David Skaggs: “Yesterday we heard news of horrible massacres of ethnic Albanians by Serbian forces in Kosovo: women, children, the…”

“Yesterday we heard news of horrible massacres of ethnic Albanians by Serbian forces in Kosovo: women, children, the elderly all shot in cold blood. The same reports say that these massacres may now spur NATO to take military action. As terrible as these events are, I want to remind my colleagues that under our Constitution, Congress has the responsibility to decide whether America goes to war, even a limited war. It may well be that if this body voted on military action against Yugoslavia, we would support it overwhelmingly. But there is no doubt in my mind that attacks by U.S. forces, whether under NATO or not, against a sovereign nation, even if it is Milosevic's Yugoslavia, constitute an act of war. Actions NATO may decide to take with absolutely no congressional involvement could lead to an expensive, perhaps lengthy involvement which, most importantly, puts American lives at risk. There are legitimate policy questions Congress should ask about the kind of military involvement NATO is contemplating. Would air strikes do any good? Against what kind of targets? If air strikes do not make Milosevic stop, are we willing to send in ground forces in a shooting war into the mountains of Kosovo? We may be over the Vietnam syndrome, but that conflict, in which I served, should remind us of one critical lesson for any military involvement: that we should secure the Nation's understanding and support before major military action is taken.”