[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 22, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H4726-H4732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         EVENTS IN THE BALKANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 1999, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, before I get into tonight's discussion, I want 
to first compliment my good friend from Florida (Mr. Mica) for his 
weekly reminder to this body and to the Nation about the evils of drugs 
and the drug war and the challenges that we still face as a Nation.
  As a former prosecutor in western Wisconsin and special prosecutor in 
the State of Wisconsin, I saw up front and close and personal the evil 
effects that drugs have, not only in our society, but with individuals 
and the families and the communities in which the problem persists. And 
I look forward to working in the coming weeks and for the rest of this 
session with my friend from Florida to develop a comprehensive and 
commonsense policy in order to tackle this scourge in American society. 
But I do compliment him for all the wonderful work that he has done in 
committee and for this body for the sake of the Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, what I like to do right now is kind of change gears a 
little bit. I rise today along with a few other colleagues who I 
anticipate will be joining me in a little bit to talk for a while about 
the events in the Balkans and, more specifically, our involvement in 
Kosovo. The events have been progressing quite rapidly over the last 
week and a half or so after Milosevic had finally agreed to capitulate.
  Now I think now is a good opportunity for us to kind of stand back 
and take a look at the past, present conditions in the Balkans area and 
also the vision of the future in that area, as tenuous as it may be.
  There is no question that, thus far, things seem to be progressing 
according to plan, knock on wood, but it is going to be a very 
difficult task of implementing the peace, of securing it. Now that we 
have won the conflict, it is vitally important that we do everything 
possible not to lose the war, and that is the next great challenge that 
we face as a Nation, as the leader of the NATO alliance for the sake of 
the European continent.
  But let us give credit where credit is due tonight, Mr. Speaker, 
starting with the troops in the area. I had the opportunity, the 
privilege really, a few short weeks ago to be a part of a small 
congressional delegation of 10 other Members who headed over to the 
Balkans on a fact-finding mission.
  It was really a threefold purpose for going over there. One was to 
meet with military command, the leadership there, and get an assessment 
from them.
  Another reason for going was to meet with the troops in the field, 
make sure that everything that they needed in order to carry out their 
mission as safely and efficiently as possible was being delivered to 
them.
  Finally, a chance to get into the refugee camps, meet with the 
Kosovar refugees, families, hear from them firsthand what terror and 
horror they had just been put through in Kosovo, the fortunate ones 
that were able to successfully leave the country.
  It was a fascinating trip, it was incredibly emotional and very 
moving listening to the firsthand accounts of the innocent civilians 
who were forced out of the country and what had just taken place inside 
their villages and cities.
  All of them had their own horror story to tell. Each of them 
explained in their own terms the terror that they had just survived. I 
did not encounter one person in those refugee camps, Mr. Speaker, who 
was not affected by the loss of a loved one, either someone who they 
had personally witnessed executed before their very eyes or who had 
fled, many of them up into the mountains to avoid the Serb forces.
  And you cannot help but go to a region and experience what I think we 
did as a delegation and not be moved and profoundly affected by what 
has taken place in the Balkans.
  But I do believe that was the right policy for the right reason at 
the right time, the NATO campaign against Milosevic. I also believe 
that credit should go to the 19 democratic nations of NATO who stood 
united and through their perseverance finally prevailed in getting 
Milosevic to capitulate and to end the atrocities in Kosovo.
  I think it was a real show of determination and the very credibility 
of NATO and the U.S. leadership on the European continent, and as the 
leader of NATO was very much on the line.
  But this policy has been difficult to explain to the folks back home 
in Wisconsin. I think by and large the people who I have had the 
opportunity to talk to about this and to elicit their opinions have 
felt very conflicted about our role in the Balkans and with the NATO 
air campaign.
  They see, as everyone else does in the country, the horror image that 
has been reported on TV, and they have heard the stories, the plight of 
the Kosovar families, the ethnic cleansing and the atrocities that have 
taken place in Kosovo, and I think the natural reaction for most 
Americans is to try to do something to prevent that.
  But on the other hand there was also the tug, the concern, that this 
could turn into a quagmire. It may be our next Vietnam in areas so far 
away that we knew very little about as far as the history and the 
peoples and the origins of the conflicts, the politics of the 
situation, the socioeconomic conditions in the Balkans, that people 
also felt conflicted about our active and leadership role in this 
campaign.
  And so you get a lot of conflicting advice, as you can imagine, from 
folks back home. I have been certainly severely criticized in the 
press, letters to the editor, people on the street who come up to me 
who vehemently disagree with my support for the NATO campaign and my 
belief that it was in the United States' interests to be involved on 
the European continent again.
  But hopefully what we have today is the dawn of the new era of peace, 
a lasting peace in the region, a peace that is going to finally see the 
removal of Slobodan Milosevic from power in Serbia, a peace that will 
see real democratic reform take place within the Balkan countries and a 
peace that will see the eventual inclusion of these Balkan nations into 
the community of nations in Europe as full-fledged partners in the 
European Union and perhaps even some day members of the NATO alliance 
itself.
  Is this an illusion or a pipe dream? I really do not think so. But I 
think first and foremost the credit really does belong to those young 
men and women in American uniform who are being asked yet again in the 
20th century to try to restore some peace and stability on a conflict-
torn region called the European continent and to try to restore some 
humanity to the European continent.
