Lawmakers Mull Kosovo Ground Troops By H. JOSEF HEBERT .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- The debate is growing over whether the Clinton administration can continue to foreclose the use of ground troops in Kosovo with the issue likely to dominate Congress when lawmakers return from their spring recess. Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday that President Clinton no longer should foreclose out of hand use of ground troops as a military option in Kosovo, but most emphasized that Congress should give its approval before troops actually are deployed. ``The diplomacy won't start until our president stops saying no ground troops,'' Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on ABC's ``This Week.'' ``To say no ground troops is a mistake'' Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the committee's top Democrat, agreed on CNN's ``Late Edition.'' Still, administration officials said there are no plans to send ground forces into Kosovo, although the Pentagon announced Sunday it is sending 24 Apache helicopter gunships to neighboring Albania for use against Serbian troops in Kosovo. About 2,000 U.S. soldiers also will be sent to Albania to support the helicopters. ``We do not believe an invasion force ... is in the national interest,'' Sandy Berger, the White House national security adviser, said on CBS' ``Face the Nation.'' But a growing number of lawmakers of both parties are arguing categorically ruling out ground troops only plays into the hands of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and keeps him from the negotiating table. By ruling out such an option ``you immediately convince Milosevic that we're not really serious, that we're not ready to stay the course,'' Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., said on ABC. ``We have to hold open the option of using ground forces,'' Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., concurred on CBS. He said the attitude in Congress on ground troops has changed with the air war showing no early sign of capitulation by Milosevic. ``Last week, there was no support for American or NATO ground forces. Next week, I think there may be because we understand more what's on the line here,'' Lieberman said. The House returns from its Easter recess Tuesday, while the Senate is away until next week. Both Democrats and Republicans said the use of ground troops should be debated in Congress and no troops should be committed in Kosovo without congressional approval. ``The Constitution requires Congress to make that decision,'' Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said on ``Fox News Sunday.'' But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a Vietnam War fighter pilot and POW, said it is time for Congress to ``become more engaged'' and debate a vote on the use of U.S. ground troops. ``We certainly have to make preparations for it,'' he told CBS. ``You never take any option off the table. ... It may well take ground forces to win,'' Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., agreed on NBC's ``Meet the Press.'' Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said if ground forces are needed Clinton must make the case clearly on Capitol Hill. ``If he does ... the Congress and the American people will follow,'' Shelby said on CBS. But other lawmakers rejected consideration of ground troops in Kosovo. The air war should be intensified, Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., told CNN, but he added he couldn't ``conceive of a situation where we ... ought to be using ground troops.'' Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said on NBC that if invading troops are needed, ``those countries that are our allies that have strategic interests, let them take over the ground war.''
