Cliff Stearns: “I rise today out of great concern for the direction of our Nation's foreign policy, as President Clinton is on the brink…”

“I rise today out of great concern for the direction of our Nation's foreign policy, as President Clinton is on the brink of placing our Nation at war against the independent sovereign nation of Yugoslavia. Mr. Speaker, let us not be mistaken. If the President issues orders to begin an air assault against Yugoslavia, the United States would, in effect, be at war with this country. What will this war achieve? The President has yet to explain what our strategy is aimed to achieve. Will we bomb this country in order to force them to agree with a peace agreement that is not in effect? What I fear is that this President has yet to think through the implications of an air attack and to think through a long-term strategy regarding this situation in Kosovo. Do Members of this body know what the administration plans to do if an air attack against Yugoslavia fails to force the Serbians to agree to a vague peace treaty? Does the United States with NATO further escalate the bombing to attack fixed military targets around the Yugoslavian capital of Belgrade? Do we escalate our actions by placing ground troops in a hostile situation on the ground in Kosovo? Do we try to seal off a largely landlocked nation? Do we try to use military troops in the non-NATO nations of Romania and Bulgaria to enforce an embargo? Mr. President, what happens if the Serbs in Bosnia react against any bombing and start attacking U.S. and NATO forces there?”