  I think the concern was as the 20th century entered in very bloody 
internecine warfare primarily in this region. The beginning of the 20th 
century that we were going to exit the 20th century

[[Page H4727]]

under the same type of conditions, and I think today is a day 
where Americans can stand tall and feel proud about the role that the 
United States of America played in trying to help innocent civilians to 
end the atrocities that were being committed in Kosovo by Milosevic's 
forces and to try to bring some peace and stability to this continent, 
a continent that we have paid dearly with our own blood during the 
first half of the 20th century.

  It was, after all, even though the United States was the first half 
of the century pursuing a policy of disengagement from Europe of 
isolationism, it was a single shot that rang out on the streets of 
Sarajevo, the capital of Yugoslavia, back in 1914 that provided the 
spark that led to the blaze that eventually engulfed all of Europe and 
ultimately drew the United States, reluctantly albeit, into the First 
World War at a tremendous cost and sacrifice to our Nation with the 
loss of young lives that were spilled on the continent of Europe.
  And then in the shadow of the First World War and all of the 
conditions that were created in trying to form a lasting peace, we 
ultimately saw a Second World War just two short decades after the 
first one on the continent. But again, between the inter-war periods, 
the United States and the people in this country felt that it was not 
in our interest to be actively involved in Europe, that we can retreat 
across the ocean again, pursue a policy of splendid isolationism, hope 
that the countries in Europe can settle their differences themselves 
and that things would just work out on their own, but unfortunately the 
efforts of Europe proved otherwise.
  In fact, public opinion polling before the bombing of Pearl Harbor; 
yes, they did do some polling back then, too; revealed that the 
overwhelming majority of Americans felt that the problems on the 
European continent were not our problems, that it was something we 
should avoid at all costs, that we had our own issues and concerns to 
deal with within the continental United States and that the last thing 
we wanted to do was get dragged into the European conflict again.
  And we tried pursuing that policy of splendid isolationism while at 
the same time FDR was trying to move the country into the realization 
that, no, we do have vital interests at stake regarding the stability 
and the peace in Europe. But it did take the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 
December 7, 1941, to arouse this Nation into action and again draw us 
into the Second World War as reluctant participants.
  And the cost of those two world wars were tremendous. Over 500,000 
young American lives lost during those two conflicts, over a million 
casualties we suffered. And at the end of the Second World War we made 
a policy change in the country, that never again should it be viewed in 
our interests to stand back and to let events go unheeded in Europe, 
that it was in our interests to remain engaged and to pursue a policy 
of peace and stability and promoting democratic reforms throughout the 
continent.
  That is what gave rise, after all, to the Marshall Plan. We literally 
rebuilt Europe and Japan from the ashes of conflict from the Second 
World War, and it ultimately gave rise to the NATO alliance that has 
had U.S. leadership for the past 50 or so years.
  And who can argue with the success of NATO? The last 50 years in 
Europe have been some of the most peaceful years that the continent has 
ever experienced, and I would submit it is in a large measure due to 
the United States participation, active involvement, with not only 
economic conditions in Europe, but the NATO military alliance, to 
provide some stability and to give these countries a chance to 
experience real democracy, real freedom, and liberties that we 
unfortunately at times take for granted in the United States.
  But none of this could have been done without the tremendous 
commitment and professionalism exhibited by our U.S. troops throughout 
Europe, but especially in this conflict. It is truly amazing for me to 
have gone over there and to have met with many of the troops who are 
involved in carrying out their mission whether it was the logistical 
support base at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. And we met with the 
troops there providing assistance to the campaign or meeting with the 
pilots in Aviano, Italy, the F-15, the F-16 pilots carrying out the 
sortie missions over Kosovo, even spending half a day in Tirana, 
Albania, with Task Force Hawk, the Apache helicopter task force that 
was deployed, and they were ultimately employed in the Kosovo conflict.
  But just meeting with these young men and women was truly inspiring, 
seeing their professionalism, the dedication, the commitment that they 
exhibited. No other Nation in the world, Mr. Speaker, could have done 
what the United States did do in this situation within a very short 
period of time, being able to deploy a force of that magnitude, 
deployed even in Albania in a short time period in which it was 
deployed and still dealing with the humanitarian catastrophe, the likes 
of which the continent has not seen since the Second World War. It was 
truly an amazing feat that I think America can be proud of given our 
logistical capabilities that do exist on the European continent.
  And I just wish all Americans had the opportunity that I and the rest 
of my colleagues who went on that mission over to the Balkans to see 
and to meet these troops as I did. These are the young men and women 
who are day and night guarding the fence of freedom, protecting our 
security and maintaining our interests across the globe.

                              {time}  2030

  They are the best trained, the best capable military that the world 
has ever seen. I think they proved that in the Kosovo conflict.
  But it has been a difficult policy to explain and to justify U.S. 
interests in the Balkans. However, I believe it was the right policy 
for the right reasons. If we are going to learn any lessons from the 
Second World War, it is that the United States should not stand idly by 
when we do have the capability to do something about it and watch the 
innocent slaughter of civilians in Europe, and in the Balkans in this 
instance.
