[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 70 (Friday, May 14, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               U.S. SETS EXAMPLE AGAINST ETHNIC CLEANSING

  (Mr. EHLERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I have been in the Congress just a bit over 
5 years now, and what has impressed me is the breadth of issues we deal 
with and the number of troubles that we constantly are called to 
address, whether in this Nation or abroad. Some of them are 
heartbreaking.
  Right now of course we have the situation in Kosovo, with over half a 
million and perhaps as many as a million refugees within Kosovo and 
outside its borders. It is heartbreaking to watch these people, to meet 
them, to talk to them.
  We have had similar situations in Bosnia, where approximately 300,000 
were killed in ethnic cleansing; in Haiti with the difficulties there; 
currently in the Sudan, with approximately 2 million people dead from 
either warfare or starvation and the situation getting worse.
  Even in our Nation we have problems, whether it is the shooting in 
Littleton or a tornado in Oklahoma. Sometimes it is easy to get 
discouraged. But one thing that heartens me is this Nation and its 
faith in this country and its faith in God. We see evidences of that 
over and over again as we unite together to face adversity.
  We do not engage in ethnic cleansing in this country. We try to learn 
about each other, to accommodate to each other, to help each other. We 
do not argue about our religions; we discuss them. We try to express 
our faith in the manner we best know how.
  I believe that we set an example for many others, and I do thank 
every day the founders of this Nation and the God who guided them in 
the founding and forming of this Nation.

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