John Spratt: “we should not be asked to vote on this ill-timed resolution, asked to sign a blank check for this deployment; and were…”

“we should not be asked to vote on this ill-timed resolution, asked to sign a blank check for this deployment; and were it not for the consequences, I would not vote for it, certainly not in the form it comes to us. But if at this critical point, we vote down this resolution, the winner will be Slobodan Milosevic. He will read our action as his warrant to act with impunity, to stonewall the peace negotiators and move with vicious aggression against Kosovo. The best we can make of the choices before us is to vote for the Gejdenson-Turner Amendment, and make this resolution turn on the achievement of a genuine peace agreement. I would gladly vote for more conditions, for conditions like those proposed by Mr. Cox and Mr. Nethercutt in the amendments they filed in the record. At the very least, before we send ground troops, we should know: are they peace-keepers or peace-makers? The words sound similar, but the missions differ dramatically. I am opposed to sending ground troops to be peace-makers. But if a durable agreement is reached, I can support, reluctantly, the deployment of our troops as peace-keepers. I say 'reluctantly' because if there were a reasonable division of labor between us and our European allies, they would take on this mission. We have at least made the minor precedent of committing only 4,000 troops out of a force of 28,000. Like everyone in this House, I would prefer to send none.”