[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 21236-21237]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          REVOLUTION IN SERBIA

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, we have had many debates on the floor of 
the Senate, genuinely heartfelt debates about the role of the United 
States of America in the world and the use of American force in the 
world.
  We have had a split in this body between the parties, and within the 
parties, about whether or not it is appropriate for the United States 
to take a leadership role in Europe, including, on occasion, the use of 
force to promote our national interest and that of our allies.
  There are several political cancers that exist in various parts of 
the world. And the one remaining cancer on the continent of Europe--the 
primary one--is Slobodan Milosevic.

[[Page 21237]]

  I suggest that we all take a lesson from what is going on now in the 
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia--in Serbia. Many of us, Democrat and 
Republican, have argued--myself; Senator McCain; Senator Lieberman; 
Senator Dole, when he was here--that the United States had an 
obligation, in its own self-interest and in the interest of our allies, 
and in the interest of humanity, to intervene, to stop the genocide and 
the ethnic cleansing that was being perpetrated by Slobodan Milosevic's 
vile nationalism.
  I have been arguing for some time now that, absent our involvement in 
that region of the world, there would be chaos in, if not the heart, 
then the belly of Europe, and that if we acted with dispatch--swiftly 
and with resolve, and a willingness not to back away--Slobodan 
Milosevic, as with most thugs, would be stopped and would be 
eliminated.
  Some have said on this floor, and some will say in the various 
Presidential and Senatorial and House campaigns that are going on, that 
we did not have an exit strategy when we committed American forces in 
Kosovo or American forces in Bosnia. Some will say that we have not 
succeeded because all is not tranquil, and if we were to withdraw 
American forces, things would revert to the chaos that existed before, 
and that this serves as proof that what we had done had not worked. The 
press and others declared early on in the bombing campaign in Kosovo--3 
days into the 70-some day campaign--that it was a failure.
  I am told, time and again, by some of my colleagues on the floor and 
I have read some pundits who state that, in fact, the American people 
are not patient, that they want instant results.
  I say this. The end of Slobodan Milosevic is evidence of a number of 
things. One, our involvement was not only positive and good and 
successful, it was absolutely necessary. Without the leadership of the 
United States of America, I respectfully suggest our European allies 
would not have been as aggressive, they would not have been as united, 
and they would not have been as resolved.
  Second, I hope we take a lesson from this as well to demonstrate that 
the American people have a great deal more patience and wisdom than we 
give them credit for. I have not heard, nor have I heard anyone else 
tell me that, while they have been home in the last 4 years, they have 
been told, as they walked from the grocery store, or to the drugstore, 
or home, that it is urgent we withdraw American forces from the 
Balkans.
  Quite frankly, the opposite has occurred. The American people 
intuitively knew this was a place where wars have started before, this 
was a place where if chaos reigned it could not be contained, this was 
a place where a man such as Slobodan Milosevic could do nothing but 
ultimately harm the interest of Europe and the United States. They were 
resolved, and they are resolved, to keep American forces in that area 
to maintain the peace and security of the region, along with our 
allies.
  I might add, parenthetically, that we make up only, roughly, 7,000 of 
the nearly 41,000 troops that are in Kosovo, and that, in fact, we are 
doing the Lord's work there. It is kind of interesting that, in the six 
or seven trips I have made to the region--the last one being a trip to 
Kosovo--after I came back I remember having discussions here on the 
floor, and I would hear about how down the morale was of the American 
forces and how circumspect they were about whether we should be 
involved.
  That is not what I found, whether it was at Camp McGovern in Bosnia 
several years ago or at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo last year. What I 
found was that these young women and men knew exactly why they were 
there. They knew why they were there. They did not have to be told. And 
they felt good about it. They knew they were doing the Lord's work. 
They understood. They understood there was a purpose and meaning for 
being there. All they had to do was ride through the streets and they 
understood it. It is interesting that the retention rate and 
reenlistment rate is higher for those who have been in Kosovo or Bosnia 
than for any other segment of the military.
  So I would argue that what is happening in Yugoslavia now is making a 
lie of some of the assertions that were taken for granted around this 
place by a majority of the people on the floor, as well as a majority 
of the press, as well as a majority of the people who are so-called 
pundits.
  This is the point I want to make.
  We should not now, at this moment, change policy. Slobodan Milosevic 
is a war criminal. We should not, as former Secretary Eagleburger--a 
man for whom I have great respect--said yesterday on television, 
accommodate his departure from Serbia by winking and nodding and 
essentially letting him off the hook on the War Crimes Tribunal. We 
should not do that.
  The newly elected President of Serbia, Vojislav Kostunica, is a lot 
of things that are good. But his record shows that he is also a fierce 
nationalist.
  We should lift sanctions, but only when Milosevic goes. But again, 
just a word of caution, we should not lift all sanctions until we are 
clear that the new leadership in Serbia, in Belgrade, will honor the 
Dayton accords and will not use force in Kosovo. This is no time to 
relent. None--none--of us should relent now.
  We have been right so far. A steady course, firm hand, U.S. power, 
U.S. leadership, and U.S. resolve have brought us this far. Without it, 
none of what has happened would be, in fact, what the history books 
will write about 2, 5, 10, and 20 years from now. History will record 
that what we did was the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, 
and, even more importantly, in a Machiavellian sense, right for the 
national interests of the United States, and essential for any prospect 
of long-term peace and security in Europe.
  I said a week ago that Milosevic could not be sustained, no matter 
what he did from this point on. The tides of history have moved. We saw 
it some years ago in Bulgaria. We saw it in Romania. We saw it occur 
again in Croatia. We saw it again in Bosnia. And we now see it in 
Serbia. For the first time in modern European history, there is a 
prospect--a serious prospect--that the Balkans will be integrated into 
Europe as a whole.
  I can think of no more significant foreign policy initiative that 
this Government has taken since the Berlin Wall came down that has been 
so clearly vindicated--so clearly vindicated. So now is not the time to 
take an easy road out. Lift sanctions partially, make it clear to the 
Serbian people that we love them--our fight was never with them; they 
are a noble people--but I think we should have a steady hand. We are 
prevailing. The West is prevailing. Yugoslavia, in particular--most 
people refer to it as Serbia--is about to come into the light of day. 
We must not now send the wrong signal and let people in Serbia conclude 
that there is not a price to pay for those who violate, in a massive 
way, the human rights of their fellow citizens and that we expect the 
new government to behave in a way consistent with international norms.
  I thank the Chair and I yield the floor.

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