[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 187 (Monday, November 27, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S17525-S17526]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          DEBATE ABOUT BOSNIA

  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, as we go into this very busy week, coming 
on the heels of the Thanksgiving break, I do not know of a time that we 
have had so many issues at the forefront that are so important to this 
country--not only the debate on the budget, how do we balance it, how 
do we stay on track to balance the budget in 2002 and how important 
that is to our children and grandchildren, the business of reforming 
welfare to make it work for people rather than lock them into certain 
circumstances, and now the situation as it is developing and unfolding 
in Bosnia.
  There are a lot of folks, including some who are running for public 
office, by the way, who do not even know where Bosnia is. But the 
debate, I am sure, this week will boil down to be a three-pronged 
debate: Is it in our national interest to deploy troops as peacekeepers 
or peacemakers, and there is a difference; will there be a clear and 
concise mission with hardly any opening for mission creep, and that is 
kind of tough to define, and it is kind of tough to stop--we learned 
that in Somalia; and is there at some time certain a withdrawal plan or 
some avoidance to deal with maybe an endless mission.
  One has to read the history of that part of the world to really 
understand it. I have been there, spent quite a lot of time on the 
Dalmation coast in Croatia, and I will tell you that the passion and 
the love for their land runs as deep as their hatred of their 
trespassers.
  In Bosnia, is it a holy war? One would like to think not. But I think 
it is part of the equation. An ethnic war? Of course it is because of 
the ethnic cleansing that has been carried out. The carnage that has 
been thrust upon this country is almost unspeakable and unheard of.
  Is it a civil war? Yes, it is a civil war. Is it a war that goes 
across borders? It is that, too. But it has been waged for generations. 
And just since our history or our recollection or our generation, 
250,000 people have perished at the hands of those who would be in the 
business of ethnic cleansing. The atrocities are unspeakable, and they 
are there.
  So we have to look at that situation as we try to define our 
responsibility in that equation. I give high marks to this President, 
my President--we only have one at a time--in bringing the warring 
parties together at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, and the 
amount of resolve that was placed on this to come out of there with 
some kind of an agreement that would be good for everybody.
  We have seen cease-fires, and we have seen agreements that were drawn 
up and concluded within Serbia and Croatia and in Bosnia, but they did 
not last very long. I am wondering how long this will last. Does 
everyone who is a party to that accord or that agreement that was 
signed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio really, really agree 
on peace? Are their leaders really 100 percent dedicated to it? Is 
everyone ready to stop the fighting?
  It would seem to me that after a while you would just get tired of 
killing one another. That has not been the case in this particular 
corner of the world. I would also ask, after the accord was signed in 
Ohio, what has been the part for the rest of the international 
community? Have they stepped forward? And how much pressure have they 
put on the parties, the three main parties in that part of the world to 
work out some sort of a peace? How heavy has the international pressure 
been? Has it been as intense as it has from this country? Because I 
happen to believe in the American way. I have always said our greatest 
trait as a people is most times our undoing because we are a caring 
people. No catastrophe happens around the world that we do not react in 
a very positive way to help people. We care. And also when we see the 
atrocities on our television screens every night during the nightly 
news, it moves our conscience. And we are a nation with a conscience. 
No person can stand to one side and not feel for those people who have 
been victims of unspeakable atrocities.

  But those folks who have pledged troops into NATO as a peacekeeping 
force, how many of those people have really stepped up and said this is 
wrong, and how much pressure have they put on their folks that this 
must stop? If the Bosnian Moslems and the Serbians and the Croatians do 
not think this peace agreement is in their best interests, then we 
would question, 

[[Page S 17526]]
is it in our best interests? Would our troops be placed in harm's way? 
Would they be placed there as peacemakers or peacekeepers? And I would 
say as this debate drones on, peacemakers become a lot more dangerous. 
It is hard to keep the peace where there is no peace.
  I am also sympathetic with the President on wanting to do the right 
thing. I am also sympathetic in that he has the right if he thinks it 
is right to deploy troops in a peacekeeping mission. But it would be a 
lot easier if he would come to this Congress and consult with this 
Congress before he did so and have the support of the American people. 
It is terrible to order young men and women into harm's way without the 
complete support of their nation. I will not do that.
  There seems to be another situation here, too--the provision of this 
accord to lift the arms embargo and to arm and train the Bosnians. That 
does not seem like a peacekeeping mission to me. And I will have to 
know more about the wording on that and our goal or the ultimate end.
  It seems hard to say that if we flood the country with arms and in 
the next breath we say, ``No more war,'' that seems sort of an oxymoron 
to me.
  In conclusion, it is, like I said, like no other part of the world 
where you will find people that have a love so deep and a passion so 
deep for their land but also a hate so deep for their trespassers. And 
that is the situation we have to deal with. So despite my expressed 
doubts on the merits of this decision to deploy--we will listen to the 
debate--but I have no intention of withdrawing my support for our young 
men and women who will be placed in harm's way in this mission of 
peace.
  I can remember when President Bush came to this body and asked for 
permission to deploy in the Middle East. We did have a national 
interest there. How much do we have in this circumstance? We will weigh 
that decision. And it will probably be, if the President chooses to do 
so, and I think he will, that he will come to this Congress asking for 
our support. It will be a very, very tough decision. It could be one of 
those votes that one never likes to cast either up or down. But the 
debate must be held, and we must talk about it openly because there are 
young men and women's lives at stake, and the interest of the most 
powerful and free Nation in the world.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I would ask, is there an order for the 
day relative to taking up other legislation at 3 o'clock?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There has been an order entered to that 
effect, that is correct.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. In view of the fact that I do not see any other of my 
colleagues calling up anything, I ask unanimous consent that morning 
business be extended for approximately 15 minutes so that I may make a 
statement and enter a bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thank the Chair, and wish the President a good 
afternoon.
  (The remarks of Mr. MURKOWSKI pertaining to the introduction of S. 
1425 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

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