[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 97 (Monday, July 20, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8552-S8553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN KOSOVO

  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I want to call to the attention of my 
colleagues some headlines that are in today's press in reference to the 
problems that we are experiencing, the challenge we face, what could be 
a real tragedy in Kosovo. As I look at this, here is a headline from 
the Washington Post, as of this morning, written by R. Jeffrey Smith of 
the Post foreign service: ``Thousands Flee As Lawlessness Spreads In 
Kosovo.'' And it gives an up-front and personal account in regards to a 
particular Albanian citizen who has lived there for 40 years and was 
beaten in the middle of the night, and what is going on in that 
country.

  Here is another headline from the Washington Times as of today, by 
Philip Smucker of the Washington Times: ``Kosovar Rebels Grow Bolder.''

       A grimy-faced teenager with bloodshot eyes and an automatic 
     rifle ran at us, screaming, as we came down a hill into the 
     heart of a raging firefight yesterday, on the bloodiest 
     weekend of the Kosovo war.

  Here is another headline from the European Stars and Stripes: 
``Fighting Flares In Kosovo.''
  From the New York Times: ``Rebels Claim First Capture Of Kosovo 
City.''
  Last week I had an intelligence briefing on Kosovo. They indicated if 
this happened, in regards to Pristina, and also in regards to 
Orahovac--I am having a little trouble with the pronunciation, but it 
is indicative of many of the communities there. So we have the fighting 
that has actually spread.
  Here is another article from the European Stars and Stripes: ``SFOR 
Patrols Bosnian Border for Gun-Running.'' That is the situation in 
Bosnia. Of course right down from Bosnia, we have the situation in 
regards to Kosovo.
  I am concerned about this because I think the United States and the 
rest of

[[Page S8553]]

