, 
civilian or combatant.
  I have spoken many times about landmines on the floor of the Senate, 
and also in the halls of the United Nations where I had the privilege 
of serving as a delegate from the United States.
  The immense human misery that is caused by landmines is finally 
becoming known. Just last week, on the CBS program ``60 Minutes,'' they 
showed how Cambodia has become a land of amputees from the millions of 
landmines that have littered the country. Tim Rieser from my office has 
been there and seen that, as have many others who have worked with me 
on the landmine problem.
  Each one of those landmines waits silently. It is hidden until some 
unsuspecting child steps on it, loses a leg or their face or eyes or 
their life from loss of blood. And people who have come back from 
Cambodia, like so many of the countries that are strewn with landmines, 
and have told me that after awhile they become almost inured to walking 
down the street and seeing men, women, and children with a leg missing 
or an arm missing or their face horribly scarred and blinded, all from 
landmines.
  We think how terrible it is in these countries, where unlike in our 
own country where we can walk safely almost anywhere, the people there 
cannot even go out to the fields to raise crops or to feed their 
animals, get water, or go to school. Whenever they venture outside they 
know that any minute could be their last.
  But ours is a false sense of security, Mr. President, because 
landmines also maim and kill Americans, whether those are Americans in 
combat missions, the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who are 
sent into combat or on peacekeeping missions, or Americans who are on 
other missions overseas.
  I have spoken many times about my friend Ken Rutherford of Boulder, 
CO. Two years ago, he lost a leg from a landmine in Somalia where he 
was working for the International Rescue Committee, a noncombatant on a 
humanitarian mission. He has undergone at least seven operations to 
save his other foot that was badly damaged.
  Those who were in the Senate hearing room when he testified about the 
explosion when the landmine blew apart the vehicle he was riding in, 
remember the image of him sitting there in shock holding his foot in 
his hand trying to put it back onto his leg--an impossibility, of 
course--those who were there remember, as did people operating the 
cameras from networks who stood there with tears running down their 
faces, witnesses and others who had heard similar horrible stories 
before, were stunned into silence listening to this man.
  Last June, two Americans, one from Long Island, the other from 
Minnesota, both in the military but on their honeymoon--on their 
honeymoon--were killed from a landmine in the Sinai Desert on their way 
to a resort on the Red Sea, even though peace had long since come to 
the area.
  Less than 2 weeks ago, another American fell victim to a landmine in 
Zaire. Marianne Holtz of Seattle, WA, was working for the American 
Refugee Committee on the Rwanda border doing the highest of missionary 
and humanitarian work. She was following, really, the precepts of the 
Bible, of caring for these, the least fortunate of our brothers. She 
lost both legs, part of her face and today she is on a respirator in a 
hospital thousands of miles from home fighting for her life from 
internal injuries, because the vehicle she was riding in was blown 
apart by a landmine.
  That is not an isolated incident. Four people have died and over 20 
were injured in two separate incidents in the past 2 months in Rwanda 
where landmines blew up a Red Cross ambulance and a truck filled with 
refugees.
  Mr. President, if there were a Red Cross ambulance filled with 
refugees and humanitarian workers, and a soldier were to fire a weapon 
at them and blow up that truck, we would say, ``What an outrageous 
thing. Don't they know this is the Red Cross? Don't they know these are 
noncombatants?'' It would be a war crime. But the landmine does not 
know that, and the landmine exploded and it is just as horrible.
  This is happening, Mr. President, every 22 minutes of every day. 
Somebody in one of the 60 countries infested with mines loses an arm, 
leg, or is killed.
  I have talked about four Americans who are among the tens of 
thousands of innocent people who have been killed or horribly mutilated 
by landmines in recent months. They are in addition to the 18 Americans 
who died from landmines in the Persian Gulf. In fact, a quarter of all 
the American soldiers who died in the Persian Gulf war died from 
landmines.
  With 100 million landmines in over 60 countries, more Americans will 
be among their victims. Millions more landmines are being laid each 
year, and 

[[Page S 16849]]
sooner or later, we have to realize whatever the military utility these 
insidious weapons have, it is time we paid attention to the terrible 
human suffering it is causing indiscriminately day after day after day. 
It is time, as civilized nations on this Earth, to join together to end 
the use of these indiscriminate, inhumane weapons.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. KENNEDY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts is recognized. 
The Chair advises the Senator from Massachusetts that morning business 
is set to expire at 12 noon--just to advise the Senator.

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