David Price: “at least 2,000 people have been killed and 400,000 have been displaced over this past year by Slobodan Milosevic's…”

“at least 2,000 people have been killed and 400,000 have been displaced over this past year by Slobodan Milosevic's genocidal campaign of violence and human rights abuses against the 2 million ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. The peace process now underway represents our best hope for ending this bloodshed. We do not know if this peace process will succeed, but we do know that NATO is the best and most credible peacekeeping force, and we know that U.S. participation may be critical to the viability of NATO operations. A vote at this point against authorizing the deployment of troops will embolden Milosevic, disrupt the peace process, and call into question our commitment to NATO. It used to be said, Mr. Chairman, that politics stopped at the water's edge. It used to be that if a President said, as this President has, that a divisive vote of this sort would undermine delicate negotiations and would harm national security, that that vote would be deferred. This raw display of partisanship, this calculated attempt to undermine the President, and this reckless disregard for the consequences of our action are unworthy of this body and should be rejected. This resolution should not be on the floor in the first place, and bringing it up is an irresponsible act. But since it is before us and since the delicate peace negotiations are at risk, the only responsible vote is yes.”