our allies in Western Europe are on the verge of a deep and expensive 
and very dangerous involvement in yet another area of the Balkans. 
Unfortunately, and once again, I have yet to hear from the executive, 
and from the administration--more especially the President--to explain 
to the Congress nor, more important, the American people, why is this 
in our vital national interest to get in the middle of this growing 
conflict.
  I think I can make a pretty good case in that regard, because I just 
returned from the three new prospective NATO countries--Poland, the 
Czech Republic and Hungary--with the distinguished chairman of the 
Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Shelby. To a person, every 
official whom we met with in those three countries indicated that what 
NATO does with regard to Kosovo and what we continue to do in Bosnia is 
the real test of NATO: What it will be; what it will do; what our 
involvement will be; if, in fact, we have a Palestinian kind of 
situation in the middle of Europe with Bosnia and Kosovo; whether or 
not we can end this kind of ethnic strife.
  So I think you could probably make a case for our involvement in 
Kosovo, but I have yet to hear from anybody in the administration other 
than reacting to news accounts or to questions. I think it is time we 
heard.
  On the other side of it, we don't want to back into a situation where 
there is no end in sight, no exit strategy, and no real consideration 
in terms of cost and involvement.
  The media reports are very clear that the Yugoslavian leader, Mr. 
Milosevic, is taking very hard and brutal action against the ethnic 
Albanians who are living in Kosovo. They comprise 90 percent of the 
population. This is the same kind of activity that he promoted in 
regards to Bosnia and the breakup there.
  We are making some diplomatic efforts. We have people there working 
overtime, but these efforts seem to keep changing. We have drawn 
several lines in the sand with threats of severe reprisals if the 
Serbian action against the Albanian population does not cease, and 
those lines in the sand are still there, they have been gone over, and 
the activity continues. So much for any kind of believability in 
regards to our commitment.
  The Albanian rebels, known as the KLA, are simply growing in strength 
and the fighting is growing more fierce. There is no real peaceful 
solution in sight. The United States and NATO have threatened military 
action and they have had a military demonstration. It was a fly-over or 
fly-by. It was called ``Determined Falcon.'' I really don't know how 
determined that falcon is, but neither side has offered to end the 
conflict and efforts to bring them to the table to get a solution have 
failed. In fact, the KLA is really, I think, buoyed by the apparent 
Western support for their cause. Obviously, they are not interested in 
backing off now.
  Mr. Milosevic, having observed our unwillingness to carry out our 
threats in the past, and coupled with the strong support of the Serbian 
people to put an end to the rebel uprising in Kosovo, has no reason to 
back off, either. So we have a standoff.
  We have now started an international monitoring program in Kosovo 
``aimed at bringing peace to this strife-torn region.''
  Mr. President, I want everybody to understand this. This is a very 
important development. This observer group is comprised of about 40 
diplomats and ``military experts'' attached to embassies in Belgrade. 
Our ``military experts'' are unarmed U.S. military forces from the 
European Command. This means we have U.S. personnel now in this kind of 
a situation.
  I was reading press reports about it several days ago, and they are 
in white cars, very clearly marked. You hope, obviously, the white cars 
will be very clearly marked so they will avoid any kind of hostilities. 
In other words, if you are traveling in a white car and either side 
wants to do great mischief--and that is probably not the right word for 
it--why certainly, obviously, they would be highlighted.
  I have several concerns, Mr. President, about all of this: We are, 
once again, backing into a military commitment in regard to Kosovo. The 
term of ``unarmed military observers or experts'' certainly brings back 
some memories of other situations where we have backed into those 
conflicts. It is deja vu all over again. We are running a great risk 
that our ``military experts'' or diplomats could be in harm's way.
  NATO is conducting contingency planning that could involve thousands 
of military troops to separate the warring factions or impose peace. I 
must tell you, in talking to a British general at the ceremony 
celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Berlin airlift, when I was 
talking about this, I asked the general, ``How many people would it 
take to really maintain order on that border?'' And there have been 
estimates of anywhere from 7,000 to 25,000. It is very difficult 
terrain.
  He said, ``Oh, my no, it would take upwards of 70,000.''
  ``Seventy thousand?'' My mouth, obviously, dropped a little bit.
  He said, ``Of course, we don't intend on doing that.'' But, of 
course, then we didn't intend on doing that in other rather political 
involvements of gradualism that we have had around the world, and I am 
not going to spell those out in specific terms. I think everybody here 
knows what we are talking about. So we have those contingency plans 
that could involve thousands of military troops.
  The costs, both in dollars and the impact on our already-stressed 
military, are potentially very devastating. I remember the briefing 
that we had in regard to India and Pakistan, and our esteemed Secretary 
of State Madeleine Albright was talking about the related situation in 
regard to Kosovo and indicated that we might have to become much more 
involved there.
  Senator Stevens, the distinguished chairman of the Senate 
Appropriations Committee, said, ``Wait a minute, we do not have the 
money, we do not have the funds, we do not have the materiel, we do not 
have the men and women in uniform to get the job done. We are already 
committed in the gulf. We are already committed in Bosnia. Most of 
those funds in the past have been taken out of the readiness account--
we are not paying for it--and that is a real problem.'' I think the 
Senator's sense of urgency in his response to the Secretary was well 
taken.
  There are many unanswered questions on how this conflict in Kosovo is 
in our vital national interest. Let me stress vital national interest. 
I do think it is in the best interest of NATO. I think we have to be 
very careful; I think we have to be very firm.
  Senator Lieberman, the distinguished Senator from Connecticut, and 
the former distinguished majority leader in the Senate and my colleague 
and longtime friend, Bob Dole, indicated we must take aggressive and 
very positive action. There are unexplained scenarios of Kosovo leading 
to a larger war in Europe if this conflict is not ended now.
  But my primary concern in bringing this up, Mr. President, is this: 
This whole issue has yet to be addressed by the President and, for that 
matter, to some extent by this Congress in any way. Yet, here we are 
backing into a situation with ``military observers'' and with 
contingency plans that could involve thousands more. The President 
should not, nor will the Congress let him, commit the men and women of 
our Armed Forces without defining our national interests. That is 
fundamental, and I think we ought to spell that out. I call for the 
President to do so and to outline the objectives in the exit strategy 
for any involvement in that part of the world and in regard to Kosovo 
in particular.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence 
of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sessions). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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