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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1562

To prohibit the use of funds appropriated to the Department of Defense

from being used for the deployment of ground elements of the United

States Armed Forces in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia unless that

deployment is specifically authorized by law.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 1999

Mrs. FOWLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To prohibit the use of funds appropriated to the Department

of Defense from being used for the deployment of ground

elements of the United States Armed Forces in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia unless that deployment is

specifically authorized by law.

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 ‘‘Military Operations

5 in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Limitation Act of

6 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) Consideration is being given to the introduc4 tion of ground elements of the United States Armed

5 Forces into the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as

6 part of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization

7 (NATO) operation to halt Serbian military action in

8 the Serbian province of Kosovo.

9 (2) Such a deployment, if it were to occur,

10 would in all likelihood represent a commitment to

11 maintain United States ground forces in the Federal

12 Republic of Yugoslavia for an indeterminate period

13 and cost billions of dollars.

14 (3) The Secretary of Defense has previously op15 posed the deployment of United States ground forces

16 to Kosovo, a province of Serbia, as reflected in his

17 testimony before the Congress on October 6, 1998.

18 (4) The deployment of United States ground

19 forces to participate in the peacekeeping operation in

20 Bosnia, which has resulted in the expenditure of ap21 proximately $10,000,000,000 by United States tax22 payers to date, which has already been extended

23 past 2 previous withdrawal dates established by the

24 Administration, and which shows no sign of ending

25 in the near future, clearly argues that the costs and

26 duration of a deployment of United States ground
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1 forces to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to halt

2 the conflict and maintain the peace in the province

3 of Kosovo will be much heavier and much longer

4 than initially foreseen.

5 (5) The substantial drain on military readiness

6 of a deployment of United States ground forces to

7 the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia would be incon8 sistent with the need, recently acknowledged by the

9 Joint Chiefs of Staff, to reverse the trends which

10 have already severely compromised the ability of the

11 United States Armed Forces to carry out the Na12 tional Military Strategy of the United States.

13 (6) Military operations by the United States

14 Armed Forces against the military forces and infra15 structure of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia—

16 (A) have resulted in a significant depletion

17 of inventories of conventional air-launched

18 cruise missiles, Tomahawk Block III cruise mis19 siles, and other mission-essential armaments;

20 (B) have cost several hundred million dol21 lars and are projected by the Administration to

22 cost more than $5,000,000,000 by the end of

23 fiscal year 1999;
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1 (C) have left the western Pacific region

2 without a United States aircraft carrier pres3 ence; and

4 (D) have compromised the ability of the

5 United States to perform other critical national

6 security missions, including Operation Northern

7 Watch in the airspace over Iraq, due to a lack

8 of available assets.

9 (7) The Congress has already indicated its con10 siderable concern about the possible deployment of

11 United States ground forces to the region, as evi12 denced by section 8115 of the Department of De13 fense Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105–

14 262; 112 Stat. 2327), which sets forth among other

15 matters a requirement for the President to transmit

16 to the Congress a report detailing the anticipated

17 costs, funding sources, schedule and exit strategy for

18 any additional United States Armed Forces deployed

19 to Yugoslavia, Albania, or Macedonia.

20 (8) The President, in his reports to the Con21 gress in response to section 8115 of the Department

22 of Defense Appropriations Act, 1999, has indicated

23 that ‘‘it is not possible to determine how long NATO

24 operations will need to continue . . .’’ and that the

25 exit strategy for United States Armed Forces ‘‘will
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1 depend on the course of events, and in particular, on

2 Belgrade’s reaction to NATO operations.’’.

3 (9) The introduction of United States Armed

4 Forces into hostilities, or into situations where im5 minent involvement in hostilities may occur, clearly

6 indicates authorization by the Congress when such

7 action is not required for the defense of the United

8 States, its Armed Forces, or its nationals.

9 (10) United States national security interests in

10 Kosovo do not rise to a level that warrants the intro11 duction of United States ground forces in the Fed12 eral Republic of Yugoslavia for peacemaking or

13 peacekeeping purposes with respect to the conflict in

14 Kosovo.

15 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF DEPARTMENT OF DE16 FENSE FUNDS FOR DEPLOYMENT OF UNITED

17 STATES GROUND FORCES TO THE FEDERAL

18 REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA WITHOUT SPE19 CIFIC AUTHORIZATION BY LAW.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—None of the funds appropriated

21 or otherwise available to the Department of Defense may

22 be obligated or expended for the deployment of ground ele23 ments of the United States Armed Forces in the Federal

24 Republic of Yugoslavia unless such deployment is specifi-
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1 cally authorized by a law enacted after the enactment of

2 this Act.

3 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The prohibition in

4 subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to the authority

5 of the President under the Constitution to initiate mis6 sions specifically limited to rescuing United States mili7 tary personnel or citizens in the Federal Republic of Yugo8 slavia.

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