  It was not my first trip to the Balkans. I went over about a year ago 
and visited the NATO peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, a policy I believe 
has been extremely successful since the end of the hostilities in that 
country back in 1996. I also had a chance to visit the former 
Yugoslavian Republic back in 1990 as a student, Mr. Speaker, with a 
backpack on my back, traveling by myself throughout the region, when I, 
as a student of history, who loved to read a lot about European history 
in particular, saw the war clouds on the horizon after Milosevic came 
to power in 1989. I wanted to take that opportunity to get into that 
country quickly and meet the people throughout Yugoslavia, and other 
students, and get their reaction and their impression as to whether war 
was imminent and inevitable.
  It was striking back then that those who I met were not convinced 
that this was necessarily and inevitably going to lead to warfare. In 
fact, many of them believed that it would have been catastrophic for 
those different ethnic groups to turn on one another. They were working 
incredibly hard back then to make economic progress, to have an 
integrated Yugoslavian area that could eventually be included into the 
European Union and the rest of the Western European continent for the 
benefits of trade and the economy. And they felt that it was senseless 
for them to turn on one another and to begin a conflict and to subject 
the region to war. But 6 short months after my visit to the region, 
sure enough, that is when the first fighting broke loose.
  I think all too often when we get involved in these types of military 
conflicts across the globe, but here in particular, we tend to focus on 
the short term and on the specifics of the immediate situation. I think 
it is helpful from time to time to step back and get a historical 
perspective as far as what is happening around the countries and where 
all of this is leading. I think with that historical perspective, we 
have a lot of reason to be optimistic that we can see a lasting peace 
in the Balkans, a peace that will lead to democratic reforms and to 
economic integration into that region.
  Let me just go down to the well in order to illustrate a point of 
what I am trying to get at. It is really a remarkable phenomenon that 
we have seen take place across Europe in the last decade or so. I think 
the historical

[[Page H4728]]

trends that have been sweeping across Europe over the last 10 years are 
working in our favor when it comes to managing a lasting peace and an 
optimistic vision for the Balkans.
  With that, let me descend into the well.
  Mr. Speaker, what I put up here a little bit earlier is a map of 
Europe. The title of it is European Transition to Democratic 
Government, 1989-1999. Why is 1989 a significant date? Well, that is 
when the Berlin Wall fell, and that is when the collapse of communism 
and the Soviet Union occurred. That is when the Communist nations 
throughout Europe started to fall one right after another. I had a 
chance to visit Central Europe a few short months after the collapse of 
the Communist governments.
  But what this map depicts, the blue area showing the countries in 
Western Europe show what nations had democratic governments before 
1989, before the collapse of communism. We recognize the boot-shaped 
Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, but we can see how limited 
this map is before 1989 when it came to democratic governments that 
were already existing on the continent of Europe. But after the 
collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Communist regimes, the purple area 
demonstrates how democracy has since swept Europe and what countries 
now have been included into the fold of democratic nations. All of 
central Europe, including East Germany which is now a part of Germany; 
all of the former Soviet Union.
  What the red portions of this map demonstrate are those nations that 
are still lagging behind in this great historical sweep of Europe, that 
are still dominated by authoritarian and dictatorial regimes, one of 
which is still right here in the heart of central Europe, Belarus; and 
the other happens to be the Yugoslav Republic under the Milosevic 
regime down here in the Balkans.
  I think what this demonstrates all too well is that Milosevic in this 
situation is isolated. He is an island. He is surrounded by emerging 
democracies. I mean, who amongst us could have predicted that in 10 
short years some of the most repressive Communist regimes in central 
Europe would today be flourishing democracies and full members of the 
European Union, and even members of the NATO Alliance itself, within 10 
short years. That was unimaginable pre-1989. But, in fact, that has 
been the historical trend right now. It is only so long when one 
Communist dictator can withstand the force of historical events.
  What we see here is a Serbia that is completely surrounded and 
isolated by emerging democracies; some that are full-fledged 
democracies, others that are well on the road to democratic reforms and 
democratic institutions. I think that, more than anything, gives us 
hope that it is going to be a matter of time, I think, in my own 
opinion, a matter of a very short time when Serbia and these Balkan 
nations are going to institute democratic reforms, when they are going 
to reject the authoritarian and criminal policies of Slobodan Milosevic 
and move to democratic institutions, have democratic elections, and 
then ultimately change the conditions which would allow their 
acceptance into the rest of Europe and into the European Union. That, 
for me, gives me a lot of hope, a lot of promise, really, that what we 
did in the Balkans, albeit very difficult in the short term, is going 
to be the right policy in the long term by giving these people a chance 
of realizing true peace and stability and allowing democratic reform to 
take place.
  I think that is a message that we have not heard all that much of 
during the course of this conflict in the Balkans, during the NATO air 
campaign, is that we certainly have time on our side, and that 
Milosevic is facing irresistible forces throughout the continent of 
Europe, and that as long as we can continue to maintain the policy in 
the international community of isolating him, as has been accomplished 
now through the NATO air campaign, through the International War Crimes 
Tribunal issuing an indictment against Milosevic as a war criminal, the 
first time any sitting President of a nation has been indicted for war 
crimes, and also given the significant event of Russia coming over and 
accepting the NATO objectives during this campaign and further 
isolating Milosevic, he is basically left with no friends anymore in 
the international community.
  That is what gives me a lot of hope that what we can see happen in 
this region is a very successful policy of engagement, leading to 
democratic reforms and leading to a Balkans area that will be included 
within the rest of the European community as far as democracy and 
economic integration is concerned. So I think certainly we have that 
possibility, we certainly have that capability right now, but the 
reports, the news stories coming out, at least right now, appears to 
show that things are working according to plan.
