Jim Baird: “For 3 years my family and I hosted a young Bosnian student. His name is Namik, and when he was 14 years old he was…”

“For 3 years my family and I hosted a young Bosnian student. His name is Namik, and when he was 14 years old he was running through his village when a Serbian mortar shell landed next to him and blew his left leg off just below the hip. For 3 years I worked with Namik, kept him in our home as my own son taught him to climb and to kayak so that he could have a normal life. But for 3 years I helped him deal with what it is like to be a young man who has lost a leg in a war that was not his fault. When we talk about this issue, Mr. Chairman, we are talking about human lives, we are talking about NATO, and we are talking about standing up to genocide and standing up to tyranny. Mr. Milosevic is a sociopath. He is bloodthirsty, he does not respect basic tenets of human dignity and morality. Mr. Milosevic has got to be stopped. I urge my colleagues for the sake of Namik, for the sake of the future of NATO, for the sake of the future of our country and for the sake of stability in Europe and peace internationally, please pass this resolution.”