[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8045-8046]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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                   McCAIN RESOLUTION REGARDING KOSOVO

  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President. I rise today to oppose the McCain 
Resolution.
  First, I congratulate Reverend Jesse Jackson, Congressman Rod 
Blagojevich, Joan Brown Campbell and religious leaders for the release 
of our three servicemen. I am particularly proud that Joan Campbell, 
the Secretary General of the National Council of Churches and the 
mother of County Commissioner Jane Campbell, and Father Irinej 
Dobrijevic, a Serbian-American Priest from St. Sava Orthodox Cathedral 
in Cleveland, were major participants in the release.
  I pray that the letter from Jesse Jackson to President Clinton and 
other diplomatic moves this weekend with President Yeltsin of Russia 
will bring all parties to the table so we can end the bombing, death 
and destruction that is going on in Serbia and Kosovo.
  Mr. President, I am astonished at the negative reaction. In fact, 
Elizabeth Sullivan in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer pointed out that 
``the alliance sneers at Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's latest 
offer, to accept a lightly armed U.N. peace force, refusing to treat it 
as the basis for further talks.''
  In my opinion, our State Department, President and NATO are allowing 
their egos to get in the way of their common sense and good judgment.
  It was this hubris--which is defined as ``excessive pride or self-
confidence; arrogance''--and their miscalculation of the importance of 
Kosovo to the Serbian people and Milosevic that got us into this mess.
  It appears that they are ``hell bent'' to get us into a major war 
that will have catastrophic impact on our domestic and international 
responsibilities for years to come and may well ignite destabilization 
of southeast Europe, a new cold war with Russia and the creation of new 
alliances by this country's adversaries who we have been working to 
bring into the international community.
  I believe it is time to stop the bombing, reduce hostilities on both 
sides and resume negotiations to bring about peace and restore 
stability to the region.
  I agree with the sentiments expressed yesterday by Majority Leader 
Trent Lott who said ``let's see if we can't find a way to get the 
bombing stopped, get Milosevic to pull back his troops, find a way to 
get the Kosovars to go back in a secure way. Short of that, I see a 
quagmire that is going to go on. It's going to get bloodier.''
  So, before we vote on this resolution and continue down the path to a 
further escalation and a greater involvement, there are three things 
that we have to ask ourselves: (1) What is the price? (2) What is the 
risk? (3) What is the prize?
  The main price that will be paid will be done so in human lives. 
There will be casualties--American and NATO troops, Kosovar civilians 
and refugees, Serb civilians as well as civilians in neighboring 
countries where we've already mistakenly dropped bombs.
  We have to remember the experience of World War II, where 700,000 
German troops were held-off by 150,000 Serb guerrillas. Are we willing 
to make such a commitment?
  We also have to consider the financial impact of this war so far. 
Thus far, it is being paid for by Social Security. If the war escalates 
to include ground forces and if we're totally honest with the American 
people, we have to tell them that one of three things will happen to 
pay for this war--
  (1) we'll continue to use Social Security to pay for it and the 
deficit will go up;
  (2) we'll reduce spending for domestic programs; or
  (3) we'll increase taxes.
  In addition, each passing day further diminishes the readiness of our 
armed forces. We already have a terrible readiness problem--this 
campaign is only making it worse.
  Indeed, comments made by General Richard Hawley, head of the U.S. Air 
Combat Command indicate that we could run out of the state-of-the-art 
satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) for our B-2 
Stealth bombers sometime this month.
  He is quoted as saying ``it's going to be really touch-and-go as to 
whether we'll go Winchester on JDAM's.'' That's pilot jargon for 
``running out of bullets.'' He also indicated that because more crews 
are being called up

