May 18, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6839

we should use it.’’ So, it is gratifying

to see two concerned Americans, with

different backgrounds and different political views, joining forces to put some

much-deserved public heat on one of

the giants of the entertainment industry.

Let us also be very clear that Government censorship is not the answer.

We have more to fear than to gain from

putting Washington in charge of our

culture.

But just as Time-Warner has the

right to produce and sell its harmful

wares, concerned Americans like Bill

Bennett and Dolores Tucker also have

the right to call upon the executives of

Time-Warner to think less about shortterm profit and more about the longterm good of their country.

So, I want to congratulate Dr. Bennett and Ms. Tucker for taking this

initiative. I know that Dr. Bennett

cites courage as one of the great virtues in his great ‘‘Book of Virtues’’ and

with this bold advertising campaign, he

has proven that courage and good citizenship are alive and well in America

today.

Mr. President, I will just say, maybe

as a suggestion, it would be well for the

Time-Warner executives and Bill Bennett and Ms. Tucker to sit down and

talk about this, try to work it out, try

to have a dialog. I hope that there will

be some meeting of the minds and some

agreement to start this discussion, to

start a dialog because, as I have indicated before, it is very important to

Americans, particularly America’s

children.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I was

NRA FUNDRAISING RHETORIC

fpleased to see the National Rifle Association apologize for some of the statements in their recent fundraising letter. The NRA has done the right thing.

They should not have used some of

that language in the first place. Alleged abuses of power by Federal law

enforcement authorities are a fair and

legitimate subject of debate—for Congress and for the American people. But

it is wrong to impugn the motives and

actions of the courageous men and

women who risk their lives every day

in enforcing our laws.

Mr. President, words do matter.

Statements do matter. Our debate

should recognize that fact. I ask that

the article from today’s Washington

Post on the NRA apology be printed in

the RECORD.

There being no objection, the article

was ordered to be printed in the

RECORD, as follows:

[From the Washington Post, May 18, 1995]

NRA EXECUTIVE ISSUES APOLOGY FOR LETTER

ATTACKING U.S. AGENTS

A National Rifle Association official apologized yesterday to law enforcement officials

and others offended by a recent fund-raising

letter describing some federal agents as

‘‘jack-booted thugs.’’

‘‘I really feel bad about the fact that the

words in that letter have been interpreted to

apply to all federal law enforcement officers,’’ NRA Executive Vice President Wayne

LaPierre said in a telephone interview from

Phoenix.

‘‘If anyone thought the intention was to

paint all federal law enforcement officials

with the same broad brush, I’m sorry, and I

apologize,’’ LaPierre said.

Lapierre’s apology comes after a week of

steadily mounting criticism of the NRA,

which began May 10 when former president

George Bush revealed that he had resigned

from the group in protest of the letter.

Lapierre said the letter was intended to

criticize only isolated actions, primarily involving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms.

But at least one section of the letter offer

a more general condemnation of federal law

enforcement efforts.

The letter, sent to the NRA’s 3.5 million

members in March over LaPierre’s signature,

said that ‘‘in Clinton’s administration, if you

have a badge, you have the government’s goahead to harass, intimidate, even murder

law-abiding citizens.’’

MORE SHELLS FALL ON

fSARAJEVO

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, on Monday

more than 1,000 shells fell on Sarajevo—5 people were killed and 25

wounded. Yesterday Bihac was being

shelled. Today a Sarajevo marketplace

was hit by a mortar shell. The response

to these attacks on U.N. designated

safe havens reflects the United Nation’s latest de facto policy: Blame the

Bosnian Government for trying to defend its people, and dispatch NATO

planes to buzz overhead. Meanwhile

contact group negotiators are desperately trying to sweeten a deal for

Serbian President Milosevic.

Let us face it, the protection of U.N.

safe havens has become a fraud. The

enforcement of weapons exclusion

zones has also become a fraud. The

United Nations is not fooling anyone

even with its blame both sides rhetoric.

According to news reports, the United Nations is considering mandate reduction for its forces in Bosnia. In my

view that has already happened, and

without a U.N. Security Council vote.

The General Accounting Office recently released a study on U.N. operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina prepared

at my request. In painstaking detail

the report explains how the United Nations is not doing the job it was tasked

to do in Bosnia.

The GAO report confirms what many

of us already knew: that the U.N. operation in the former Yugoslavia is ineffective, that UNPROFOR is not carrying out its mandates. It also indicates

that UNPROFOR has lost its credibility and has impeded NATO’s ability to

carry out air strikes in defense of U.N.

designated safe havens and U.N. forces,

facts that are very clear in light of

events over the last 2 days in Bosnia.

I would remind my colleagues that

even though there are no Americans

participating in UNPROFOR, the United States has been subsidizing this

failed endeavor for several years now,

to the tune of more than $1.1 billion in

direct support and $1.4 billion more in

indirect support.

It is high time that we review our

support for this flawed policy. The

facts are clear: This operation is a failure, an expensive failure. It seems to

me that increasingly UNPROFOR’s

real reason for being is to prevent a

change in policy, specifically to prevent the lifting of the arms embargo on

Bosnia.

Mr. President, I simply urge all of

my colleagues to read the GAO’s report. I believe that after reading it, one

would be hard pressed to argue that

this operation is worth Bosnia being

denied its fundamental right to self-defense.

I say, along with Senator LIEBERMAN

of Connecticut, it is our hope that we

will be able to vote on lifting the arms

embargo in the Senate some time in

June. It seems to me that everything is

falling apart and we are getting less

and less response from the United Nations. I must say I have no quarrel with

the U.N. Protection Forces, the men

and women there. They are certainly

exhibiting courage and bravery. But it

seems to me that the time has come for

a total review of our policy. I suggest

to the President of the United States

that he provide the leadership in this

review and that we do it as quickly as

possible.

I thank my colleagues and I yield the

floor.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I

want to comment on Senator DOLE’s

remarks on the floor of the Senate

today with reference to violence in the

United States in the mass media of

America and its role in terms of violence. I want to commend the Senator

for making the point. Those two American citizens, one Democrat and one

Republican, have no idea what a service they are doing for the people of this

country, if they can just get the media

to understand that they, too, have a responsibility. They have lots of freedom.

But where is all the violence coming

from? We are making excuses and talking about it all the time, as if Government is to blame and this is to blame.

The truth of the matter is people are

just seeing so much violence, and they

are outdoing each other to show us a

different and new way that is becoming

part of some of American citizens’

lives. They see it, and they do not have

regard for life.

Mr. DOLE. The children see it.

Mr. DOMENICI. Yes. Then you have

14-year-olds committing the acts they

have seen on television 50 times. Sooner or later—we cannot legislate in that

area. It is very difficult. Sooner or

later we have to come to our senses,

and I commend the Senator for his remarks.

Mr. DOLE. I thank the Senator.

FRESHMAN FOCUS ON THE

fBUDGET

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, our

freshman focus group continues today

and will continue on through the next

week.