[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 52 (Monday, April 22, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3750-S3752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SENATE DELEGATION VISIT TO THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I want to touch on a couple of matters 
this morning. The first relates to the opportunity that I had during 
the recent recess to travel to the former Yugoslavia. I was fortunate 
enough to travel with two colleagues who, in the past, have indicated a 
great deal of interest in Bosnia and other countries of the former 
Yugoslavia, the distinguished Senator from Nevada, Senator Reid, and 
the senior Senator from Utah, Senator Hatch.
  Our purpose was really threefold: First, to assess the progress of 
the Dayton accords; second, to examine, as carefully as we could, the 
role of the United States military and our Foreign Service personnel in 
the implementation of those accords; and third, to assess the longer 
term issues of democratization and privatization as they are developing 
in the former republics of Yugoslavia.
  It was with a great deal of sadness that we left on the very day that 
the Secretary of Commerce lost his life in a plane crash near 
Dubrovnik. He and I were supposed to have attended a reception the 
following evening in Zagreb, Croatia.
  I was extraordinarily saddened and disturbed by the early reports 
that we were given regarding his accident. There has been no one more 
dedicated to the causes of economic development in troubled countries 
than the Secretary of Commerce. There has been no one who has carried 
the message of new opportunities for U.S. business all over the world 
more diligently than Secretary Brown.
  Last week, I addressed my thoughts with regard to the many 
extraordinary accomplishments of Secretary Brown. I will not do so 
again this morning except to say that his loss will be mourned and his 
effort will, again, be realized for what it was: a major achievement in 
peace, a major achievement in creating new-found opportunities for U.S. 
businesses abroad, and a major opportunity for countries to continue to 
find new ways to work and to conduct business with the United States.
  His peace effort, on behalf of this country and the people of the 
former Yugoslavia, was deeply appreciated. And I must say, every place 
we went, it was the first issue to be raised with me by governmental 
leaders and others who mourned his loss and recognized his 
contribution. They expressed the hope that his effort would continue, 
that through other people and in other ways, the extraordinary 
accomplishments of the Secretary of Commerce would be continued.
  So, while our trip began on a very sad and somber note, our entire 
delegation chose to continue with it, in part, to show the people of 
Bosnia and the entire region that the United States remains committed 
to the peace and development effort for which Ron Brown gave his life.
  The Dayton accord has meant a lot of things to a lot of countries and 
a lot of people, but I think it is fair to say that today in the former 
Yugoslavia there exists what is termed a ``cold peace.'' We see a lot 
of opportunity for those who have confronted one another politically 
and militarily to find peaceful solutions, and there has been progress 
in that regard. But there is a long, long way to go.
  As we traveled to all of the countries that comprise the former 
Yugoslavia--Bosnia, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 
Croatia, Slovenia--as well as Albania and Hungary, we could see the 
tremendous success that has been generated, in part by the courageous 
new leadership in each of these countries.
  There can be no better success story thus far in this area than what 
we witnessed in Slovenia: a dynamic private sector working daily and 
weekly to become more a part of the West; economic success very evident 
as we

[[Page S3751]]

