Russ Feingold: “I once again rise in support of the bill to lift the U.N. arms embargo that continues to tie the hands of the sovereign…”

“I once again rise in support of the bill to lift the U.N. arms embargo that continues to tie the hands of the sovereign Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As my colleagues know, I have been steadfast in my call for this critical action since I came to this body 18 months ago. In March 1993, I introduced Senate Resolution 79 and joined a few other colleagues in warning that this arms embargo, imposed in 1991 upon a now defunct Yugoslavia, would legitimize a disparity in the military balance among the warring factions. Moreover, it would deny the most fundamental assistance to the Bosnian people who were, then as now, under a brutal siege by those calling for 'ethnic cleansing' in the name of a Greater Serbia. I urged then that the embargo be lifted in collaboration with our allies, but I have found the arguments to lift the embargo unilaterally are growing more and more compelling. I also believe that now that Bosnia and Croatia have agreed to join in a confederation that we should be debating lifting the embargo against the Republic of Croatia as well. Opponents of this bill say this is not the time to act unilaterally and risk the loss of allied support in future multilateral actions of interest to the United States. Well, I say this is the time to stop squandering our energies on the vagaries of hypothetical future actions.”