Andrea Joy Campbell: “today I submit the Kosovo Reconstruction Fair Share Resolution of 1999. This resolution's goal is to express the sense…”

“today I submit the Kosovo Reconstruction Fair Share Resolution of 1999. This resolution's goal is to express the sense of the Senate that the United States should not end up paying more than its fair share of the Kosovo reconstruction effort. Specifically, the Kosovo Reconstruction Fair Share Resolution states that the United States' share of the costs of reconstructing Kosovo and the surrounding region following the conflict in the Balkans should not exceed the United States' portion of NATO's three ``Common Funds Burdensharing'' budgets. Our contributions to NATO come in two basic forms. The first and most significant portion by far comprises our direct deployment of troops and equipment. Over the years America has contributed the lion's share of the troops and equipment. America's disproportionally heavy burden has continued into the late 1990s as the War in Kosovo clearly demonstrated. The vast majority of the fighting needed to wage the war in Kosovo was done in large part by American air power. We should not have to also carry the burden in the Kosovo reconstruction effort. That's why the Kosovo Reconstruction Fair Share Resolution states that America's portion of the reconstruction costs should not exceed the portion we contribute to NATO's three Common Fund Accounts, which is smaller than our contributions of troops and equipment.”