Mark Souder: “I wanted to reinforce some of the points that my friend, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn), made but add that it…”

“I wanted to reinforce some of the points that my friend, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn), made but add that it was not just the road damage. They will have 580 to $600 million estimated in trade damage and other costs. They have 50 to 60,000 refugees still there. Macedonia was in a terrible situation. Because, unlike the other Orthodox neighbors, they sided with the United States and they let us use their roads and let us use their facilities and have paid a terrible price in trade. And having the refugees there and having our armed forces go through, they have tried to sustain their balanced government, but it is under direct challenge. Because it has been a destabilizing force, now their borders are at risk. It was never a completely clear border between the different countries there, anyway. I know that my colleagues are under tremendous financial pressure. Anybody watching these debates understands that. We all have the sneaking suspicion that there will be more money later. I hope my colleagues will strongly consider adding additional funds to a country that stood with us. Many of us did not favor that intervention. But when we went in, we needed to have the protection for American soldiers and the base with which to put them through. This country cooperated with us and paid a terrible price, and we need to do what we can to help them.”