  What I would like to do now is yield to my friend, the gentlewoman 
from Chicago, Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky), who is one of my colleagues 
who was able to join us on the trip over to the Balkans just a few 
short weeks ago.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for 
organizing this intelligent and thoughtful and optimistic discussion, 
and for allowing me to participate.
  From May 20 to May 24, we were both part of a congressional 
delegation to the Balkans that was led by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Hobson) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), and due to the 
persistence really of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson), our 
delegation was able to get a firsthand picture of the situation in the 
days before the agreement was signed, a very comprehensive picture of 
the refugee camps and the troop deployment, and to meet with General 
Wesley Clarke. It was quite an informative and incredible trip.
  The most poignant moment for me and I think for all of us came on 
Sunday, May 23, when we were at the Kosovo/Macedonia border of Blace 
when traumatized refugees began streaming, or, more appropriately, 
staggering, across the border. We were able to talk with them, and what 
we heard made us literally weep along with them. Stories of guns to the 
head, a grenade thrown into a family group; being driven from home with 
5 minutes' notice; eating grass in the hills; hunger; terror; murder.
  In a tent of some 15 women, I would say, and a few dozen children, it 
was eerily quiet. Those of us who have children know that when we get 
that many little kids together, it is usually noisy and a lot of 
energy. It was really silent in there. These women had no idea where 
their husbands were, and their children, of course, had no idea where 
their fathers were.
  In another tent, a well-dressed man pointed to the wheelbarrow he had 
used to wheel his frail, elderly mother across the border. He was fine 
for a while in talking about what happened to his family, but then, 
when he talked about the wheelbarrow and pointed to his mother who was 
sitting on a blanket, he broke down. She was comforting him by saying, 
at least we are still alive. He did not know, however, if the same were 
true for his grown children.
  The day that I came back, there was an e-mail waiting for me from a 
constituent that said, I quote, ``I have serious reservations about 
your casual use of terms like atrocities, crimes against humanity, 
genocide.'' I guess that e-mail kind of hit me at the wrong moment, 
because after having talked to victims of and witnesses to the terror 
of the Serbian forces, I felt that these words were exactly 
appropriate.
  And now, of course, we are learning more every day about the extent 
of the atrocities committed against the ethnic Albanian Kosovars. 
Estimates of the number dead keep rising. Evidence of torture abounds. 
Mass graves, rape, burned bodies, human shields, it is really hard to 
read the accounts.
  Then the evening after our return, the gentlewoman from Illinois 
(Mrs. Biggert), who was also part of our delegation, and I cohosted a 
reception at the Holocaust Museum for our freshmen colleagues. At that 
event, Miles Lehrman, who is president of the Holocaust Council and a 
Holocaust survivor said, this is his quote: ``It is here,'' he was 
talking about the museum, ``It is here where you will fully comprehend 
that the Holocaust did not begin in Auschwitz or in any of the death 
camps. It began when lawmakers lacked the stamina to speak out against 
the constantly escalating evils. It is here where it will become clear 
to

[[Page H4729]]

you what our role in Kosovo must be. It is here where you will see what 
can happen to a people who become mezmerized by a political charlatan 
who professed to simple answers to complex and difficult problems. It 
is here where you will be able to fortify your inner strengths, to 
stick to your convictions and speak your mind in your legislative 
deliberations, even at times when your opinion may not be most popular. 
It will strengthen your determination to stand alone, if need be, and 
speak truth to power.''
  That was Miles Lehrman, the president of the Holocaust Council.
  I often speak of my granddaughter, Isabel, on this floor. She is now 
15 months old. I thought about her when I thought about Kosovo and knew 
that if, when she grew up, she asked me what I did to stop the killing 
of innocent people, I wanted to tell her that I did the right thing. 
And when I listened to that brave survivor of the Holocaust, I heard 
him saying that we did the right thing to stop Milosevic.
  But our job is not done yet. It will not be done until those mothers 
are reunited with their husbands who we hope are still alive; until the 
man and his mother are home, and the wheelbarrow is used in the garden 
again; and until our children start playing games of peace and not of 
war. And until the vision of the gentleman from Wisconsin, his vision 
of Europe that, with the help of the United States and NATO and the 
international community, can be a unified Europe working as part of a 
more unified international community, I think that was the ultimate 
goal of our mission there, and I hope very much that we can be part of 
achieving that goal as we move forward.

                              {time}  2045

  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments and 
participation on this issue, and for traveling with me just a few weeks 
ago. It really was a moving, very emotional experience, I think, for 
all of us.
  I have never seen a group of representatives, Mr. Speaker, who were 
quieter or more chagrined than we were when we boarded that bus at 
Blace, the refugee camp in northern Macedonia, having met with the 
families the moment they took their first steps out of Kosovo and 
talking to them, and hearing firsthand accounts of the atrocities and 
the terror that they were just put through.
  Now we read the headlines of the recent days showing that what we 
feared is in fact materializing; that once NATO troops, the 
peacekeeping troops, were allowed to go into Kosovo along with the 
western media, who were specifically excluded during the 78-day air 
campaign, that the atrocities are even more magnified and even more 
horrific.
  In fact, this headline in the papers a couple of days ago reads 
``Kosovo Albanians returning in droves,'' which is no surprise. When we 
talked with the families in the camps, they were very eager that once 
NATO prevailed, that they wanted to get back to their homes, which was 
a natural reaction.
