[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 64 (Wednesday, May 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4725-S4727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMMENDING THE REVEREND JESSE JACKSON
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, let me read the resolving clause of the
resolution on which we are about to vote.
(1) The Senate commends the Reverend Jesse Jackson for his
successful efforts in securing the release of Sergeant
Ramirez, Sergeant Stone, and Specialist Gonzales and for his
leadership and actions arising from his deep faith in God;
and
(2) The Senate joins the families of Sergeant Ramirez,
Sergeant Stone, and Specialist Gonzales in expressing relief
and joy of their safe release.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, Two days ago, when that military
transport plane touched down at Andrews Air Force Base and we saw our
three American soldiers safe again at last, I said, instinctively,
``thank you.''
``Thank you, God, and thank you, Jesse Jackson, for bringing Steven
Gonzales, Andrew Ramirez and Christopher Stone safely home from their
captivity in Serbia.'' Millions of people all across our country, I
suspect, said much the same thing. I am pleased today to repeat those
words here, in the United States Senate, and to support this resolution
honoring Reverend Jackson and the others in his delegation who played
such a critical role in securing the release of our service men.
``When I was in prison, you visited me.'' That was one of the ways
Jesus said we could recognize those who do his work. In daring to visit
our soldiers in prison in Serbia, Reverend Jackson and the delegation
of religious leaders who accompanied him surely were following Jesus's
teachings as they understood them. Our nation owes them a debt of
gratitude.
Some have questioned the wisdom of the delegation's trip. There has
been speculation about what effect their going to Serbia could have on
political or military tactics. Frankly, I don't want to get into that
debate. This was not a political or military mission. It was a
humanitarian mission.
[[Page S4726]]
Much praise rightly goes to Reverend Jackson, who organized the trip.
I also want to acknowledge another member of the delegation:
Congressman Rod Blagojevich, a second-term Congressman from Chicago's
North Side, and the only Serbian-American in the House of
Representatives.
There are moments in history where a person emerges who seems almost
to have been born to fulfill a critical role. On this mission, Rod
Blagojevich was that person. Not only is he a man of significant
political and moral courage, he is also the son of Yugoslav immigrants.
His father spent four years in a Nazi POW camp during World War II. He
learned to speak Serbo-Croation as a child, and still speaks it.
I remember when I first was elected to the House. I sought out
several of my political heroes to ask them ``How can a young
Congressman make a difference--a real difference--in people's lives?''
Rod Blagojevich has found an answer to that question. Steven Gonzales,
Andrew Ramirez and Christopher Stone are united today with their
families, in large measure because of the courage he, and Reverend
Jackson, and the other religious leaders in their delegation displayed
in going to Serbia.
Today's Washington Post contains an interesting account of their
mission, from the time it was first conceived by Reverend Jackson
through their triumphant return home. I ask unanimous consent that a
copy of that article be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Washington Post, May 5, 1999]
Mission Accomplished: The Congressman Who Pulled Strings for POWs'
Release
(By Kevin Merida)
The interview begins with a little shake-rattle-and-roll.
Rod Blagojevich doing Elvis Presley.
``I'm all shook up, unh-hunh-hunh.''
Blagojevich is a huge fan of The King (``Do you think he's
still alive?''), and he's feeling loose. It's not often--
let's say never--that a second-term congressman from the
North Side of Chicago can thrust himself onto the
international stage, help rescue three Americans held captive
and claim a patch of glory. That would be the patch right
behind Jesse Jackson's. Meaning he's in all the brought-back-
our-boys camera shots, but not prominently placed. But he's
okay with that. Blagojevich is the boyish-looking dude with
the mop of brown hair combed to the left, a cross between
John Travolta and Henry Winkler. He sometimes takes his meals
at Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street. No one recognizes him there.
Maybe someone will recognize him now.
Without Rod Blagojevich (pronounced bla-GOYA-vich), there
might not have been a trip to Belgrade, no meeting with
President Slobodan Milosevic, no tearful family reunions this
week for U.S. soldiers Christopher Stone, Andrew Ramirez and
Steven Gonzales. Blagojevich was the arranger, working his
contacts in the Serbian American community when it looked
like the trip was dead. Those contacts ultimately cleared a
path to Milosevic himself.
Not that the whole country is applauding. Some
administration officials carped--anonymous carping is the
best fun of all--that the unofficial Jackson peace mission
only undercut the NATO bombing campaign and could potentially
fracture the allies. Not to mention that it might damage
President Clinton's credibility at home on the war. Pundits
spouted: PR props for the Serb-led Yugoslav government.
``If Mother Teresa had been one of those prisoners and we
had gotten her out, we would have been criticized,''
Blagojevich says. ``I guess if you're not being criticized,
you're not important. But it's thrilling to be in the mix. It
sure beats digging a ditch for a living.''
Blagojevich, 42, a Democrat, is the only House member of
Serbian descent, which is perhaps the key part of this story.
He grew up speaking both English and Serbo-Croatian. Still
does. His father, Rade, was an immigrant to this country. A
Yugoslavian army officer, Rade Blagojevich was captured by
the Nazis in World War II and spent four years in a German
POW camp. He eventually made his way to the United States and
married a Chicago-born woman whose parents had emigrated from
Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Together they tried to raise Rod and his brother as
Americans, but as Americans with a rich understanding of
their ancestry. Often, their mother would pull in one
direction and their father would tug in the other.
It was one thing to play the tamburitza, a ukulele-like
instrument; it was another thing to sport the white-socks-
and-sandals look that his dad thought was authentically
Yugoslav.
``I don't want to wear that,'' he told his father. ``I'm
going to get laughed out of the neighborhood if I wear that.
That's a bad look.''
