[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 147 (Thursday, October 15, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12637-S12639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  FOREIGN POLICY: AN UNFINISHED AGENDA

  Mr. KERREY. Mr. President, I have some good news, and I have some bad 
news.
  First the good news: We won. The Cold War, that is. Now the bad news: 
We may find the burden of winning that war as heavy as the burden of 
fighting it. I say that is the ``bad news,'' Mr. President, because it 
seems like bad news. But I believe it is both our destiny--a mantle 
that history has placed on our shoulders whether we like it or not--and 
an opportunity. The opportunity is this: the furnace in which American 
values are forged throughout the world is fiery hot, and its door is 
open.
  That furnace will not be hot forever, Mr. President. Our triumph in 
the Cold War dissolved an empire and set free the nations that had been 
chained up by it. The totalitarian idea was stripped of the thin 
threads of legitimacy to which its aging adherents continued to cling. 
The birth of freedom--the opportunity to build new institutions of 
democracy and world stability--opened.
  This furnace was hot, and still is, Mr. President, but the 
opportunity to build from the rubble of a fallen empire also brings 
turmoil. As what we hope are the transitional problems of economic 
instability, ethnic conflict, and proliferation of weapons of mass 
destruction cool and harden into habits, the door to that furnace of 
opportunity is closing.
  America has learned before that the smoldering embers of victory 
contain the fires of reignited conflict. Once in this century we got it 
wrong. After the first world war, we made the fatal mistake of a 
vengeful peace. The result was a second world war, after which we got 
much more right, especially our leadership in rebuilding a crumbled 
world. Now, like then, we are weary of war's toll, but now, like then, 
we must bear the burden of leadership in victory. And we must do it 
while the furnace is hot and the opportunity right.
  That, Mr. President, is why I am concerned that the 105th Congress is 
preparing to adjourn with too much foreign policy business left 
unfinished. The challenges we face around the world are burdens not 
just for this Congress, but for this country, for every American. The 
bell of leadership will toll for all of us, and we should not be 
surprised when it does. I want to outline just a few places where we 
may hear that call.
  First, we face a global economic meltdown. Economies throughout the 
world are slowing and more uncertainty seems to arise everyday. Over 
the past year we have seen how instability in the Asian financial 
markets can quickly spread and undermine the stability of the global 
economy.
  The impact has been devastating. Overnight, people in Asia and Russia 
have seen their entire life savings disappear. They have seen the 
chance to give their children an education and a shot at a better life 
evaporate. They have seen their standards of living plummet to the 
point where they must struggle to acquire basic necessities. Failure to 
act quickly to reverse the situation and promote global economic growth 
could consign an entire generation--who only months ago were on the 
verge of building a middle class--to a life of continued poverty.
  We must know that global prosperity is not possible without a strong 
U.S. economy. I am pleased with the recent decision by the Federal 
Reserve to cut U.S. interest rates; although I admit I wish they would 
have cut it further. As the economic engine that drives the world, we 
must be prepared to take bold action to ensure world economic growth. 
Let me be clear, not only do we seek to improve the lives of people 
around the world through economic growth, we act with an element of 
self interest. A healthy global economy is the surest way to maintain a 
robust economy in the United States. As the farmers in my state know, 
without markets for U.S. products abroad, our own prosperity is 
threatened. Should this economic crisis deepen, should we start seeing 
credible signs of global depression, this Congress and the 
Administration must be prepared to act boldly to stimulate economic 
growth.
  In that regard, I am pleased we are taking a proactive role in trying 
to prevent the economic crisis from spreading further to places like 
Latin America. We should continue to work cooperatively with other 
nations, like Japan, to assist them in implementing the kind of 
economic and legal reforms that will help them rebuild their economies.
  Out of this crisis, we are also learning that economic instability 
leads to political instability. We see this in Russia, where financial 
shocks have created a political crisis which threatens Russian 
democracy. The situation in Russia demands our attention. As a nation 
with a capability to launch thousands of nuclear weapons, we cannot 
afford to allow Russia to slip into anarchy. I still believe the 
Russian transition will be successful, but it will be measured in 
decades, not years. We must be prepared to help the Russian people over 
the long run to create a democratic system based on the rule of law.
  At the same time, we cannot allow the wealth of challenges we face 
both at home and abroad to embolden despotic leaders to flaunt 
international standards. Recent missile tests by North Korea only too 
clearly demonstrate the need to remain committed to the security of our 
friends in Asia. It refocuses our attention on this troubled region.
  A divided Korea is one of the few lingering vestiges of the Cold War. 
But a change there is inevitable. I see two potential scenarios on the 
Korea Peninsula. In the first scenario, North Korea will acquiesce to 
the tide of history, renounce totalitarianism, embrace democracy, and 
peacefully reunite with the South. In the other scenario, North Korea 
implodes into an irrational and dangerous nation threatening the peace 
and security not only of South Korea, but of the entire region. While 
we should strive to ensure the former scenario, we should prepare for 
the latter.
  First, we should reaffirm our military ties with South Korea and 
Japan. The 37,000 American troops stationed in South Korea, and the 
tens of thousands stationed throughout Asia, should serve as ample 
warning of our intent to stand by our allies and respond to all 
threats. Second, we should continue to support South Korea as it 
rebuilds its economy and implements further democratic reforms. 
Finally, we must maintain our active containment of North Korea with 
the cooperation of all of our partners in the region.
  As we remain vigilant in Korea, we cannot release the pressure we 
have built on Saddam Hussein's regime. We are all concerned about 
Saddam's unwillingness to live up to his agreements, to fully disclose 
all information on his weapons of mass destruction programs, and to 
cooperate with United Nations Security Council Resolutions and 
mandates. Iraq's refusal to cooperate with UNSCOM monitors can not be 
allowed to go unchallenged.
  But ultimately, our success in Iraq will not come from winning a game 
of hide and seek with Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, but through 
the establishment of democracy in Iraq. We must change our policy from 
containment of Iraq to the replacement of Saddam Hussein with a 
democratic government. I am pleased legislation sponsored by Senator 
Lott and myself--designed to set the Iraqi people on the path to self-
government--was recently passed by both the House and the Senate. As 
Americans, we should strive for no less. This policy is both noble, and 
with our assistance, possible.
  In the Balkans, recent election victories by Serbian hardliners in 
Bosnia once again raise concerns about the prospects for a lasting 
peace. While enormous progress has been made since the days of open 
warfare and ethnic cleansing, more must be done to assure that Bosnia 
will become a peaceful, multi-ethnic state.
  Let us be clear, the chance for peace in Bosnia did not come from a 
sudden willingness of the warring parties to come together. It came 
from our willingness to use our own military power.

