[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 63 (Tuesday, May 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H2616]]
                 GIVE PEACE A CHANCE IN THE BALKANS WAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, this evening I join my colleagues down here 
in the well of the House on the floor to join myself with their 
remarks. My colleagues, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sherwood) 
and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Brown), I am sure are going to 
speak eloquently on this very subject that we are talking about this 
evening and that is that our hope as we stand here this evening is an 
opportunity to give peace a chance in the Balkans war.
  No war, no conflict and certainly no humanitarian crisis has ever 
been resolved by bombing a country into oblivion. May I say that, as a 
veteran of two wars myself, that diplomacy is always preferable to war. 
And I am sure that we all recognize that this Balkan crisis, the war 
over there in Yugoslavia, the ethnic cleansing, the terrorism, the 
human tragedies, are an enormous crisis that this world faces; and 
military escalation by itself will not end, nor will it solve, this 
crisis. In fact, it may even precipitate an increase with the threat of 
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
  Perhaps I can explain that in just a few words. Whenever a small 
country is opposed by an organization of 19 other nations, the 
propensity of that country to defend itself may reach extremes. To that 
end, it may reach for those arsenals that it could acquire from some 
other country of a weapon of mass destruction, whether it is chemical, 
whether it is biological or even whether it is nuclear, in order to 
defend itself from the onslaught of an attack.
  I urge this administration and I urge my colleagues here this evening 
to seriously consider the efforts and the recommendations of the U.S. 
Congress and the Russian Duma meeting that was held in Vienna, Austria, 
this last weekend. I urge them to consider the recommendations in order 
to bring about a fair, an equitable and a peaceful settlement between 
the warring factions in Yugoslavia.
  This meeting that was held with the leaders of the Russian factions 
in their Duma, which is our equivalent of the House of Representatives 
here in Congress, reached consensus, reached an agreement, on areas 
that we thought would form a framework for the resolution, the peaceful 
resolution, I might add, of the Yugoslavia crisis.

  Those include, first, ending the ethnic crisis, the ethnic cleansing 
and terrorism; an end of the NATO bombing; an absolute removal of the 
Serbian military forces; an emplacement of an international 
peacekeeping force that will ensure the peaceful repatriation of the 
refugees back into Kosovo, and wide autonomy is the final goal for 
Kosovo.
  I think all of us here in this room this evening can agree that these 
are elements that we can all consider as a solution for this crisis, 
elements which will allow us to resolve this.
  May I say that later this week my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle will have an opportunity to deal with the concurrent resolution 
that is the result of the recommendations of this meeting in Vienna, 
Austria, a historic meeting, and now this resolution will simply state 
a sense of Congress as to the meaning that diplomacy is always better 
than warfare.
  I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will give peace a 
chance as we debate this issue and vote on it later this week.
  May I also say that it has been a great pleasure to work with my 
friends on both sides of the aisle when we have a common goal, a common 
goal of peace, not only in the Balkans but peace in the world.
  So, Mr. Speaker, it is an honor for me to have stood down here to 
associate myself with my colleagues' remarks as we go forward in this 
process of seeking an alternative to an escalated war in Yugoslavia. I 
would like to thank them for the bipartisanship and the friendship and 
the collegiality that was demonstrated throughout this meeting. It is 
indeed a great honor for me to stand here, arm in arm, shoulder to 
shoulder, in this effort to bring peace to this world.

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