[[Page 8046]]

for this campaign, fewer crews are available should another crisis 
appear elsewhere in the world (North Korea, Iraq, etc.)
  Our main military goal should be to ensure our readiness to the 
extent that our adversaries know we are prepared.
  There are projections indicate that it will take at least $30 billion 
to address readiness effectively.
  The longer we continue our current efforts, the greater the 
opportunity that one or more of our NATO allies may decide enough is 
enough. This could leave the U.S. holding the bag! We could also stir 
regional resentment among Serbia's neighbors, leading to further 
political instability and the possibility of a wider war. There are 
already groups promoting a greater Albania that would include parts of 
Montenegro, Macedonia, and Greece.
  This war could also undermine U.S. and NATO credibility and erode our 
ability to deter aggression globally.
  If we suffer significant casualties, equipment failures, morale loss, 
etc. potential adversaries in North Korea, China, Iran and Iraq will 
take note and could react;
  Our experience in the Persian Gulf bolstered our credibility but this 
situation is very different--different terrain, there was an 
international consensus that Iraqi aggression against a sovereign 
nation must be reversed, threat of weapons of mass destruction.


                         And finally--the Prize

  When we win--and I am confident we would win--what do we get?
  First there is the need to put in a long-term occupation force to 
oversee the peace. I am concerned that such a force could be subject to 
continual guerrilla attacks which would incur casualties.
  Then we would have to rebuild the infrastructure and economy of 
Kosovo and Serbia and that could cost as much as $100 billion.
  We would also have to build a new, Western-oriented and democratic 
state with whatever existing civic institutions there are available. 
This could lead to a period of ``growing pains'' where there is 
considerable political uncertainty for a number of years.
  Mr. President, as our colleague from Kansas, Senator Roberts, has 
pointed out, there would be a precedent for U.S. to intervene 
militarily when there are widespread humanitarian abuses.
  We have a lot of questions to answer before we find ourselves in a 
war from which we cannot extricate ourselves.
  Fundamentally, what Senator McCain's resolution does is give our 
President carte blanche, and when you look at the price and the risk 
and the prize, you can understand why I am opposed to this resolution.
  We should not give the President blanket authority to get us into 
another Viet Nam that could very well have much greater negative impact 
nationally and internationally than Viet Nam.
  Two weekends ago I visited Arlington Cemetery, the Vietnam and Korean 
memorials and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that 
we do not have a Kosovo Memorial here in Washington.
  If the Senate passes anything, it ought to be what the House did this 
last weekend when they had the courage to stand up and be counted.
  Congress must exert its Constitutional authority in foreign policy 
matters and demand that the President seek a declaration of war or 
formal authorization before he deploys ground troops.
  Again, should the Senate decide to offer alternative legislation to 
the McCain measure, it should include such considerations.
  The way we have conducted ourselves with NATO in regard to Kosovo has 
created an environment that has allowed Slobodan Milosevic and the 
Serbs to do exactly what those responsible for bombing did not want to 
happen regarding human rights and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
  It has resulted in the destruction of the infrastructure in Kosovo to 
the extent that thousands of Kosavars will never return to their 
destroyed homeland.
  The decision also has resulted in death and destruction in Serbia 
that is also unconscionable when one realizes that the alleged purpose 
is to force Slobodan Milosevic to sign an agreement which is tantamount 
to the Serbs and giving up their sovereignty.
  Think about it, Mr. President. If we had not engaged in ``sign-or-
bomb'' diplomacy, we could still be at the negotiating table with 1,600 
observers in Kosovo.
  The time has come, Mr. President, where NATO needs to get off its 
high horse, restrain its ego and instead of trying to save face over a 
major foreign policy blunder and start thinking about saving lives.
  It's time to stop the bombing and put everyone's efforts into finding 
a diplomatic solution that will quickly result in the removal of 
Serbian troops from Kosovo, end the ethnic cleansing, return the 
Kosavars to Kosovo and commit to rebuilding both physical and political 
infrastructure of Kosovo.
  We need to fully protect all minority rights including the Serbs and 
other minorities who live in Kosovo and full participation of all in 
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia including the Serbian Parliament.
  Last but not least an international force to guarantee in the 
beginning that the agreement provisions are fully implemented and 
abided by all parties.
  Mr. President, let's get to the peace table. Let's all of us get down 
on our knees and pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire us to remember 
Jesus' exultation to us--``Bless are the peacemakers for they shall be 
called the children of God.''
  This nightmare has to end now.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative assistant proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed for the 
next 12 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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