Jim Ryun: “the United States Armed Forces are being stretched too thin. They have been asked to take on peacekeeping missions in…”

“the United States Armed Forces are being stretched too thin. They have been asked to take on peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and now possibly Kosovo. President Clinton told Congress and the Nation that the United States deployment to Bosnia in 1995 would be over in 1 year. However, the mission in Bosnia has continued for 4 years with no strategic exit plan in sight and, at a cost to the United States at $10 billion, not only are their peacekeeping missions costly, but they are degrading to the overall readiness of our fighting forces. Mr. Chairman, 2,200 troops from the 24th Marine expeditionary unit currently stationed aboard the Navy ships in the Mediterranean will be part of the initial force moving into Kosovo as soon as an agreement is reached between ethnic Albanians and the Serbian government. However that unit is headed into its final month of a 6-month deployment and scheduled to be home in North Carolina by May 1. To be home by that time the unit will have to leave Kosovo no later than mid April. Mr. Chairman, that leaves the administration with limited options, the most prominent one being extending the length of the unit's deployment. How long will this unit be there? How much longer will they be away from their families and beyond their expected 6-month deployment?”