walked the streets; political success, very evident as we listened to 
the debate.
  Slovenia may be the first and the strongest, but there are others, 
too.
  We were extremely pleased at the progress we saw in the former 
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the only country of the former 
Yugoslavia to make a completely peaceful transition to independence. 
Without a doubt, their peaceful existence today can be tied directly to 
a decision made initially by former President George Bush--and later 
carried out by President Bill Clinton--to send a meager 200 troops 
along the Macedonian border. There are now 550 U.S. troops stationed 
there.
  Were it not for those troops, there is no doubt, in my mind at least, 
that Macedonia, too, could have been engaged in war. Those troops 
singlehandedly stopped the conflict that we see so prevalent in so many 
other areas of the former Yugoslavia. We owe a great debt of gratitude 
to those brave people who still today patrol the Macedonian border in 
10 remote locations for 21 days at a time, patrolling, watching, 
observing with great diligence the activity along the Macedonian 
border.
  The visibility of American peacekeepers in Bosnia and at the 
Macedonian border--the knowledge that they are there--has served as a 
very strong warning to all countries in the region that we will not 
tolerate--we will not tolerate--the conflict that we have seen 
elsewhere. Because of that presence--I must say, only because of the 
U.S. presence--we see peace today.
  In terms of successful transitions toward democracy, much can also be 
said for Albania, frankly. The work there under President Berisha has 
been extraordinarily impressive. I must say, of all countries I have 
ever visited, none has needed democracy and privatization more. Under 
the Communist regime, the construction of more than 600,000 concrete 
and steel bunkers is evident regardless of where you are. They are 
ubiquitous reminders of the paranoia of the past, demonstrated through 
virtually every aspect of public policy in that country.
  It is clear the Albanians have suffered a great deal. My generation, 
those people who were born after the war, feeling the full brunt of 
Communist rule, a totalitarian dictatorship, could not possibly have 
imagined what freedom could now entail. But it is freedom they are now 
enjoying. It is democracy they are now growing. It is free enterprise 
they are now pursuing. We applaud them in their efforts and find 
remarkable progress in the very short time that they have had the 
opportunity to pursue that freedom, to pursue that new future.
  Perhaps our travels to Slovenia, Albania, and the other republics of 
the former Yugoslavia made our visit to Bosnia all the more tragic. 
Bosnia is a beautiful country, with mountains and idyllic scenes of 
winding streams through small villages of burnt orange tile roofs. The 
idyllic areas and the extraordinary beauty make all the more tragic the 
scene there now.
  In all my travels, and having seen all the pictures we are provided 
on television and in the newspapers and magazines and books, there is 
no way one could be prepared for the incredible scene that one 
witnesses as soon as you get off the airplane in Sarajevo. The 
devastation cannot be fully appreciated unless you see it with your own 
eyes. There is no building untouched. Most buildings are virtually 
blown away, roads completely destroyed, bridges out, buildings without 
windows, houses without roofs, rubble in virtually every direction.
  Not only is there devastation, but there is danger. We are told there 
are more than 3 million landmines planted throughout that country. 
Almost daily people become victims of these mines. Limbs blown away, 
lives destroyed, given up because those mines continue to be so 
dangerous.
  Unfortunately, it is hard to describe what this conflict has been all 
about. It is not over political philosophy. It is not over economic 
determinism. It is over ethnic differences and ultranationalism, fanned 
in the flames of rhetoric by leaders outside Bosnia.
  Admira Ismic and Bosko Brekic were two people who felt the full brunt 
of this ultranationalism and this war between ethnic groups. They lived 
outside of Sarajevo, both 25 years old. They grew up together, fell in 
love as high school sweethearts and decided to go to college together 
in Sarajevo. They were chemistry students, very good students.
  In 1992, as they became increasingly concerned with the thousands and 
thousands of weapons raining in on Sarajevo, they, like many others, 
asked for safe passage out of that war-torn city. They had been given 
assurances from both sides that they would be given safe passage. They 
packed their meager belongings as college students, put them on their 
backs, and began walking down a road and across a bridge. They were 
only about halfway across the bridge when Bosko was shot in the back. 
It was not long after that--moments--that Admira was shot, too. They 
both fell in the middle of that bridge, embracing one another; and 
there they died.
  They were left there in the sun on that bridge for 8 days, according 
to Associated Press reports. Finally, during the middle of the night, 
because both sides continued to argue as to who was at fault, they were 
buried right next to the bridge, and there they lay for 3 years.

  During the week we were there, Admira's and Bosko's bodies were 
exhumed and moved to another cemetery in Sarajevo.
  Cemeteries carry a special significance in Bosnia. You see them 
everywhere. Soccer fields are now cemeteries; city parks are now the 
sites of thousands and thousands of additional graves. Admira's and 
Bosko's grave will be among them. They were buried together during the 
week we were there. Her father expressed both sadness and exhilaration. 
Sadness that life could be taken from two such young, promising 
students who could give so much to their country, but exhilaration 
that, after 3 long years, in peace he could bury them in a permanent 
location.
  He said, ``I was worried that I, too, would be killed prior to the 
time I could accomplish this task.'' Admira and Bosko's story is but 
one of thousands and thousands of stories just like that. The number of 
people buried in mass graves now is estimated to be over 300,000--tens 
of thousands of people amassed together, their families robbed of even 
the opportunity to mourn for them individually. They are mourned, but 
not forgotten.
  Mr. President, now there is peace. There is no more war. The shooting 
has ended. People are crossing that bridge freely. Life is coming back 
to the city. One day, in my view, Bosnia and all the other countries 
that once comprised Yugoslavia can flourish. They can flourish, like 
Slovenia, like Macedonia. There is no doubt in my mind that with proper 
political leadership, with the opportunity to continue to experience 
some stability, indeed, there is a possibility that all of these 
countries could experience democracy.
  So, I have four observations in closing, having had the opportunity 
to travel through this war-torn, yet extraordinarily beautiful area. 
The first is that this President, this administration, Assistant 
Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, and so many others who personally 
made the contribution to achieve meaningful peace in Dayton deserve a 
great deal of credit. It was courageous. Everyone recognizes how many 
times others have tried and failed, but this worked. This worked, in my 
view, because the United States put its moral, military, and diplomatic 
strength behind it.
  We would have failed had the United States not been willing to commit 
its credibility, its resources, and its talent to the task in spite of 
the political risks involved. This administration ought to be given our 
gratitude and the credit it deserves for showing the kind of leadership 
required at times like this.
  Second, let me say that we have never been better served by anybody 
than we are now being served by our U.S. military and Foreign Service 
personnel. Adm. Leighton Smith, Gen. Bill Nash, our Ambassadors, those 
who are attempting in what has to be some of the worst circumstances 
any of our personnel have faced in post-cold-war periods anywhere 
deserve our thanks.
  We have not been served better. We were told that in Sarajevo for 
many months Foreign Service personnel were not only required to work in 
what were clearly unacceptable circumstances, but they were required to 
live there, to

