April 12, 1999 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE 6163 It was a great team. They made an game. , who many people, includ- of Defense from being used for the de- incredible effort on that day and ing this member, believe is the best defensive ployment of U.S. ground troops in through the whole season. What is player in college basketball, demonstrated Kosovo unless deployment is specifi- clear to all of us is that each and every over and over again why he has earned this cally approved by Congress and author- one of the players put their heart and title. He played opposite star guards through- ized by law. soul and every bit of effort in it, and I out the tournament and made crucial plays There are many reasons why Mem- congratulate each one of them. against Duke’s Trajan Langdon in the final bers of Congress should support the But I want to take a moment in par- seconds of the championship game which bill. Issues that need to be discussed in- ticular for and his entire sealed the victory for UCONN. clude the authority of Congress to de- coaching staff. Coach Calhoun, who is a filled the lane throughout the tournament and clare war, why this region is or is not great coach and a great human being, in the final game played a crucial role in con- vital to our national security interests, someone that is involved in the com- taining Elton Brand. And what more can be and whether the human and monetary munity to help good causes, has been said about the contributions of Richard Ham- cost of American involvement in this at UCONN since 1986 and has built an ilton and Khalid El-Amin? Hamilton, who was fight is worth risking American lives. incredibly impressive record. In 13 sea- named tournament MVP, scored an average The President has argued that for hu- sons his record is 304 wins, 120 losses. of 24 points in six tournament games capping manitarian reasons American interven- Coach Calhoun has taken UCONN bas- off the season with a 27 point performance in tion is necessary. Why is it more im- ketball from the backwaters to the the final game. El-Amin, the team’s floor lead- portant for us to be involved militarily front edge of competition, and he has er, directed the offense, motivated his team- in Yugoslavia, a country certainly of succeeded time and time again in the mates and made crucial shots down the no real national security threat to the Big East, in the championships, and fi- stretch in the victories against Ohio State and United States, when there are human nally this year in the NCAA. Duke. Others, including Edmund Saunders, rights violations occurring in China, a For all my constituents, those like Rashamel Jones and Souleymane Wane, nation that is perhaps our biggest secu- myself who are graduates of the Uni- played critical minutes in each game contrib- rity threat in the new world order? versity of Connecticut and every cit- uting to the team’s success. While we rightly condemn Yugoslav izen in our State, this was a truly ex- Coach Jim Calhoun and his assistants— President Milosevic for driving ethnic citing moment and one that we will , and — Albanians from Kosovo, we continue to revel in for some time. have done a masterful job. Over the past thir- maintain a strategic partnership, sell Congratulations, UCONN, the team, teen seasons, Coach Calhoun has built a pro- highly sensitive satellite information, the president and all the folks back at gram that has dominated the Big East, one of provide normal trade relationship sta- Storrs. the most competitive conferences in NCAA tus to China, a nation that has sup- Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the basketball, winning the regular season cham- pressed and displaced over 128,000 Ti- University of Connecticut men’s basketball pionship six times and the tournament cham- betans and commits some of the most team for winning the 1999 NCAA Division I pionship four times. After only two seasons at horrific human rights abuses in the National Championship over Duke University. UCONN, Coach Calhoun led the Huskies to world, including forced abortion, steri- UCONN’s 77–74 victory over the Blue Devils the 1988 National Invitation Tournament lization, execution, rape against its culminated years of hard work, dedication and championship. His teams have advanced to at own people. perseverance on the part of the players, least the round of sixteen in the NCAA tour- Who is our biggest national threat? A coaches and the entire University community. nament seven times this decade. Coach Cal- nation the size of the Commonwealth The residents of my state also deserve some houn can be very intense, but he is committed of Kentucky, with a population of 11 of the credit for being among the most loyal, to his players more than anything else. million and an active military of supportive fans in the nation. In Connecticut, UCONN basektball is the 114,000 and 400,000 reserves or a country The Huskies’ ‘‘road to the Final Four’’ has state past-time. Every game is sold out and the size of the United States, with a been long, but illustrious. UCONN has been in families across the state gather to watch every population of 1.2 billion and an active the NCAA tournament twenty times in school game on TV or listen on the radio. The military of 2.8 million with 1.2 million history. Its teams have played in seven Huskies have such phenomenal support be- in reserve under communist control ‘‘Sweet Sixteen’’ and four ‘‘Elite Eight’’ games cause the team has a special relationship, a with a nuclear and chemical arsenal in the 1990s alone. The path to this year’s dedication to one another which