[[Page S12638]]

 I am extremely proud of the men and women of the United States Armed 
Forces who have served in Bosnia as a part of IFOR and SFOR. Their 
ability to bring peace to Bosnia is the best example of the 
effectiveness of U.S. leadership in the world. We should not forget 
that before the U.S. military intervention in Bosnia, our nightly news 
was filled with images of the destruction of Bosnian villages; of men, 
women, and children being gunned down in the streets of Sarajevo; and 
of families being separated and never seeing each other again.
  But because we acted--because men and women in America's armed forces 
put their lives on the line--the fighting was stopped, the Dayton Peace 
Accords were signed, and the people of Bosnia have been given the 
chance to return to a normal life. Ultimately, the success or failure 
of our efforts in Bosnia will be determined by the capability to fully 
implement the civilian components of the Dayton Accords and our ability 
to help the people of Bosnia establish democracy and the rule of law 
based on ethnic security.
  However, just as we allow ourselves to be hopeful for the people of 
Bosnia, we see more senseless killing of innocent civilians in the 
Balkans. The situation in Kosovo--while different and perhaps more 
complex than Bosnia--presents another challenge. Once again, we are 
faced with the question: do we have the resolve to confront Serb 
aggression and to halt the spread of ethnic conflict in the region? In 
answering this question, we must heed the lesson of Bosnia--at times, 
the credible use of force precedes diplomacy.
  Over the past few months, Serbia has been given ample warning by the 
international community that its policies of ethnic cleansing, 
indiscriminate destruction of villages, and brutality toward civilian 
populations would not go unchallenged. However, Mr. President, 
President Milosevic did not respond to the demands of the international 
community until NATO began serious consideration of military action. 
One of the reasons I voted for NATO enlargement earlier this year was 
my firm belief that the inclusion of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech 
Republic--nations that had only recently thrown off the yoke of 
dictatorial regimes--would make the Alliance more willing to act in 
defense of freedom. Therefore, I was heartened to see President Vaclav 
Havel providing leadership and insisting that NATO respond to Serb 
action in Kosovo.
  I am hopeful that the agreement reached earlier this week will 
improve the prospects of peace in Kosovo and will avert the pending 
humanitarian crisis. But if we have learned one lesson in dealing with 
Slobodan Milosevic in the past it is this: believe his actions, not his 
words.
  Mr. President, as I look out onto the world these are only a few of 
the foreign policy challenges we face. I come before my colleagues 
today with a simple message: America must lead. But for America to 
lead, Congress must act.
  First, Congress must ensure a strong national defense. I am pleased 
that we have passed both the Defense Authorization and Appropriations 
Bills, which in my opinion are two of the most important pieces of 
legislation we pass on an annual basis. The United States maintains the 
best equipped and most skillfully trained military the world has ever 
seen. This is not bravado, but a fact. A fact that should serve as a 
constant reminder to any nation contemplating a challenge to our 
interests. A strong American military, one that's ready to deploy and 
one that's backed up by the will of the American people, is a 
tremendous deterrent, and is likely to prevent conflict and the need 
for U.S. intervention.
  Next, we must ensure that we maintain our intelligence capabilities. 
Americans should not suffer the illusion that we currently have the 
intelligence capacity to know everything that's going on in the world. 
We simply do not. We are not allocating enough resources to make 
certain our military is getting the intelligence it needs to identify 
threats and protect our national interests. But more importantly, we 
are not allocating enough resources to make certain policymakers are 
informed so that conflicts that might occur can be avoided. Mr. 
President, I believe we will not be able to allocate sufficient 
resources to our intelligence needs until we declassify the current 
budget and have a public debate about how we spend those dollars.
  As I look at the legacy of the 105th Congress, I see many areas in 
which we have failed to provide the leadership necessary to guide the 
United States through these troubled times. We have left an unfinished 
agenda that we must confront in the 106th Congress.
  Our first line of national defense is diplomacy. But we in Congress 
have spent far too little of our time and resources on ensuring we have 
a strong, well-financed diplomatic corps. In fact, as of today, the 
