[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 190 (Thursday, November 30, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H13847]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             BOSNIA POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms. Kaptur] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss our Bosnia policy. 
In the past 4 years, nearly 250,000 people have been killed in that 
war-torn region, 2 million people have become refugees. Atrocities have 
been committed that have truly shocked the world.
  The region has been a tinder box for European instability for 
centuries. Thus the peace agreement agreed to by the Presidents of 
Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia in Dayton, OH is indeed an historic step 
toward bringing peace and ultimate stability to this region.
  However, the deployment of over 20,000 United States troops to Bosnia 
to enforce the peace raises many questions. One lesson I have learned 
from history is that when Congress and the President are not at once 
with the American people, our Nation suffers. First, the Nation must be 
committed, and only then should we send troops. Sending troops to 
Bosnia without broader public consensus will prove to be a mistake.
  The President's recent efforts to convince the American people fell 
short of achieving that public support. May I ask, why in this post-
cold war era, when our U.S. citizenry has been clamoring for more 
defense-burden sharing by our allies, has the United States again been 
asked to assume the central role in resolving this situation, even 
convening the peace talks in Dayton, OH rather than on the European 
continent. The short-term cost of U.S. participation will equal $2.6 
billion.
  This entire matter is a defining moment in U.S. foreign policy in 
that the United States is being asked to substitute for European 
resolve in this post-cold war era.
  In the NATO nations of Europe, we have thousands of European trained, 
deployable troops that could be dispatched immediately to Bosnia in the 
event a final peace accord is signed in Paris. Let me read to you the 
list of European countries associated with NATO and the number of their 
combat ready troops. This does not even count their reserve forces:
  In Belgium, 63,000 troops. In Denmark, 27,000 troops. In France, 
409,000 troops. In Germany, 367,000 troops. In Greece, 159,300 troops. 
In Italy, 322,300 troops. In Luxembourg, 800 troops. In 
the Netherlands, 70,900 troops. In Norway, 33,500 troops. In Portugal, 
50,700 troops. In Spain, 206,500 troops. In Turkey, 503,800 troops. In 
the United Kingdom, 254,300 troops, bringing the total NATO active 
forces to over 2\1/2\ million war-ready forces.

  Identifying 20,000 ground troops from among these forces would 
represent less than a 1-percent additional commitment for NATO's 
European partners to enforce the peace. Is that too much to ask of 
them? If the United States maintains our logistical and our air 
support.
  The administration has stated that Europe, since 1914, has been 
unable to effectively maintain the peace and there was no other 
recourse but for the United States to assume the lead in bringing the 
warring factions to peaceful resolution. They have urged us not to 
become isolationists. The truth is, the long-term prospects for peace 
in this troubled region are very slim. Once the NATO troops withdraw, 
it will require 50 years of cooling off between the warring factions 
and maintenance of borders by external forces to give peace a chance. A 
1-year quick fix is not going to do it.
  Who will commit to that long-term maintenance of peace? And who will 
pay for it? Is it not time for NATO's European partners to measure up 
to their common defense? The United States, as a partner in NATO, has a 
role in logistical and air support, but we should not be sending ground 
troops to Bosnia. NATO in Europe is perfectly capable of doing that on 
its own, if it wished to.

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