is infectious. that sells weapons technology to rogue Final Four appearance—the first in school his- This commitment produced an extraordinary nations at odds with the United tory—included victories over Texas-San Anto- season. States? nio, New Mexico, Iowa and Gonzaga. UCONN Mr. Speaker, as a UCONN graduate and Civil wars and human rights atroc- bested Ohio State to advance to the cham- the representative of Storrs, I am especially ities are occurring all over the world. pionship game. UCONN’s win over Duke pro- proud of the team’s accomplishment. The According to the 1998 world refugee duced the school’s first NCAA Division I men’s team achieved its objective due to the extraor- survey, there are over 3.5 million refu- basketball National Championship and marked dinary chemistry between its members, skilled gees and asylum seekers worldwide, in- the first time since 1947 that a school from coaching and incredible support from its fans. cluding 2.9 million in Africa, 5.7 mil- New England has won the title. Once again, congratulations on a great sea- lion in the Middle East, 2.2 million in It goes without saying that basketball is a son and enjoy the title—1999 National Cham- South Central and East Asia and the team sport. This UCONN team is the embodi- pion. Pacific. ment of that statement. Game in and game Let us get back to the question of out, this group of extraordinary young men f why Kosovo and not elsewhere is im- worked together as a unit to achieve their b 2000 portant. In Sudan alone there are 4 common goal. Every player made a contribu- million internally displaced persons tion which helped the team win the Big East U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN KOSOVO: and over 350,000 refugees. In just the regular season and tournament champion- WHY THIS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS? last decade over 1.9 million people in ships, advance through the tournament to the The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sudan have died due to war-related Final Four and, ultimately, win the 1999 Na- UPTON). Under a previous order of the causes and famine. In 1998, 2.6 million tional Championship. House, the gentleman from Pennsyl- Sudanese were at risk of starvation due During the tournament every player made vania (Mr. GOODLING) is recognized for to civil war, drought and government contributions that helped the team to move 5 minutes. restrictions on relief flights. Why are ever closer to its ultimate goal. Kevin Freeman Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I am not we bombing the Sudanese Govern- provided offensive spark throughout the tour- taking this opportunity to discuss one ment and sending in ground troops? nament especially in the game against Ohio of the primary reasons I introduced Afghanistan has over 2.6 million refu- State and helped to contain national player of legislation that will prohibit the use of gees and between 1 million and 1.5 mil- the year Elton Brand in the championship appropriated funds to the Department lion internally displaced persons.

VerDate jul 14 2003 09:19 Sep 29, 2004 Jkt 069102 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 0688 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR99\H12AP9.001 H12AP9 6164 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE April 12, 1999 Today the extremist Afghan Taliban IF NATO HAS ITS WAY, ALBANIAN greater war precipitated to preserve government discriminates and com- KOSOVARS WILL NOT REMAIN NATO’s credibility? Should the rule of pletely controls the life of half its pop- PART OF SERBIA law and morality be thrown out in an ulation. Women are forbidden to work The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a effort to preserve NATO’s credibility? outside the home and from attending previous order of the House, the gen- Can something be wrong and misguided school, may not ride in vehicles unless tleman from Texas (Mr. PAUL) is recog- before it is started and all of a sudden accompanied by a male relative and nized for 5 minutes. deserve to be blindly supported? are denied health care in many parts of Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, the U.S.- This reasoning makes no sense. the country. They have left over 2 mil- NATO war against Serbia is illegal by No one has quite figured out the se- lion dead and 700,000 widows and or- all standards. Congress has not de- cret motivation of why this war must phans. Why are not we bombing Af- clared war. Therefore, the President be fought, but I found it interesting that evidence of our weapons shortage ghanistan and sending in ground has no authority to wage war. Attack- is broadcast to the world and to the troops? ing a sovereign nation violates long- standing international law as well as Serbs. Surely one result of the war will What about Angola, Colombia and Si- the NATO and U.N. charters. be a rapid rush by Congress this year to erra Leone? And the list goes on and on NATO’s aggression is immoral as massively increase the military budg- and on. well. It forces U.S. citizens and others et. But a serious discussion of our Clearly, we must have a better for- in Europe opposed to the war to pay for flawed foreign policy of intervention eign policy strategy than this. It is it, and some are even forced to fight in that has served us so poorly unfortu- quite obvious that the administration it against their will. If the war ex- nately will not occur. does not have a well-thought-out pol- pands, we can expect the return of the Political leaders and pundits are icy regarding Kosovo. Through NATO, draft to make sure there are enough