  What was interesting, however, was another reason they gave, for why 
they felt it was so important to get back to their homes as soon as 
possible. It was the same that thing that many Albanians and Muslims 
experienced during the Bosnia conflict just a few short years ago when 
Serb forces overran their towns. They stripped them of everything that 
they had, identity, identification papers, documents proving ownership 
of property.
  And when they were eventually allowed to come back and resettle, it 
was very difficult for them to prove up ownership of their properties 
and of their homes. They were concerned the same thing was going to 
happen in Kosovo. In fact, they knew when they were expelled that many 
of the towns and villages were being laid waste and burned to the 
ground, but they were eager to get back see what did remain, and to lay 
claim again to their ownership and to their lands.
  But the other subtitle to this article reads, ``Serb-led Offensive 
Took 10,000 Lives, According to British Estimates.'' That figure was 
still higher than what the actual predictions were earlier. In fact, 
that number is being escalated every day with the revelation of more 
mass graves and the body counts that are coming with it. It was 
something that we feared at the time. Since we did not have people 
inside Kosovo that could give us firsthand accounts, other than the 
refugees themselves, it was very difficult to predict just the 
magnitude of the atrocities and the mass executions and mass graves 
that are now being uncovered.
  Sure enough, now that the NATO peacekeeping troops are allowed in 
they are uncovering mass grave after mass grave, and the number is only 
going up and up and up. Again, I think our worst fears are being 
realized. I also believe that but for the NATO campaign, the atrocities 
would have been much more severe than what we are witnessing today.
  There has been some criticism that because of the NATO campaign, it 
led to the brutality and to the ethnic cleansing that occurred in 
Kosovo. I happen to disagree with that, given historical indicators and 
facts. In fact, the policy of oppression within Kosovo itself and even 
Bosnia really began shortly after Milosevic came to power in 1989.
  These were groups, provinces within Yugoslavia that enjoyed a form of 
self-autonomy during the Tito regime. Tito realized that given the 
ethnic diversity of the region, it made sense to allow them a form of 
self-autonomy, to allow them to practice their own religion and culture 
and have their own language.
  But Milosevic came to power by nationalizing the issue and by 
claiming that Kosovo is Serbia. Immediately when he took power in 1989 
he started cracking down on the ethnic Albanians within Kosovo, 
stripping them of their identity, of their culture and history, and 
even disallowing the use of their own language.
  But the atrocities really started to be stepped up in the early 1998 
period when Serb forces started moving in. That is when the 
negotiations between the West and Milosevic started. It was later in 
the year at Rambouillet where we were trying to reach a peaceful 
resolution to what was occurring in Kosovo.
  But this is not something that started overnight. This was not a 
change in NATO policy. In fact, it was a policy that was clearly 
enunciated back in 1991 and 1992 within the NATO nations themselves, 
but also within the Bush administration, when President Bush clearly 
warned Milosevic that if he moved on Kosovo, that NATO would move on 
him. It was really a continuation of that policy into the Clinton 
administration and within the NATO alliance that ultimately led to the 
NATO air strike campaign against Milosevic's forces in Kosovo.
  But I think we are going to see in the coming days more and more 
stories of the atrocities and the brutality that was perpetrated on 
these people within Kosovo.
  Another article I think demonstrates a little bit of the ambivalence 
that not only the American people were feeling in the course of this 
campaign, but some of the troops themselves in the area.
  It was interesting when I was in Aviano, Italy, talking to a lot of 
the pilots, asking them their opinion as far as the policy and whether 
or not this made sense and if it was working, one of the pilots came to 
me and said, if you could see what we see flying these missions over 
Kosovo, the lines of refugees streaming out, and you could tell where 
the line originated from because of the black plumes of smoke coming up 
from behind them of the burnt villages and burnt cities that they were 
fleeing from Serb forces, and the bodies strewn along the countryside, 
if you could see that as we are flying over the countryside it would 
remove any doubt that this is something we have to do.
  In fact, in an article last week a couple of the other troops were 
interviewed. Let me just quote this. This was in USA Today. The 
headline reads ``Marines Play Hurry Up and Wait.''
  ``The moment arrives beneath a trash-strewn overpass in the heart of 
Skopje.
  ``Huddled in the shadows are dozens of children, some in underwear, 
others barefoot, each waving dirty hands formed into peace symbols.
  ```Nah-toe! Nah-toe!' their cries thunder off the overpass walls.
  ```Wow,' says Lance Corporal Jon Hager, 23, of Carlisle, Pa., at the 
wheel of a marine Humvee. . . .
  ```I'll never forget it,' says Lt. John Marcinek, 28, of Rochester, 
N.Y., commander of the Marine Combined Anti-

[[Page H4730]]

armor Team, which will be responsible for securing'' the part of 
Southeast Kosovo that the United States is responsible for.
  ``Resting in the sizzling sun near the border with Kosovo, Marcinek 
searches out a pen and pad.
  He says, ```I want to write my girlfriend and tell her this was the 
best experience that has ever happened to me,' says the former Utah ski 
bum. `It hits you straight in the heart. The tears flowed.'''
  ``For Sergeant James Loy, the sight does nothing less than change his 
views on being in the Balkans.