[[Page S3752]]

eat there, to sleep there, to exist there for month after month after 
month without even the opportunity to leave the Embassy. And yet they 
did so, demonstrating all the professionalism that we could probably 
expect, even as they watched this Congress shut the Government down, 
and as they attempted to explain to those Bosnian nationals who were 
working for the United States Government, in particular, why we could 
not pay them. They worked anyway. They carried on their mission as best 
they could.

  So it was with our U.S. military. In mud that had to have been 10 
inches deep, in tents and in buildings on top of a hill, they tried as 
best they could to establish a presence from which to carry on their 
operations. Soldiers told us that one night, after having just 
constructed their tents and established their infrastructure in this 
base, 80-mile-per-hour winds blew it down, blew down equipment, blew 
down tents, blew down virtually everything that was standing. So, 
again, the next morning, with the determination we have come to expect 
from the U.S. military, they put it all back, determined to carry out 
the mission as only the U.S. military can.
  As we traveled all through Bosnia and all the former Republics of 
Yugoslavia, the one thing we were told over and over again is that 
while it may be a 32-country mission, the fact is one country made the 
difference, one country made it happen, one country made it all 
possible. One country had the credibility, the stature, the power to 
bring peace to this region. That one country is well represented by our 
military and Foreign Service personnel.
  My third observation is that we must applaud the people of the former 
Yugoslavia, especially those in Bosnia, for their resiliency, their 
determination to find peace, tranquility, stability, economic vitality, 
and, yes, a political opportunity to achieve the same level of 
democracy as others in the region. That determination could not have 
been more evident.
  I thought it was a poignant metaphor to be standing on a hill in 
Sarajevo overlooking two soccer fields. One soccer field was filled 
with crosses, thousands and thousands of crosses marking the graves of 
casualties of the war. The other soccer field was filled with mud and 
young boys playing soccer, mud on every inch of their bodies, 
determined to play, recognizing that in the field just next to them lay 
their former friends and relatives, brothers and sisters.
  It is that determination, that willingness to survive it all, to 
confront it all, that we found in great abundance throughout the 
country. Certainly, we applaud the people in all of these Republics, in 
all of these countries, struggling to achieve democracy, for their 
determination and their ability to accomplish what they know they can.
  Finally, Mr. President, we ask frequently as we traveled through each 
country, ``Tell us why a skeptical South Dakotan or a skeptical 
American ought to agree that our presence there is in our best 
interest. How would you tell him or her that our troops, our personnel 
ought to be there, and what is it about the American interests that 
would convince a skeptical American that they should stay, at least 
through the end of this year?''
  I think the answer, as given on so many occasions in such eloquent 
fashion, simply came down to this: ``Only you can make it happen. Only 
you can ensure that the progress you are seeing continues.'' A 
Slovenian perhaps said it best when he looked me in the eye as we were 
discussing this, and he said, ``Let me tell you very honestly, in the 
short-term there is nothing in it for you--nothing. But in the long 
term, you who espouse democracy, who have enjoyed it for 200 years, 
have the opportunity to see people who have lived for generations under 
tyranny, under dictatorship, under communism, now breathe freely under 
democracy. We, the small, struggling republics, could be like you.''
  ``What is that worth? How much is that worth to you?''
  He said, ``New little countries are like children: They fight 
sometimes, often unnecessarily. They need a firm hand. They need 
guidance. They need somebody to watch over them as they struggle to 
grow. And you--well, you are like a big brother. You are the only one 
we've got. You can turn away or you can stay. It's up to you.''
  Mr. President, let us hope these democracies--these children--
continue to grow. Let us hope that the people of these wonderful little 
countries continue to experience democracy and free enterprise. Let us 
hope that as they do, we have the courage and the dedication and the 
opportunity to make little, weak democracies strong ones. That is what 
this is all about.
  Let me say it again, were it not for the courage and the commitment 
of this administration, our military, and Foreign Service personnel, 
little countries would have no reason to dream, would have no 
opportunity to experience what we in this great country experience each 
and every morning when we wake up.
  Mr. President, I see the distinguished Senator from Washington 
waiting to speak. I had another statement, but I will wait until she 
has concluded before I make that statement. I yield the floor.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, let me congratulate my colleague, the 
minority leader, for an excellent statement. I hope that all of our 
colleagues take time to read it. Certainly, we do stop and question our 
role in the world often on this floor, and I think the words that 
Senator Daschle just gave to us are words that we all should heed. I 
appreciate his statement.

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