Thursday, March 25, 1999
House vote lends moral support
BY PAUL BARTON
Enquirer Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives voted near unanimous support for and “the greatest pride” in American troops in the Balkans, even as members expressed varied views Wednesday on NATO's strikes in Yugoslavia.
Rep. Rob Portman said he doubted that bombing in Kosovo would make Serbian leaders agree to a peaceful settlement of the ethnic conflict.
“I continue to be skeptical about the effectiveness of bombing in getting the (Serb leader Slobodan) Milosevic re gime to return to the peace table,” Mr. Portman, R-Terrace Park, said in a statement.
“I am also concerned that the Clinton administration has yet to articulate a clearly defined mission, a reasonable time frame for achieving our objectives and an unambiguous exit strategy for our armed forces.”
But he added, “Now that the airstrikes have begun, our men and women in uniform have my full and unequivocal support and I will keep them and their families in my thoughts and prayers throughout this deployment.”
U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas, a Democrat from Boone County, said the United States has to keep its commitment to NATO to make sure the fighting does not spread to other parts of Europe.
“Politics must stop at the water's edge,” Mr. Lucas said Tuesday. “Our sons and daughters should not be sent to far away countries unless they are fighting to preserve and protect the freedoms and rights we hold so dear.”
Jim Bunning, a Southgate Republican and former U.S. House member elected in November to the Senate, voted Tuesday against using airstrikes in the Balkan hotspot. The U.S.-led attacks began Wednesday.
Mr. Bunning said President Bill Clinton has not made a compelling case for sending the military into Kosovo.
“The president has failed to lay the predicate with the Congress or the American people for taking such an aggressive action as bombing or putting in troops,” Mr. Bunning said in a conference call to Kentucky reporters.
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House vote lends moral support