struggling to define an exit strategy the administration seems to be running soldiers to participate. for the war. In the old days when wars this war day to day without any mas- As ugly as the Yugoslavian civil war were properly declared for national se- ter plan or exit strategy. may be in Kosovo, and as heart curity reasons, no one needed to ask wrenching as the pictures of mass refu- such a question. A moral war fought Despite efforts to keep our troops gees fleeing their homeland is, one evil against an aggressor for national secu- away from the Kosovo border, we now can never justify another. If one is dis- rity reasons was over when it was won. have three American POWs. To make inclined to be persuaded by law and It has only been since Congress has matters worse, we are now hearing that morality and responds only to emo- reneged on its responsibility with re- the administration went against the tions, propaganda and half-truths, then gards to war power that it has become advice of top Pentagon officials who one must consider the practical failure necessary to discuss how we exit a war determined early that we should not of compulsive intervention in the af- not legitimately entered into and with- even be engaged in a bombing cam- fairs of other nations. out victory as a goal. paign in Yugoslavia. Prior to NATO’s expanding the war The political wars, fought without It is unrealistic to believe that we in Yugoslavia, approximately 2,000 declaration, starting with the Korean can intervene for a few months, a year deaths in the past year were recorded War to the present, have not enhanced or 3 years and settle this conflict that in Kosovo. As a consequence of NATO’s the long-term security and liberty of has raged for centuries. actions, the killing has now escalated the American people. Institutional- and no one can hardly be pleased just izing a collective approach to war Four years ago, or 5, when the Sec- because now Serbs, our once-valiant al- seems a result of the obsession to save retary of State, Secretary of Defense lies against the Nazis, are dying. Those face for NATO. Never before in our his- and the Joint Chiefs came before the who are motivated by good intentions tory have we Americans accepted so Foreign Affairs Committee on which I while ignoring facts cannot be excused casually the turning over of a military served, I asked the question, you say for the escalating and dangerous crisis operation to foreign control with non- you are going into Bosnia for a year? I in Yugoslavia. American spokesmen briefing us each know that you know the history and The humanitarian concerns for Alba- day. know that it all began in the 4th cen- nian refugees is justified, but going to This is a major step in further solidi- tury with the fall of the Roman Empire war because of emotional concerns fying the world government approach and was exacerbated in the 10th cen- while ignoring other millions of refu- to all political problems. There is, how- tury with the rise of the Ottoman Em- gees around the world only stirs the ever, one major contradiction to the pire. What are you going to do in 1 passions of the oppressed, whether they internationalist desire to assimilate all year’s time that they could not do in are Kurds, Palestinians, Tibetans, East countries and ethnic groups and have all of these centuries? Timorans or Rwandans. them governed by a single world gov- When NATO talks of returning Alba- ernment. Of course, the answer is nothing. nians to their homes in Kosovo, I won- Quite ironically, ethnic diversity will Four years, $7 billion, 19,000 troops der why there is no reference or con- surely be the casualty of all of this later, we are still there with the cur- cern for the more than 50,000 Serbs mischief. NATO and the U.S. are co- rent ground force of 6,200. thrown out of their homes in Bosnia, conspirators and military allies of a I asked the same question when they Slovenia and Croatia. Current NATO Serbian province that is seeking to be- went into Haiti, asking what is it you policy in Yugoslavia will surely en- come a separate ethnic country. Let are going to do in a year that we did courage more ethnic minorities around there be no doubt, if NATO has its way, not do the ten times we went in before the world to revolt and demand inde- Albanian Kosovars will not remain the last time, staying for 15 years? Of pendence. part of Serbia. course, the answer is, we did not do Some in Congress are now saying The US-NATO War against Serbia is illegal anything, other than to spend a billion that although they were strongly op- by all standards. Congress has not declared dollars and send 20,000 troops. We are posed to the administration’s policy of war; therefore the President has no authority still there. bombing in Yugoslavia prior to its to wage war. Attacking a sovereign nation vio- onset, conditions are now different and lates longstanding international law, as well as There are those who would like to an all-out effort to win with ground the NATO and UN Charters. say that this is some comparison with troops, if necessary, must be under- NATO’s aggression is immoral as well. It Hitler. That is mixing oranges and ap- taken. This, it is said, is required to forces US citizens and others in Europe, op- ples. preserve NATO’s credibility. posed to the war, to pay for it and some are Madam Speaker, I will continue this Who cares about NATO’s credibility? even forced to fight in it against their will. If tomorrow evening. Are American lives to be lost and a the war expands we can expect the return of

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