[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 10 (Thursday, January 25, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E100-E101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS

                                 ______


                           HON. JACK KINGSTON

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 25, 1996

  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I enter the following story into the 
Congressional Record. This story was written by Nancy Welch. It was 
printed in the Statesboro Herald on December 10, 1995:

                          The President Speaks

                            (By Nancy Welch)

       President Clinton stood on a podium draped with army 
     camouflage. Soldiers stood in formation on the parade field 
     in front of him. Their families dotted the surrounding hills. 
     It was gray and foggy. He tried to cheer them. He told the 
     soldiers they would soon be leaving for Bosnia, not to worry, 
     they would be back in a year or so.
       I shivered, aware of that damp cold that so often enshrouds 
     the small village of Baumholder, Germany. I could almost feel 
     the snow stinging my face and my feet turning icy cold.
       But the real chill hit my heart.
       I remember too well the time I spent in Baumholder. On top 
     of a mountain. Caring for babies. Doing laundry. Washing 
     dishes. Being frightened.
       The cold war still raged. The enemy sat just across the 
     East German border. And our husbands were constantly put on 
     alert.
       The days of fear would begin before dawn. An MP car with a 
     loudspeaker would cruise the streets of the military housing 
     areas.
       ``This is an alert. Report to your units,'' would be the 
     deafening words from the speaker. We would be jolted awake. 
     All over the area men would rise from their beds, jump into 
     their uniforms, grab their gear, kiss the wife and kids and 
     leave.
       We never knew at that early hour whether they would be gone 
     an hour, a day, a month or a year. We wouldn't find out until 
     later in the day whether the early morning call to arms was a 
     practice or for real.
       As the snow fell on the foggy mountain, we wives turned to 
     each other for any news a husband might smuggle through. We 
     drank hot tea and offered moral support. We continued to take 
     care of the children, do laundry, cook, wash dishes and fight 
     the cold fear that nagged at the pits of our stomachs.
       Sometimes there was good news. Just as the early dark of 
     winter fell, the call would come. He would be home for 
     dinner.
       But other times it would be weeks before the men would come 
     home. It was awful.
       But the wives of the soldiers in Bosnia today are faced 
     with a greater challenge. They face at least a year, without 
     their husbands, on the cold, snowy, foggy mountain in a 
     country far away.
       And they face the long separation just before Christmas.
       My heart goes out to them. They will deal with so much. 
     They will have to tangle with the Santa Claus wishes, do the 
     tree, go to the school programs and church programs. They 
     will have to put on a happy, hopeful face for the children.
       They will have a strong support system. Military families 
     do take care of their own. 

[[Page E101]]
     Christmas day they will gather in groups. The children will play 
     happily under the tree while the women drink a glass of 
     German wine and enjoy their turkey and dressing. But there 
     will be a lump in every wife's throat.
       There's nothing easy about what the soldiers are about to 
     do. But, believe me, there is nothing easy about what those 
     strong women are about to face.
       Think of them during this holiday season.

                          ____________________