George Voinovich: “I rise today to oppose the McCain Resolution. First, I congratulate Reverend Jesse Jackson, Congressman Rod Blagojevich…”

“I rise today to oppose the McCain Resolution. First, I congratulate Reverend Jesse Jackson, Congressman Rod Blagojevich, Joan Brown Campbell and religious leaders for the release of our three servicemen. I am particularly proud that Joan Campbell, the Secretary General of the National Council of Churches and the mother of County Commissioner Jane Campbell, and Father Irinej Dobrijevic, a Serbian-American Priest from St. Sava Orthodox Cathedral in Cleveland, were major participants in the release. I pray that the letter from Jesse Jackson to President Clinton and other diplomatic moves this weekend with President Yeltsin of Russia will bring all parties to the table so we can end the bombing, death and destruction that is going on in Serbia and Kosovo. Mr. President, I am astonished at the negative reaction. In fact, Elizabeth Sullivan in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer pointed out that 'the alliance sneers at Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's latest offer, to accept a lightly armed U.N. peace force, refusing to treat it as the basis for further talks.' In my opinion, our State Department, President and NATO are allowing their egos to get in the way of their common sense and good judgment. It was this hubris--which is defined as 'excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance'--and their miscalculation of the importance of Kosovo to the Serbian people and Milosevic that got us into this mess.”