THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 2, 1994 TAG: 9407020582
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
President Clinton ducked an embarrassing congressional rebuke over his handling of foreign policy on Friday as the Senate endorsed the continued arms embargo against Bosnia by the smallest of margins.
By a 50-50 roll call, senators rejected a proposal by Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., that would have ordered Clinton to immediately abandon the United Nations arms ban.
Moments earlier, lawmakers voted 52-48 to back continuing the U.N. sanctions, for now. But the measure included a proviso: It urged Clinton to join with U.S. allies to consider lifting the embargo if the Serbs attack Bosnian safe areas or don't negotiate for peace.
The Clinton administration declared victory, as Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers welcomed the vote as ``a confirmation of the president's Bosnia policy.''
But Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn, D-Ga., who sponsored the successful provision with Sen. John Warner, R-Va., was less upbeat.
``The Senate is frustrated and does not agree by a very large majority with the arms embargo,'' Nunn said afterward. ``The overwhelming sentiment is to have an approach that will end up lifting the arms embargo.''
Dole credited heavy White House lobbying for his defeat and said, ``With all that pressure we still got 50 votes. We'll try it again.''
The Senate's vote on Bosnia may have spared Clinton a veto fight with Congress because three weeks ago, the House voted 244-178 to require him to abandon the embargo.
Vice President Al Gore presided over the Senate as it voted Friday in case his vote was needed to break a tie. In a fight over the issue in May, a divided Senate narrowly approved both measures, leaving the chamber's stance unclear.
On Friday, 44 Democrats and eight Republicans voted for the Nunn measure supporting Clinton's continuation of U.N. sanctions; 12 Democrats and 36 Republicans were against it.
Thirteen Democrats and 37 Republicans supported Dole's attempt to force Clinton to abandon the embargo; 43 Democrats and 7 Republicans opposed him.
Sens. Charles S. Robb of Virginia and Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina were among three senators who voted Friday for both Nunn's and Dole's proposals. ILLUSTRATION: HOW THEY VOTED
On this vote, on Sen. Bob Dole's measure to immediately end the
U.N. arms embargo against Bosnia, a ``yes'' vote was a vote to lift
the embargo, and a ``no'' vote was a vote to continue it.
John W. Warner, R-Va.No
Charles S. Robb, D-Va.Yes
Jesse A. Helms, R-N.C.Yes
Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C.Yes
by CNB