Speech #1020224994

But we also expressed. I think. there. and responded to what is a quandary both in the United States and in the community of civilized nations as to how. in the postcold war world. we will respond to ethnic and national conflicts of this kind. the worst kind. that we are seeing hereaggression approaching in some cases genocide against the Moslem population of Bosnia. The nations of the world agitate and -equivocate. complain. as they do understandably in Europe. about the flood of hundreds of thousands of refugees that are moving West and yet they are unwilling to take action to stop that flood by bringing the conflict to some kind of closure. This amendment responds in a way that is real and forceful to that dilemma. and attempts to ease the pain of the worst consequences of the worlds unpreparedness to deal with this kind of postcold war crisis. In fact we are being challenged by what is happening in Yugoslavia today to come to some conclusion about whether we are prepared to act where our interests in a specific strategic sense are limited but the moral outrage is absolutely unlimited and clear. whether in fact we are prepared to use our muscle where there is no oil involved. no other clear national strategic interest involved. but just the overpowering legal and moral principle that people are being slaughtered because of their religionin this case Moslemand whether we are prepared to act in that case.