Robert Byrd

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. He has the floor.

Mr. BYRD. Yes, I will.

Mr. BYRD. I don't think that I said that.

Mr. BYRD. Perhaps I didn't speak clearly. There are those who say that the Congress doesn't have authority to do this, Congress doesn't have authority to do that. If the Congress wanted to limit the troop levels in the war to 5,000 men, is the Senator telling me that Congress doesn't have the authority under the Constitution to say there will be 5,000 and no more in this theater or that?

Mr. BYRD. The Senator doesn't?

Mr. BYRD. Well----

Mr. BYRD. I don't, either. I don't think Congress would attempt to do that. But I think Congress has the power and has the authority to say there will be no more than 5,000.

Mr. BYRD. Total. Is that the troop level?

Mr. BYRD. No. The Senator heard me. The Senator was in here earlier and heard me say that the Hutchison-Byrd amendment did not do that, did not dictate troop levels.

Mr. BYRD. No. It states specifically that the President, the Commander in Chief, shall submit to the Congress the plan by February 2, 1999, which will bring the force levels of the United States in Bosnia down to a certain number which is more in keeping with the numbers that are provided by Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain. Is there anything unfair about that? We don't say it has to be 2,000, or 2,500, or anything like that.

Mr. BYRD. What is wrong with that? We are saying to the President, ``You tell us how you would get it down to something which, in the eyes of the American people, who are paying the taxes to keep our forces over there, would be a fair level in view of the fact that we have carried most of the burden thus far. We have helped stabilize the situation. Why isn't it fair?'' But let the President tell us how he would go about doing it and bring it down more in keeping with what the other leading countries of NATO are providing.

Mr. BYRD. Right.

Mr. BYRD. What is wrong with that?

Mr. BYRD. I thank the Senator. I ask unanimous consent that I be added as a cosponsor of the Brownback amendment.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I support the Senator and commend him on his fine statement. I support the recommendations of the Kassebaum Commission. I think it is the right recommendation. I wonder if the Senator would add my name as a cosponsor of his amendment.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the Senator referred earlier to certain benchmarks. What are we to understand with regard to the benchmarks, and what are they? The Senator put them in the Record. What are they?

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?

Mr. BYRD. The first reference to the Secretary's letter, would he read that again? He quoted the Secretary's letter.

Mr. BYRD. The first. I believe something came before that.

Mr. BYRD. At that point does the Secretary state what ``the mission'' is?

Mr. BYRD. May I further interrupt the Senator? Mr. President, will the Senator yield further?

Mr. BYRD. That is one of the problems we have had with the administration. They have a changing mission. At the beginning, the mission was one thing. Then it changed. Then it changed, and it continues to change. Now, the Secretary, in his letter, according to the quotation by Senator Levin, references ``the mission.'' Well, it is a moving target, that mission. That is one of the problems I have with this whole situation. I just wanted to make that point. I thank the Senator.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?

Mr. BYRD. I just wanted to say, Mr. President, I think the Senator has contributed an invaluable service in so questioning General Clark. I did interrupt the Senator. Please proceed.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?