
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 29, 1995                   TAG: 9511300008
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VA. LEGISLATORS WANT TO KNOW GOALS, PLAN

Western Virginia's congressional representatives expressed more skepticism Tuesday about President Clinton's plan to send troops to Bosnia, but they said they expected Congress to go along with the plan anyway.

"Eventually, the Congress will indicate some form of approval," said U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, "but perhaps with some conditions."

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, added that Congress simply may not do anything. "I think possibly the leadership may decide not to even bring the issue to the floor," he said. "The leadership may simply elect to let the deployment go forward. I think the president has sufficient authority under the constitution to deploy forces."

Warner, Boucher and Rep. L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County, all said Clinton's speech Monday night helped his case, but all added they still have many questions about just how the Bosnia operation would work.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, took the same position, while U.S. Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., had voiced support for the Bosnia mission.

"The president didn't use the word vital," Warner said on ABC's "Good Morning America," which his staff later distributed as his formal comments on the subject. "If he had said our interests are vital to our national security, then I think there would be a stronger case for putting at risk the lives of our service people."

Warner said he's "not at this moment ready to back the president," but didn't signal outright opposition, either.

Payne expressed concern that American forces would be subject to attack. ``In my view, such an operation is fraught with difficulty," he said. "As a former Army officer, I am concerned that American troops will be vulnerable to attack from one side or another, who will then try to blame the other side in order to gain political advantage. It will be difficult for our troops to identify 'an enemy.'''

Nevertheless, Payne said he would "keep an open mind" as he reviews the president's plan.

Boucher said Clinton "greatly aided his case" with an "impressive statement" but added that "we still do not have sufficient information to make a decision about deployment.

Warner also expressed concern that the deployment to Bosnia will reduce the military's ability to respond elsewhere around the globe.

by CNB