Thomas Daschle: “I was fortunate enough to travel with two colleagues who, in the past, have indicated a great deal of interest in Bosnia…”

“I was fortunate enough to travel with two colleagues who, in the past, have indicated a great deal of interest in Bosnia and other countries of the former Yugoslavia, the distinguished Senator from Nevada, Senator Reid, and the senior Senator from Utah, Senator Hatch. Our purpose was really threefold: First, to assess the progress of the Dayton accords; second, to examine, as carefully as we could, the role of the United States military and our Foreign Service personnel in the implementation of those accords; and third, to assess the longer term issues of democratization and privatization as they are developing in the former republics of Yugoslavia. It was with a great deal of sadness that we left on the very day that the Secretary of Commerce lost his life in a plane crash near Dubrovnik. He and I were supposed to have attended a reception the following evening in Zagreb, Croatia. I was extraordinarily saddened and disturbed by the early reports that we were given regarding his accident. There has been no one more dedicated to the causes of economic development in troubled countries than the Secretary of Commerce.”