Sam Gejdenson: “I am frankly somewhat astounded by the debate today. One, Members may differ with the President's goals. Do not continue…”

“I am frankly somewhat astounded by the debate today. One, Members may differ with the President's goals. Do not continue to fabricate that there are no defined goals. The goals are simple: Stop Mr. Milosevic from murdering civilians. It is not much more complicated than that. We have just passed a proposal to pull the President's ability to engage ground forces. Half of the members on this side of the aisle in the last several weeks criticized the President for not leaving ground forces on the table. Now they are trying to put that in statute. Then we come here. This is not academic discussion. If we pass this proposal, Mr. Milosevic will see a bright green light to continue the work of his role models, Hitler and Stalin. We can dream about lots of other options. The option before us is whether NATO, all 19 countries, continue on this campaign, or we sit back and wring our hands about victims of crime. Mr. Milosevic knows his role models in history, Hitler and Stalin, did it bigger and better, but Mr. Milosevic has the same goal. He is not going to stop in Kosovo. I do not know if this military program works. I do not know what works. I know that while we risk our young every day, we have been incredibly blessed, lucky, and well-trained that we have no casualties. Do not pass this proposal. Do not send a message to a murderer that America will sit by as children are being murdered and people are chased from their homes. This is no place for academic discussions.”