[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 82 (Thursday, June 10, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6912-S6913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--KOSOVO
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of a Kosovo-related resolution;
that the resolution and preamble be agreed to en bloc; and that the
motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I have to object at this time, not that I
will object to it in the end. The Senate will go on record on this
matter, but we just saw the language 15 minutes ago. I have already
initiated a process to have it reviewed by the chairman of the Armed
Services Committee, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee,
the chairman of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, and
other interested Senators, to make sure they are comfortable with the
language, because it does go beyond just the resolution we see underway
now concerning Kosovo and the withdrawal of the Serbian troops and,
hopefully, the return of the Kosovars. It also goes into some language
with regard to what should happen in Kosovo now and also language with
regard to President Milosevic.
All I am saying is we want to review the language and make sure all
interested Senators are aware of it. We will be glad to work with
Senator Reid, Senator Daschle, and others to have a statement by the
Senate on this matter, as we usually do when there are events such as
this.
I do want to go ahead and say for the Record, as others have, that
the Senate is, I am sure, and I personally am very pleased an agreement
appears to have been worked out and appears to be going forward.
[[Page S6913]]
Earlier I was able to discuss this matter with the President. It does
appear that the Serbian troops are beginning to be withdrawn and the
bombing will be halted. This should lead to a process where the
Kosovars can return to their homeland. That is good news.
I think we all should express our appreciation for the leadership
that has occurred in this area, and also for the good and outstanding
work done by our troops. That is the thrust of what is in this
resolution. So I think we all should acknowledge that. I think there is
a sigh of relief that it did not go on further, with great problems
facing U.S. men and women in uniform who had to go in as ground troops,
or as the weather turned bad. We are all very pleased that this appears
to be working out.
As the President said to me when we talked earlier today--and I do
not want to quote the President, because you do not do that, but the
upshot of it was we still have a long way to go. And we do. But we all
can hope and pray for the best.
So while I will reserve the right to object at this point, we will
work with the leadership on both sides of the aisle and develop some
language on which the Senate can act.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, we understand the objection of the majority
leader. We wish we could have gotten the information in the form of
this resolution to him sooner. But the war just ended, and the United
Nations resolution just a matter of hours ago was passed.
We thought it was very appropriate prior to this weekend--we are
going out of session now until Monday--that the President, the
Secretary of Defense, and especially those military men and women who
have been away from home for weeks--the bombing has taken 11 weeks--
that we commend and applaud the work they have done.
The way to do that formally is through a resolution. As the leader
has said, he agrees generally with the thrust of what we are trying to
do. We will be happy to work with the Republican leadership to come up
with a resolution that makes sure the fighting men and women of this
country are commended, that the Secretary of Defense is commended, the
Commander in Chief, and that also we acknowledge we set out to make
sure the Serb forces got out of Kosovo--they are on their way out--that
the ethnic Albanians are allowed to return--they are on their way
back--and, of course, there be a peacekeeping force on the ground,
which this body has already approved.
So with that, I will yield the floor, recognizing that this is a
great day in the history of the United States, and it is a great day in
the history of the other 18 nations in that we have been able to force
evil to come to an end. We have won the war. It is very important that
we now win the peace.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. LOTT. One final comment on that. The record will show the Senate
is working on an appropriate resolution. We will have one, I am sure,
early next week.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Daschle-
Reid resolution be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the concurrent resolution was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. Con. Res. --
Whereas United States and NATO Forces have achieved
remarkable success in forcing Yugoslavia to accept NATO's
conditions to halt the air campaign;
Whereas these historic accomplishments have been achieved
at an astoundingly small loss of life and number of
casualties among American and NATO forces;
Whereas to date two Americans have been killed in the line
of duty;
Whereas hundreds of thousands of Kosovar civilians have
been ethnically cleansed or killed by Serb security forces:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives
concurring), That:
(1) The Congress applauds and expresses the appreciation of
the Nation to:
(A) President Clinton, Commander in Chief of all American
Armed Forces, for his leadership during Operation Allied
Force.
(B) Secretary of Defense William Cohen, Armed Forces Chief
of Staff Hugh Shelton and Supreme Allied Commander--Europe
Wesley Clark, for their planning and implementation of
Operation Allied Force.
(C) All of the American forces deployed in the Balkan
region, who have served and succeeded in the highest
traditions of the Armed Forces of the United States.
(D) All of the forces from our NATO allies, who served with
distinction and success.
(E) The families of American service men and women
participating in Operation Allied Force, who have bravely
borne the burden of separation from their loved ones, and
staunchly supported them in this crisis.
(2) The Congress notes with deep sadness the loss of life
on all sides in Operation Allied Force.
(3) The Congress demands from Slobodan Milosevic:
(A) The withdrawal of all Serb forces from Kosovo according
to relevant provisions of the Military Technical Agreement
between NATO and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
(B) An end to the hostilities in Kosovo on the part of Serb
forces.
(C) The unconditional return to their homes of all Kosovar
citizens displaced by Serb aggression.
(4) The Congress urges the KLA to observe the ceasefire and
demilitarize.
(5) The Congress urges all relevant authorities to
seriously examine the issue of possible war crimes by
Slobodan Milosevic and other Serb military leaders and
forces.
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