Speech #1020027690

I want to commend the Committee on Foreign Affairs for moving so promptly on a bipartisan basis. and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. The delegation which I had the privilege to lead at the Speakers request reached a number of conclusions. one of which was that President Bush made the right decision in authorizing American military forces to undertake this humanitarian effort. Not only are there an enormous number of refugees who seem to have been dropped on these rugged mountains. which are comparable to the Alps. but they gathered in a matter of days. overwhelming the capacity of neighboring governments and humanitarian relief agencies to respond. Only the U.S. military. with the help of some of our coalition partners. could have delivered the urgent humanitarian relief which is necessary. and even then doctors who have gone into these areas project that people are still dying on an average of between 400 and 1.000 a day. It is critically important not only to provide this relief. but to get these people off the mountains into the temporary camps in lowlying areas.