[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2189]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 KOSOVO

  (Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the President's plan calls for 
spending more money and raising taxes. Do Members remember when 
President Clinton sent U.S. troops to Bosnia? He promised, he promised 
they would have a well-defined mission with a clear exit strategy. 
Three years later and more than $20 billion later, about 6,000 U.S. 
troops are still in Bosnia. Our own Secretary of State, Madeleine 
Albright, has called it a mess.
  Now the President intends to further scatter U.S. troops into Kosovo 
as part of another peacekeeping mission. It is absolutely imperative 
that the President give Congress and the Nation a clear mission and a 
clear exit strategy before committing our troops. Mr. Speaker, our 
military forces are ready and willing to defend the interests of this 
great Nation. We cannot undermine their oaths. We must define the 
mission, the goal, and an exit strategy before sending our troops into 
yet another mess.

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