[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 21, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ADMINISTRATION SHOULD CALL ON OUTSIDE COUNSEL TO HELP DEVELOP BALKAN 
                                STRATEGY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express concern over the conditions 
in the Balkans. I am particularly concerned with the continued 
deterioration in the lives of ethnic Albanian refugees ripped from 
their homes in Kosovo at the direction of Serbia President Milosevic. I 
have been concerned enough to visit this troubled region twice in the 
past 2 months. I watched conditions get worse and worse and worse. 
Reports indicate that half a million refugees have fled Kosovo for 
Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, with many more than that uprooted and 
hiding in terror in Kosovo. And the free world has found no way to stem 
this fall into despair for over a million men, women and children.
  Relief efforts are underway to help the refugees. Mr. Speaker, while 
it may be too late and too little, help is beginning to be provided. 
But nothing has worked to date to overturn the root cause. Milosevic 
has campaigned to drive ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo in a manner so 
evil that fear will linger in their hearts forever.
  NATO and Clinton administration efforts thus far have not stopped the 
brutality. Despite daily briefings to the contrary, bombing in Serbia 
is just not going that well. At the rate things are going, it may take 
a long time to stop Milosevic, and the refugees do not have forever. 
For too many, time has already run out. The Clinton administration has 
so many times ruled out the use of ground troops that Milosevic may 
have been emboldened by what he perceives as a lack of commitment by 
the other side to win. I fear that the Clinton administration has no 
clear strategy or idea as to what it will take to win in the Balkans.
  Last Friday I called the White House and spoke with someone on the 
National Security Council about this issue. I asked if they had sought 
outside thinking from knowledgeable and previously experienced people, 
such as Warren Christopher, George Shultz, Larry Eagleburger and 
others, including battle-proven former military commanders. I was told 
they had not, but this idea might be an idea they would entertain. To 
my knowledge they have not followed up.
  I personally would have chosen a different plan than the current 
effort of trying to bomb Milosevic into compliance. I believe a 
fiercely enforced embargo might have been a better first step. An 
effort to induce Milosevic to step aside by telling him he would have 
been forcibly pursued and taken and tried as a war criminal would have 
also been worth trying. But NATO and the Clinton administration chose 
another course that has led to where we are today.
  Even though the results are so far not what we would like to see, we 
are committed to the effort and cannot back off. We must win, not only 
for the sake of the refugees and for stability in Eastern Europe, but 
now for the credibility of both the U.S. and NATO. If credibility is 
lost, will there not follow a host of other tyrants eager to challenge 
the will of the free world in pursuit of their own gain?
  Today I call on President Clinton to assemble a group of American 
leaders knowledgeable of and with proven ability in foreign affairs, 
diplomacy, warfare and statecraft to provide counsel and direction to 
the Balkan effort which now seems to be stalled. I hope he considers 
men and women of high stature and achievement such as George Shultz, 
Warren Christopher, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Senator Sam Nunn, Casper 
Weinberger, Bob Zoellick, Morton Abramowitz, William Perry, Frank 
Carlucci, Max Kampelman, Paul Wolfowitz, Lee Hamilton, Robert Hunter, 
James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger, Jeane Kirkpatrick, former Admiral 
William Crowe, former General Schwarzkopf and former General Colin 
Powell. These would be men and women who would sit at the table with 
their President not to criticize what has or not been done, but to 
suggest a workable plan for the future. They would offer privileged 
counsel to the President rather than critical critique to the press. 
They would help define an acceptable way to end the Balkan strategy.
  All Americans want to bring peace to the Balkans and help the 
refugees from Kosovo. Mr. President, I call on you and I urge you to 
call on some of the best people in America to help show the way, and 
please, please do it soon.

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