Blagojevich parents have passed away, but it is with their
memory in mind and all that he has learned about Serb culture
over the years that he injected himself into this war. He
felt he had a unique perspective to offer. Ironically, some
in the Serbian community here have been disappointed in him
for not being more active in Serbain American affairs.
Shortly after the soldiers were captured on March 31,
Blagojevich telephoned national security adviser Samuel
``Sandy'' Berger and White House chief of staff John Podesta
to offer his help. Nothing grew out of those calls. He then
read in the newspapers that Jackson wanted to take a
delegation of American religious leaders over to visit the
soldiers and try to win their release. Jackson was having
trouble getting guarantees from Milosevic that the delegation
could even see the GIs.
Blagojevich approached Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) on
the House floor and mentioned that he had some contacts who
might be able to help. The younger Jackson put Blagojevich in
contact with his father. Blagojevich got to work. Soon, he
was talking directly to Yugoslavian deputy premier Vuk
Draskovic. Things were working out. Draskovic had assured the
group's safety and a visit with the soldiers. The soldiers
would be allowed to talk to their families. He'd get it in
writing. The trip was back on. Except on the eve of
departure, the maverick Draskovic was axed.
Blagojevich recalls the Rev. Jackson's reaction to that
development as they were hashing out last-minute details for
the trip in Washington. He lapses into his Jackson
impersonation. ``Blagojevich, our boy just got fired. You got
any others out there?''
Actually, Blagojevich did.
Once in Belgrade, it was Jackson who set the agenda,
Jackson who commanded the spotlight. Blagojevich, as he put
it, ``worked the corridors'' and took advantage of his
``cultural connection'' and ability to speak the language.
As Blagojevich explained his role in a conversation in his
office yesterday, he pulled out two business cards. Nebojsa
Vujovic, spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. They had a common
friend in Chicago. Bogoljub Karic, minister without
portfolio, Republic of Serbia. He had met with this guy in
his congressional office two days before the bombing
campaign. He later saw the same man on TV emerging from a
Milosevic cabinet meeting.
While all the attention was focused on Jackson, Blagojevich
says, ``it was proper and part of the strategy to be working
these other guys. He and I were working different angles.''
Jackson and Blagojevich both were in the three-hour meeting
with Milosevic on Saturday morning that produced the release
of the American prisoners the next day. Jackson then met with
Milosevic privately.
The trip produced some light moments amid all the intensity
and emotion--Blogojevich, a member of the House Armed
Services Committee, greeted Sgt. Stone by promising him a
raise--but there were no light moments with Milosevic.
``I detected absolutely no warmth toward me,'' Blagojevich
says. ``In fact, I detected a decided lack of warmth.''
A lack of warmth? Could it be that Milosevic remembered
that this Chicago congressman had pronounced him guilty of
``ethnic cleansing'' and compared his tactics to those of
Nazi leaders?
Once back home, Jackson, Blagojevich and others met at the
White House Monday evening with Clinton. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright was there. Berger was there. Vice
President Gore dropped by for a moment.
Jackson gave a detailed explanation and interpretation of
what the delegation heard and saw in Belgrade. He said that
Milosevic's gesture deserved to be matched. He talked of
other leaders who were so far apart, but had talked to each
other and had become closer over time. Sadat and Begin.
``Then I was up,'' recalled Blagojevich, who told Clinton
that the Serbs weren't backing down. He pitched his proposal
for a partition of Kosovo, which would give Serbs control of
the northern region where most of the Orthodox cathedrals and
historic sites important to them are located. An autonomous
homeland would be created in the south for the ethnic
Albanians driven out by Milosevic's forces.
``I like Clinton. I'm happy I voted to impeach him. I do
think he needs to step up to the plate and take charge of
this. With all due respect, I think Madeleine Albright and
Sandy Berger are running the show.''
Blagojevich says he is ``extremely skeptical'' that the
bombing campaign will be successful. The NATO allies have
underestimated the Serbs' resolve, he believes. ``Despite the
bombs, daily life goes on.'' The timing for a negotiated
solution is right, he thinks.
The administration apparently thinks not.
``They were on a mission of peace and it was successful,''
says National Security Council spokesman David Leavy of the
Jackson-led group, ``but the fundamental reality remains the
same. There are a million Kosovars who are not going home to
their families.''
However the war ends, the Jackson-Blagojevich bond has
strengthened.
``I feel like I'm a second cousin now,'' Blagojevich says.
The younger Jackson puts the relationship in context:
Blagojevich's father-in-law, Alderman Dick Mell, is a
longtime Chicago machine boss. Blagojevich's district, 1
percent black, is a bastion of white ethnic pride. For
[[Page S4727]]
many years, it was represented by Dan Rostenkowski. It is not
a district in which Jesse Jackson and Jesse Jackson Jr. are
exactly popular.
``Us relating to Rod and Rod relating to us is something
taboo,'' Rep. Jackson explains, noting that although he and
Blagojevich and their wives have grown close personally, he
understands that the North Side member takes flak for the
association.
``You being part of that Jackson thing is really going to
cost you your career,'' says Jackson Jr., imitating his
friend's critics. ``But after this trip, he is now officially
an honorary South Sider. Apparently, it was a great growing
experience for both him and Reverend Jackson.''
After his 15 minutes of fame at Jackson's side,
Blagojevich's only question is this: ``When do I take my seat
on the back bench again?''
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I will vote for this resolution because I
share in the happiness and relief that the families of Sergeant
Ramirez, Sergeant Stone, and Specialist Gonzales, and all Americans
feel now that these fine young men have been released from captivity.
We are all thankful that they are home, safe from harm.
I do not believe, however, that private diplomacy that is at odds
with our country's objectives in this war and public relations stunts
by Mr. Milosevic deserve our praise. I cannot commend the participation
of any American in his propaganda.
____________________