  He said, ```I'll be honest, until now I didn't really feel like we 
needed to be here. Until I saw those kids,'' and he has a 10-month-old 
son himself called Christopher. He went on to say, ```We do have a 
purpose here, and that's to get those kids back home. Some people in 
the U.S. think we're just here to kill. But we can help give these 
people their freedom back.'''

  And get something monumental in return: ```This is our moment in 
history,''' he said. ```If people in the United States could see this 
now, they'd understand.'''
  What is encouraging in recent days are some of the reports coming out 
of Serbia itself indicating that internal opposition to Milosevic is 
rising. This article reads ``Serbian orthodox church urges Milosevic 
and his cabinet to quit.''
  Another article in today's paper, the Washington Post, entitled 
``Serbs From Kosovo Assail Government. Pro-Western Politicians Seek 
Elections.''
  Here the article reads ``Last week, a 45-year-old Serbian lawyer 
named Dragan Antic fled his home in southern Kosovo for fear of ethnic 
Albanian guerillas who were beginning to pour into town. Today he stood 
in the center of Belgrade denouncing Yugoslav President Slobodan 
Milosevich as the source of his troubles.
  ```It is Slobodan who is guilty,''' he shouted as police attempted to 
break up a protest rally by a hundred or so Serbs who had just recently 
fled Kosovo. ```What was the purpose of fighting this war if we had to 
give Kosovo away? Before the war we were living in our homes. Now we 
have nothing more than the clothes you see on our backs.''' 
```Milosevic led us in the wrong direction,''' complained another 
displaced Serb. We should be entering the European Union and 
cooperating with the rest of the world. Instead, we are completely 
isolated.'''
  Adding to the pressure on Milosevic, a pro-Western political 
opposition group announced plans today for a series of demonstrations 
to demand early parliamentary elections in Serbia.
  I think what we are seeing is internal opposition starting to rise up 
against Milosevic, realizing that it is because of his policies in the 
region that has cost them their homes as a result, and that they 
realize that their future cannot any longer be tied into the brutal 
regime of the butcher of Belgrade. I think he has been so aptly named 
the butcher of Belgrade.
  A couple more stories in the paper indicating what has transpired in 
recent days. ``Framework for peace takes shape. Last Serb soldiers 
leave Kosovo.'' They had left 12 hours ahead of time, which allowed 
NATO to formally declare an ending of the NATO air campaign.
  Then perhaps, most significantly, the KLA signs a peace agreement 
calling for the demilitarization of the KLA army. That is one of the 
key linchpins to a successful peaceful resolution and stability in the 
region, is that the KLA, the guerillas that were fighting against 
Milosevic's armies in Kosovo, are agreeing to disarm and to allow 
democratic reforms to take place in the country.
  Here is one that really gives me a lot of hope: ``KLA Chief Appeals 
to Serbs to Return. Political Leader Says Rebels Support `Democratic 
Kosovo.'''
  The political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army said today that 
the ethnic Albanian rebel group is committed to building ``a modern 
civil society'' in the Serbian province, and appealed to fleeing Serbs 
to return to live in a democratic Kosovo, as long as they have not 
committed any crimes against their people.
  I think these are all indications of what is transpiring in recent 
days that could give us a lot of hope to be optimistic regarding the 
success of our mission in Kosovo.
  What I would like to do right now is to yield some time to one of our 
leaders in the Democratic Caucus, someone who has been at the forefront 
of this issue, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin, for yielding to me. I want to congratulate the gentleman for 
focusing on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that we do so because I think we 
need to reflect upon what the lessons of this operation are. Many had 
doubts. Many were concerned that we were going to lose large numbers of 
people. Many were concerned that those who had been expelled from 
Kosovo would not want to go home. Many frankly were opposed to the 
President's leadership on this issue because they thought it was wrong.
  Mr. Speaker, the butcher of Belgrade, however, is in full retreat. 
NATO's 78-day air campaign operation allied force has harnessed 
Slobodan Milosevic's unbridled barbarism. It is producing the results 
we knew it would. It has made the world, in my opinion, a safer place 
today.
  When we look at Southeastern Europe tonight and compare it to the 
situation there just 3 months ago, what do we see? First, of course, as 
I have said, we see a weakened Milosevic, both at home and abroad. The 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) mentioned and I will repeat that 
just this morning the Washington Post reported that demonstrations 
denouncing Milosevic's genocidal rampage in Kosovo have begun to occur 
in Belgrade. We expected them in Pristina, but they are occurring in 
Belgrade.
  One Serb protester complained, and this bears repeating, as the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) just used this quote, ``Milosevic 
lied to us. He led us in the wrong direction. We should be entering the 
European Union and cooperating with the rest of the world. Instead, we 
are completely isolated.''
  Second, we see 1.3 million Kosovars who were forced to flee their 
homeland or displaced within their province preparing to return home. 
We have some measure of confidence that the nightmarish scenes and 
gross violations of human rights in Kosovo are at an end and will not 
be replayed there soon.
  Third, we see the unified, decisive action by NATO forces can repulse 
a ruthless dictator, protect and preserve the sanctity of human rights, 
and help stabilize the entire region.
  Can anyone seriously question whether the threat to Macedonia or the 
Yugoslavia Republic of Montenegro is less tonight because of NATO's 
unwavering action against Milosevic and his henchmen? No one can doubt 
that the same could not be said had we fallen prey to the isolationist 
experts who coached appeasement.
