Russ Feingold: “I rise today as an original cosponsor of the Lieberman-Dole amendment which will, in effect, unilaterally lift the…”

“I rise today as an original cosponsor of the Lieberman-Dole amendment which will, in effect, unilaterally lift the pernicious arms embargo against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I do not have a great deal to add to the comments by my colleagues, but only to reiterate what I and others have said for over a year: The missing link in an integrated and effective international policy on Bosnia is allowing the Bosnians to exercise their right to self defense by lifting the U.N. arms embargo against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is an action I have advocated ever since I introduced Senate Resolution 79, a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate to do just that. We are discussing the embargo again today because of the imminent fall of yet another Bosnian city to Serbian aggressors. But while the debate today may be more impassioned, it is no different than before: this is an action we should have taken a long time ago. This is much more than just a feel-good measure taken by a group of Senators who want ease their consciences regarding Bosnia. Feeding starving people who are unarmed targets of aggression is a feel-good measure. Piecemeal air strikes, launched in the absence of a long-term, integrated strategy in Bosnia, is a feel-good measure. Rather, lifting the embargo is the most practical approach we can take in this conflict.”