II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2036

To condition the use of appropriated funds for the purpose of an orderly

and honorable reduction of U.S. ground forces from the Republic of

Bosnia and Herzegovina.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 6, 1998

Mr. BYRD (for himself and Mrs. HUTCHISON) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To condition the use of appropriated funds for the purpose

of an orderly and honorable reduction of U.S. ground

forces from the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bosnia Force Realign5 ment Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 (a) The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) United States Armed Forces in the Repub9 lic of Bosnia and Herzegovina have accomplished the
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1 military mission assigned to them as a component of

2 the Implementation and Stabilization Forces.

3 (2) The continuing and open-ended commitment

4 of U.S. ground forces in the Republic of Bosnia and

5 Herzegovina is subject to the oversight authority of

6 the Congress.

7 (3) Congress may limit the use of appropriated

8 funds to create the conditions for an orderly and

9 honorable withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Re10 public of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

11 (4) On November 27, 1995, the President af12 firmed that United States participation in the multi13 national military Implementation Force in the Re14 public of Bosnia and Herzegovina would terminate

15 in about one year.

16 (5) The President declared the expiration date

17 of the mandate for the Implementation Force to be

18 December 20, 1996.

19 (6) The Secretary of Defense and the Chairman

20 of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed confidence

21 that the Implementation Force would complete its

22 mission in about one year.

23 (7) The Secretary of Defense and the Chairman

24 of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed the critical im25 portance of establishing a firm deadline, in the ab-
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1 sence of which there is a potential for expansion of

2 the mission of U.S. forces.

3 (8) On October 3, 1996, the Chairman of the

4 Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the intention of the

5 United States Administration to delay the removal

6 of United States Armed Forces personnel from the

7 Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina until March

8 1997.

9 (9) In November 1996 the President announced

10 his intention to further extend the deployment of

11 United States Armed Forces in the Republic of Bos12 nia and Herzegovina until June 1998.

13 (10) The President did not request authoriza14 tion by the Congress of a policy that would result in

15 the further deployment of United States Armed

16 Forces in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

17 until June 1998.

18 (11) Notwithstanding the passage of two pre19 viously established deadlines, the reaffirmation of

20 those deadlines by senior national security officials,

21 and the endorsement by those same national security

22 officials of the importance of having a deadline as a

23 hedge against an expanded mission, the President

24 announced on December 17, 1997 that establishing

25 a deadline had been a mistake and that U.S. ground
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1 combat forces were committed to the NATO-led mis2 sion in Bosnia for the indefinite future.

3 (12) NATO military forces have increased their

4 participation in law enforcement, particularly police

5 activities.

6 (13) U.S. Commanders of NATO have stated

7 on several occasions that, in accordance with the

8 Dayton Peace Accords, the principal responsibility

9 for such law enforcement and police activities lies

10 with the Bosnian parties themselves.

11 SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF FUNDS.

12 (a) Funds appropriated or otherwise made available

13 for the Department of Defense for any fiscal year may

14 not be obligated for the ground elements of the United

15 States Armed Forces in the Republic of Bosnia and

16 Herzegovina except as conditioned below.

17 (1) The President shall continue the ongoing

18 withdrawal of American forces from the NATO Sta19 bilization Force in the Republic of Bosnia and

20 Herzegovina such that U.S. ground forces in that

21 force or the planned multi-national successor force

22 shall not exceed:

23 (A) 6900, by June 30, 1998;

24 (B) 5000, by February 2, 1999;

25 (C) 3500, by June 30, 1999, and;
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1 (D) 2500, by February 2, 2000.

2 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The limitation in subsection (a)

3 shall not apply—

4 (1) to the extent necessary for U.S. ground

5 forces to protect themselves as the drawdowns out6 lined in sub-paragraph (a)(1) proceeds;

7 (2) to the extent necessary to support a limited

8 number of United States military personnel suffi9 cient only to protect United States diplomatic facili10 ties in existence on the date of the enactment of this

11 Act; or

12 (3) to the extent necessary to support non-com13 bat military personnel sufficient only to advise the

14 commanders North Atlantic Treaty Organization

15 peacekeeping operations in the Republic of Bosnia

16 and Herzegovina; and

17 (4) to U.S. ground forces that may be deployed

18 as part of NATO containment operations in regions

19 surrounding the Republic of Bosnia and

20 Herzegovina.

21 (c) CONSTRUCTION OF SECTION.—Nothing in this

22 section shall be deemed to restrict the authority of the

23 President under the Constitution to protect the lives of

24 United States citizens.
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1 (d) LIMITATION ON SUPPORT FOR LAW ENFORCE2 MENT ACTIVITIES IN BOSNIA.—None of the funds appro3 priated or otherwise made available to the Department of

4 Defense for any fiscal year may be obligated or expended

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act for the—

6 (1) conduct of, or direct support for, law en7 forcement and police activities in the Republic of

8 Bosnia and Herzegovina, except for the training of

9 law enforcement personnel or to prevent imminent

10 loss of life;

11 (2) conduct of, or support for, any activity in

12 the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina that may

13 have the effect of jeopardizing the primary mission

14 of the NATO-led force in preventing armed conflict

15 between the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

16 and the Republika Srpska (‘‘Bosnian Entities’’);

17 (3) transfer of refugees within the Republic of

18 Bosnia and Herzegovina that, in the opinion of the

19 commander of NATO Forces involved in such trans20 fer—

21 (A) has as one of its purposes the acquisi22 tion of control by a Bosnian Entity of territory

23 allocated to the other Bosnian Entity under the

24 Dayton Peace Agreement; or
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1 (B) may expose United States Armed

2 Forces to substantial risk to their personal

3 safety; and

4 (4) implementation of any decision to change

5 the legal status of any territory within the Republic

6 of Bosnia and Herzegovina unless expressly agreed

7 to by all signatories to the Dayton Peace Agreement.

8 SEC. 4. PRESIDENTIAL REPORT.

9 (a) Not later than December 1, 1998, the President

10 shall submit to Congress a report on the progress towards

11 meeting the drawdown limit established in section 2(a).

12 (b) The report under paragraph (a) shall include an

13 identification of the specific steps taken by the United

14 States Government to transfer the United States portion

15 of the peacekeeping mission in the Republic of Bosnia and

16 Herzegovina to European allied nations or organizations.

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