  In 1940, as the European continent was about to explode into a Second 
World War, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said of appeasement, no 
man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it. There can be no 
appeasement with ruthlessness. There can be no reasoning with the 
incendiary bomb.''
  Milosevic's ruthless actions, his rejection of reasoning during the 
entire decade, left us little alternative but to confront him with 
force.
  Mr. Speaker, let me again repeat, for the entire decade. This was not 
something that was sprung on the West. In fact, in my opinion, the West 
waited too long. But it is never too late to do the right thing.

                              {time}  2100

  With President Clinton, an extraordinarily courageous and forceful 
Prime Minister of Great Britain, and other leaders in NATO who 
obviously had in their own parliaments voices of doubt, voices of 
nonsupport, but notwithstanding that, they courageously stood as a NATO 
alliance to say that this kind of genocidal activity will not stand in 
the bosom of Europe.
  Fourth, we see that the credibility of the United States has been 
enhanced throughout the world. As William Kristol and Robert Kagan 
wrote recently in the Weekly Standard, Mr. Speaker, as I am sure my 
colleagues well know, neither Mr. Kristol nor Mr. Kagan are known as 
spinmeisters for the Clinton administration, but they said this, the 
victory in Kosovo should

[[Page H4731]]

``send a message to would-be aggressors that . . . the United States 
and its allies can summon the will and the force to do them harm.''
  We have sent, I think, a very simple message to would-be aggressors 
in Europe and elsewhere. Do not do it. Do not do it. Do not do it. The 
West has the will, and the West clearly has the ability to confront 
you, stop you, defeat you, and drive you back. Do not do it.
  If one takes aggressive hostile action against one's neighbors or 
one's own people, one will pay a very high price indeed.
  Fifth, we see that a policy that recognizes and embraces basic human 
rights, decency, and democratic values is not just the right thing to 
do, but, Mr. Speaker, a strategic imperative. This policy, in this 
case, has been vindicated.
  Syndicated columnist William Safire hit the nail on the head when he 
wrote recently, ``International moral standards of conduct, long 
derided by geopoliticians, now have muscle.''
  How proud Americans ought to be of their President, this Congress, 
and their young men and women in the armed forces of the United States 
who align with those in NATO made that quote possible. That the cynics, 
the realpolitiks of the world who said that we did not have a strategic 
interest there, yes, of course, there was a moral imperative, but we 
did not have a strategic interest; therefore, perhaps as we did during 
the 1930s we ought to stand and simply watch, perhaps lament, perhaps 
wring our hand, but not take action.
  The Clinton administration with the support of this Congress not only 
unified, not always out front, but nevertheless united in our 
conviction that we would let this policy go forward and congratulate 
themselves for standing for what is right. Why? Because of NATO's 
unified unwavering action in Kosovo, we have made it clear that 
international wrongdoers can and will be confronted.
  This does not mean we can intervene, Mr. Speaker, in every instance. 
As Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stated recently, and again I 
quote, ``In copying with future crisis, the accumulated wisdom of the 
past will have to be weighed against the factors unique to that place 
and time.''
  Unfortunately, for Milosevic, Kosovo was the place and the time.
  Finally, in closing let me state our efforts to secure peace in the 
Balkans are not over. We must keep the faith. We must keep our will. We 
must keep our focus. We must keep our ties to our allies strong and 
unbroken.
  Milosevic has properly been branded as a war criminal by the 
International War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague. He, Mr. Speaker, and 
those who committed crimes allied with him or, very frankly, those who 
committed crimes on the other side must be held accountable.
  Our policy goal now should be, not only his removal from office, but 
his being held accountable for the atrocities for which he is clearly 
responsible. If we do not, Mr. Speaker, if we do not hold those who 
have committed war crimes accountable, then I fear we will see a 
continuation of the cycle of violence and revenge that has plagued the 
Balkans for so many years.
  If, however, we hold accountable those responsible, then there will 
not be cause for the victims and their families and their successors to 
again strike out, to in vengeance, to restore the honor that has not 
been restored because we did not hold the criminals accountable.
  We should encourage the Serbs to remove Milosevic and the brutal 
leaders who have caused this tragic suffering and misery. Serbia also 
must be clear about this. So long as Milosevic remains in power, it 
will not and should not receive financial assistance for its 
reconstruction. Humanitarian aid, yes. Reconstruction aid, economic 
aid, no.
  Mr. Speaker, I am one of the Members of this House who has traveled 
to Macedonia and Albania, been to Pristina and Kosovo, and seen with my 
own eyes the devastation and the consequences of genocide. These images 
are seared into my memory forever.
  We will not always be able to intervene to stop injustice wherever it 
occurs, but we have laid down a powerful precedent in Kosovo. Our 
credibility, as I said, earlier has been enhanced. NATO has been 
strengthened. A brutal dictator has been repulsed, and the cause for 
human rights has been advanced. If those are not good causes, Mr. 
Speaker, I do not know what are.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) 
who has himself been such a leader in this effort and who is ensured 
that the American public had the facts and were themselves focused on 
the objectives we sought, the means we used.
  Parenthetically, let me say that we were extraordinarily lucky, the 
redress of the wrongs that were occurring, if they occur in the future, 
may not be as costless as this enterprise was. But having said that, 
the enterprise will be worth it.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Hoyer) for his comments and for the leadership that he has shown on 
this issue. What a long ways we have come in a short period of time 
when, just a few short weeks ago, this Chamber by a 213-213 vote tied 
on whether or not to even continue to support the NATO air campaign in 
the region. Now we are on the precipice of peace breaking out in the 
region.
