[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 18, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HOW LONG MUST BOMBINGS IN YUGOSLAVIA CONTINUE?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, how long must the bombings in Yugoslavia 
continue? NATO has been bombing now for over 54 days. For what purpose? 
Why?
  The President, Vice President, and Secretary of State's stated policy 
was to stop the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians. They said they 
must act to forestall a new round of ethnic cleansing by Mr. Milosevic. 
That was the reason the bombings started. But the policy has failed. 
The bombings have not worked.
  Today there are nearly 800,000 refugees in Macedonia, another 500,000 
internally displaced within Kosovo, thousands have been murdered, 
Macedonia has been destabilized, and our foreign relations with Russia 
and China are severely strained.
  Furthermore, in today's Washington Post it was written that in Latin 
America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and other regions with little 
direct interest in the conflict, opposition to the bombings is 
surfacing in statements by elected officials, in newspaper editorials 
of the opinion polls, and by public protest.
  From a policy point, it is difficult to imagine how the situation 
could be much worse than it is today. Clinton administration spokesmen 
and women have criticized Milosevic forces for killing innocent 
civilians, and rightfully so, because Serb forces have killed innocent 
civilians. However, our bombings have killed and may be killing 
innocent civilians in Yugoslavia today.
  Mr. Milosevic's forces have destroyed much of the infrastructure in 
Kosovo. That is true. However, our bombings are destroying the 
infrastructure in Yugoslavia today. So today we have death, refugees, 
displaced persons, pain and suffering among the Kosovo Albanians, but 
we also have death, refugees, displaced persons, and pain and suffering 
among the Serbs of Yugoslavia today.
  As Mr. Michael Dobbs wrote in Sunday's Washington Post, this 
administration's oversimplistic comparison between Kosovo and Bosnia 
and Mr. Milosevic and Hitler has helped transform what would otherwise 
have been a Balkan crisis into a global crisis, the ramifications of 
which are being felt not only in Yugoslavia, not only in Kosovo, but 
throughout the entire world.
  I would say to the President, what does he want? The Yugoslav 
Government said today it is open to peace proposals by the G-8 foreign 
ministers for ending the crisis over Kosovo. How many more bombs must 
be dropped and how many more deaths must be brought before we admit 
this policy has not worked?
  I would say to the President, stop the bombings, give negotiations an 
opportunity to work. How long must the bombings in Yugoslavia continue?

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