[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 30, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H2059-H2060]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            IT IS TIME TO BRING OUR TROOPS HOME FROM BOSNIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington [Mr. Metcalf] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. METCALF. Mr. Speaker, I was not in favor of sending troops to 
Bosnia and I will admit that. I was fearful of getting bogged down. It 
is an awful lot easier to get into a situation like that than it is to 
extricate oneself after getting there. I think it is time to bring our 
troops home from Bosnia just as soon as we can.
  When President Clinton first sent troops to that country, he promised 
the Congress they would be brought home by December 20, 1996. Today is 
April 29, 1997, more than 4 months past the deadline. Our troops are 
still there. The President now says that the troops will be pulled out 
by June 1998. The big question is why. Why do they need to stay there 
another 1\1/2\ years?
  Does anyone remember the original mission? I admit it is kind of hard 
to remember, because the President never really spelled it out, but it 
is generally agreed that the mission was to keep the warring factions 
separate and to maintain peace in the region. These goals have been 
accomplished, thanks to the dedication and professionalism of the men 
and women of our Armed Forces.
  As I mentioned, the President has now promised that the troops will 
be pulled out by June 1998. He cannot blame us for being a little 
skeptical even about that. His record of breaking promises does not 
inspire a lot of confidence.
  The estimated cost of the Bosnia excursion has ballooned from just 
under $2 billion to over $6 billion. And, remember, this is off budget. 
This is money that gets spent anyway and it is off budget.
  I am an original cosponsor of a new bill, H.R. 1172, the U.S. Armed 
Forces in Bosnia Protection Act of 1997. The bill commits the United 
States to leave Bosnia by September of this year, September 30, 
allowing for a 90-day extension beyond that if the President requests 
it and the Congress approves it. That would mean that the troops would 
be out by December 31, 1997, 1 year later than the original deadline.
  This is eminently doable, at a huge cost savings, and in the best 
interest of America and in the best interest of the American troops now 
in Bosnia. At the very least, we must make the President stick to his 
June 1998 deadline. But by passing this bill, we can get them out 6 
months ahead of that and just be a year later than the original 
promise.
  Unless Congress takes action, I think that troops will just stay in 
Bosnia and stay and stay and stay. I think we must pass H.R. 1172 to 
end what could become a never-ending mission. It is time to be 
responsible to the people we sent there. Remember, these are the best 
combat troops in the world and we

[[Page H2060]]

send them there on guard duty, on police duty, and that sort of thing. 
That is not what they are about.
  We need to be loyal to them and pass this legislation and bring the 
troops home from Bosnia at least by the end of this year, by December 
of this year.

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