-Caveat Lector-
"Facing the House today is debate on a provision that would place
restrictions on the use of U.S. funds for either <sic> a military or a
peacekeeping presence beyond September 30. Democrats and some Republicans
are trying to strike that provision from a $288.8 billion defense
authorization bill ..."
A bill, AT THIS MOMENT, giving "defense" almost a third of a trillion
dollars?!?!
"The House was also expected to take up a proposal by Rep. Tillie
Fowler, R-Fla., that would require the president to get express prior
approval from Congress before sending any forces to Kosovo."
(Now that the horses are out, let's debate putting a good lock on the
barn door.)
House Faces Votes on Kosovo
By TOM RAUM
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House is facing a series of votes on the future U.S.
presence in Kosovo, even as members of both parties applaud a new peace
accord that will allow American peacekeepers into the Serbian province.
Facing the House today is debate on a provision that would place restrictions
on the use of U.S. funds for either a military or a peacekeeping presence
beyond Sept. 30, the end of the present fiscal year.
Democrats and some Republicans are trying to strike that provision from a
$288.8 billion defense authorization bill, particularly in light of
Wednesday's agreement under which Serb forces are being withdrawn from
Kosovo.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., praised the peace agreement and the
U.S. forces in the Balkans.
``I hope the people of Yugoslavia see this as an opportunity to replace their
leadership, especially Mr. Milosevic,'' Hastert said in reference to the
Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic.
Congressional Republicans are pressing for a legislative demand that no U.S.
funds be used for rebuilding Serbia, outside of the province of Kosovo, as
long as Milosevic remains in power.
Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled House voted late Wednesday to end
another U.S. peacekeeping force - the one that has been in Haiti since March
1995. The House voted 227-198 to pull the permanent force out of the
Caribbean nation by the end of the year.
``Our troops have been fired on in Haiti. ... Things have gone sour in
Haiti,'' said Sen. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Intelligence
Committee and the sponsor of the amendment.
``It's not fair to leave our troops in Haiti in an open-ended deployment,''
agreed Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., chairman of the House International
Relations Committee.
Instead of a permanent force, the measure would allow ``periodic,
noncontinuous'' troop deployments there.
Opponents complained that the peacekeeping force in Haiti numbered fewer than
500 troops. ``Haiti does not have an army now because they agreed to get rid
of it,'' said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. ``Our troops are not in jeopardy.''
The House also rejected, as it has done in past years, a proposal to
liberalize the ban on abortions at military hospitals overseas. It turned
back, 225-203, a proposal to allow the procedures if the woman paid for it
with her own funds.
The House is expected to wrap up work on the defense bill today.
The provision in the bill to restrict Kosovo funds would ``pull defeat from
victory,'' said Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, senior Democrat on the House
Armed Services Committee.
The House broke into bipartisan applause when Skelton announced Wednesday
afternoon that a peace accord had been signed in Macedonia.
Specifically, the provision Skelton and other Democrats want to defeat would
prohibit U.S. funds from being used for either combat or peacekeeping
operations in any part of Yugoslavia beyond Sept. 30.
If the president wanted to continue such operations, however, he could cite
national security grounds and submit separate legislation to Congress.
Rep. Floyd Spence, R-S.C., chairman of the Armed Services panel, expressed
continued support for the provision - but agreed the peace agreement might
change some votes on it and other Kosovo-related measures.
The restriction was approved last month by Spence's committee. Skelton is
leading the effort to strike it from the bill, claiming it's an embarrassment
in light of the peace announcement.
The House was also expected to take up a proposal by Rep. Tillie Fowler,
R-Fla., that would require the president to get express prior approval from
Congress before sending any forces to Kosovo.
Meanwhile, the House voted 428-0 for a package of amendments from members of
a House committee that last month concluded China stole U.S. nuclear secrets
over a 20-year span.
The package beefs up counterintelligence programs at the Energy Department,
requires polygraph tests of employees at national laboratories, restricts lab
visits by foreigners and requires a barrage of new reports to Congress on
technology exports.
The bill is H.R. 1401
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