  A while back, I had a chance to have a conversation with Elie Wiesel, 
one of the Nazi concentration camp survivors, one of the foremost 
experts on the Holocaust. I asked him what his thoughts were in regards 
to the NATO air campaign in the Balkans.
  What he said I thought really crystallized the issue, for me at 
least, in which he said, ``Listen, the only miserable consolation that 
those people in the Nazi concentration camps had during the Second 
World War was the belief that, if the Western democracies of the world 
knew what was going on, they would do everything possible to try to 
stop it, bombing the rail lines, bombing the crematoriums.'' But 
history later showed that the western leaders did know, but they did 
not do anything to try to stop it.
  This time is different. This time the Western democracies know, and 
they are intervening. This time, in his opinion at least, he feels we 
are on the right side of history in this situation.
  With that, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes) who was 
also one of my colleagues who joined us on the trip to the Balkans, 
Albania and Macedonia just a few weeks ago.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. I 
am one of those that took the opportunity to go to the region, to the 
Balkans, and take a firsthand look at what was occurring.
  I will tell my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, that I had an opportunity to 
go, not once, not twice, but three times into this region. In fact, on 
Easter Sunday, I was in Prague and had the opportunity to go to the 
NATO bunker that was recently admitted to the NATO alliance, the Czech 
Republic had made available.
  That day that I was there, on Easter Sunday at that NATO bunker, the 
Czech Republic cleared 130 sorties to go through their airspace to bomb 
Yugoslavia. I mention that because it is very significant when we have 
heard over an over the last few weeks that, first of all, a bombing 
campaign would never work, a bombing campaign would not bring about the 
desired effect and the desired impact to force Milosevic to come to the 
peace table.
  Interestingly enough, every time I heard that, it was being espoused 
normally by people that have never been on the receiving end of a 
bombing campaign or a mortar attack or any of those.
  Having had the experience of Vietnam and having been involved in some 
of those attacks, I can tell my colleagues that there is nothing more 
taxing, more horrifying that makes one feel more helpless than being 
attacked by bombs or mortars.
  So to those that were criticizing the strategy, I say it worked. It 
is something that we all have to recognize and give credit where credit 
is due to the President and to the whole NATO alliance.
  We also heard over and over, what is our interest in the region? What 
kind of national interests could we possibly have? I think a number of 
my colleagues this evening have gone over that interest and that 
compelling and overwhelming obligation that we, as Americans, can take 
full pride in tonight and in the coming days that President Clinton 
took the tough stand, made the tough decisions, and

[[Page H4732]]

ultimately brought Milosevic to the peace table and provided us an 
opportunity to once more see how great we as a country and as a nation 
can be.
  Even though over the past few weeks we have not all been in complete 
agreement, we have not all been satisfied that all the things that were 
happening and that were occurring were being done according to the 
strategy or according to the game plan, but one thing that we do know 
tonight and that we have known since Milosevic came to the peace table 
is that we have so many thousands of refugees that are grateful for the 
role that the United States and NATO played in giving them the 
opportunity to go back and regain what they had, go back and take hold 
of what we hope is the future, the rest of their lives in their home 
country, in their home turf.
  We heard a lot of the pundits night after night after night telling 
the American people and the audience worldwide that the refugees that 
had left their homes would never want to go back. They were wrong. They 
were wrong, and they should admit it. Just like they were wrong about 
the air strategy and the bombing campaign that it would never work, it 
worked. They should admit it.
  Part of the compelling story, part of what I hope is chronicled in 
this campaign and in this great humanitarian effort led by the United 
States and NATO is the tremendous impact that it had on many thousands 
of individuals of every size and every age and every description, many 
thousands of individuals that were forced to flee their homes.
  I would ask the American people tonight to stop and reflect for a 
moment what would happen to them personally if they were to suffer this 
contend of trauma, a trauma that to us is unimaginable, to us it is 
incomprehensible because we cannot even begin to imagine what it would 
be like to be forced out of our homes and to be forced into the refugee 
camps and the conditions of which my colleagues and I had a first-hand 
look, and conditions that today are going to be resolved by allowing 
these refugees to go back to their homeland.

                              {time}  2115

  Mr. REYES. I am proud to be in the well of the House this evening to 
thank President Clinton and to thank the NATO alliance. Over and over 
in the past weeks we heard it would never hold together. It held 
together. It brought about the desired successful conclusion that is 
going to, I think, write yet another chapter in the great history of 
this country where we do not do things because they are easy, we do not 
do things because they are simple, but we do do things, no matter how 
difficult the task, because they are the right thing to do.
  I am proud of the President, I am proud of our men and women in 
uniform, and I am proud of those of my colleagues that stood with our 
President.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I wish to conclude by saying that, in the 
final analysis, someone had to stop Milosevic in Kosovo. And given the 
current geopolitical global lineup, that someone was us. I just hope 
and pray that for the sake of peace in the region, that what has 
started now will continue and we will see a lasting peace. And that our 
troops in the region, who are being asked to act as peacekeepers, will 
be able to do their jobs successfully, efficiently, and as quickly as 
possible so they can all return to their families safely.

                          ____________________