Date: 1999-04-28
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I opposed the President when he pushed NATO to attack the sovereign Nation of Yugoslavia. and I oppose the deployment of ground troops in that region. The ktrocities that Slobodan Milosevic has committed are heinous. but the Presidents decision to use military force was hastily decided and has been poorly implemented. This war brings back strong and painful memories of another war. Vietnam. in which I was called to fight in and where I spent nearly 7 years as a prisoner of war. We might have succeeded in Vietnam except that what we did there we are doing here. we are allowing the politicians instead of the. seasoned military officers to fight the war. The President has never established a defined military objective. No one can tell us why we are there. what are we fighting for. and what is our end objective. Simply put. there is no defined mission. We must end this devastation. It is up to this Congress to save lives. not take them. Mr. Speaker. I opposed the President when he pushed NATO to attack the sovereign nation of Yugoslavia.-I also oppose the deployment of any U.S. ground troops in this region. The atrocities that Slobodan Milosevic has committed are heinous. But the Presidents decision to use military force was hastily decided and has been poorly implemented. This war brings back strong and painful memories of another warVietnam. which I was called to fight in and where I spent nearly 7 years of my life as a prisoner of war. There was a reason for fighting in Vietnam. It was to prevent the spread of communism. We might have succeeded. except that we did there. what we are doing here. We are allowing politicians instead of seasoned military officers. to fight the war. The President has never established a defined military objective in Kosovo. No one can tell us why we are there. what we are fighting for. and what our end objective is. Simply put. there is no defined mission. We must end this devastation and save lives. not take them. When waging war. the President should ask several questionsare you willing to win at any cost? Is this in Americas best interest? Is there a goal. and is there a plan to achieve that goal? To all of these questions. the answer is a resounding no. And what about NATO? We have seen over and over again. the President and his aides scrambling to defend NATO and NATOs credibility. What about our fighting men and women. who will be the ones to give their lives? Are their lives worth the credibility of NATO? When I was flying bombing missions over North Vietnam. the politicians were picking my targets. Twentyfive years later. here we go again. were in the same situation. When our allied commander must submit every target to 18 other countries for permission to bomb. the only result is chaos. And what will we say if American soldiers start coming home in flagdraped coffins? I have listened to the reasons the President. his administration. and Members of both houses of Congress have given for supporting this war. But I keep asking the same question. Is this war worth the death of one single U.S. soldier? The answer keeps coming up no. Let me tell you something. as an Air Force veteran. I can tell you that air power alone cannot win a war. And history confirms it. Our pilots face many difficulties in the former Yogoslaviadifficult terrain. constant bad weather. and a quickly disappearing arsenal of our own.weapons. Furthermore. we are pulling ships and planes from other spots around the globe to fight this war. We are even stripping our aircraft for spare parts to keep our combat planes in the air. And. today. the President called up 33.000 reservists to help meet our current shortfalls. War is a serious undertaking. It should not be used for political reasonsever. War is a last resort and should only be used to protect America. her citizens and our vital interests. Despite the humanitarian atrocities in Kosovo. the loss of even one life for a cause that has yet to be articulated or defined for the people of the United States. is one too many. Everyone of you must ask yourselves this question--would you send your own son. or your own daughter to die to resolve a centuries old civil war between two peoples in a sovereign nation? Would you send them to die when you yourself could not answer the question "why"? The plight of the refugees is tragic and America should help them. We are a country that can provide relief and direction. ease pain and suffering. We should provide help to end the refugee .risis. I fought in a war where politicians were afraid to win because of the political fallout. That fear caused me to spend nearly 7 years of my life in a prisoner of war camp. I would fight again tomorrow for Americas vital interests. but the answer in Kosovo is not to waste American lives. The answer isstop the bombing and provide relief to the refugees. Please think about your vote today. You know. there is a wall among the trees near the Uncoln Memorial that is engraved with the names of brave soldiers. Many. of whom. were my friends. Families go there to grieve and remember their fathers. their mothers. their sons and daughters. sisters and brothers. Stop the bombing today. America does not need another wall.