Senate has failed to act on over 20 State Department nominees--
including over 15 nominations for ambassadorial positions. How can the 
United States represent its interests abroad without having our 
diplomatic representatives in place? Like our military, we should 
strive to make our diplomatic corps the envy of the world. I am 
convinced a strong diplomatic presence would reduce the chance of 
having to use our military forces.
  In the same manner, Congressional refusal to provide funding to meet 
our international financial obligations puts a range of U.S. interests 
at risk. Currently, the United States owes over $1 billion in arrears 
to the United Nations. At a time in which we are trying to strip Saddam 
Hussein of his weapons of mass destruction programs through the 
auspices of UNSCOM and the U.N. Security Council, it would be foolish 
to believe that our failure to pay our debts does not impact our 
credibility. While I support efforts to reform U.N. operations, too 
often the payment of our arrears has been held hostage by those simply 
opposed to U.S. engagement in the world or by unrelated political 
debates. Former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci said it best: ``One 
thing is certain--we can't reform the U.N. if we're the biggest 
deadbeat.'' It's time for the United States to act like the most 
powerful nation in the world, it's time for Congress to pay our debts 
to the United Nations.
  This Congress has not done enough to promote arms control. 
Specifically, our failure to debate and ratify the Comprehensive Test 
Ban Treaty during this Congress has relinquished our historic role as 
the leader in the effort to end the testing of nuclear weapons. Mr. 
President, the American people overwhelmingly support the Test Ban 
Treaty because they understand ratification of the treaty will give us 
new tools to fight the proliferation of nuclear materials and 
technology and will help us better monitor compliance of other nations.
  The nuclear tests conducted earlier this year by India and Pakistan 
highlight the danger that can arise when nations engage in nuclear 
brinkmanship. The potential consequences of increased tensions in the 
region arising from additional testing by India and Pakistan should 
cause each of us concern, and should elevate this issue to the top of 
our priority list. The recent declaration by the Prime Ministers of 
both India and Pakistan of their intention to join the CTBT offer hope 
that we can make this treaty work. When the 106th Congress reconvenes, 
the Senate must bring this treaty to the floor. We cannot insist that 
potential rogue nuclear states adhere to the precepts of the CTBT if 
the United States Senate gives it less time for debate than bills 
changing the names of airports.
  I spoke earlier about the challenge presented by the global economic 
crisis. One of the few tools the international community has for 
extinguishing the sudden brush fires of global crisis is the 
International Monetary Fund. In response to the crisis, President 
Clinton requested $18 billion to replenish the IMF's capital base. On 
two separate occasions, the Senate has overwhelmingly voted to provide 
this funding, sending a clear message of our belief that the threat to 
the prosperity of the American people is too great not to act. I am 
pleased with reports that the funding will be provided as a part of the 
FY99 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. While imperfect, the IMF is the only 
institution that pools the world's resources to address large-scale 
financial crises.
  Finally, I was disappointed by our failure to renew fast track 
authority for the President to negotiate future

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trade agreements. I believe it's unfortunate because without fast track 
authority it will be more difficult to negotiate reductions in non-
tariff barriers throughout the world that would stimulate demand for 
American products and create jobs for American citizens.
  I have outlined a heavy burden, Mr. President, one whose weight may 
surprise us. Many Americans thought we won, no doubt, and that the 
burden of leadership--along with the cloud of danger--had passed. We 
did win, Mr. President, our blood and treasure struck a tremendous blow 
for freedom. Our pride is not diminished by the fact that our work is 
not done.
  Shortly before the Soviet Union fell, one of the great soldiers of 
the Cold War, General Colin Powell, met with General Jack Galvin--
commander of NATO--to discuss threats to our security. General Galvin 
wore a worried look on his face as he plodded through threat after 
threat after threat that remained. General Powell responded: ``Smile, 
Jack. We won.''
  Smile, Mr. President. But we must also steel our will. The burden of 
war is behind us. The burden of victory remains.

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