THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 6, 1995 TAG: 9512060421
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
With the Senate preparing for debate next week on a resolution giving qualified support to deployment of U.S. troops in Bosnia, lawmakers representing Hampton Roads appear as deeply torn as their constituents.
Only one member of the delegation, U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb, has spoken with anything close to enthusiasm for the deployment. In a statement issued last week, he argued that American involvement on the ground is vital to preserving the nation's position of world leadership and is ``essential to implementing the accord reached in Dayton.''
``If we choose not to participate - having gone this far - there simply will be no peace,'' Robb said. ``War in the Balkans would likely continue, if not get worse, and the stability of Europe could be jeopardized.''
But other senators and representatives, Democrats and Republicans alike, appear far less convinced of the wisdom of the Clinton administration's plan. Statements by several suggest they may end up giving grudging support to the deployment, if only because a negative vote might be seen as undercutting troops already on the ground.
The Senate was scheduled to take up debate on a resolution of support today. But Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., were unable to complete a draft version of a Senate resolution backing the deployment, and Dole put off a vote until next week.
Dole and McCain were scrambling to find language that a majority of Republicans could accept. The problem, Dole said, is how to find ``if there's some way we can arm and train the Bosnians, we can remove our troops, hopefully within a year.''
John W. Warner, Robb's Senate colleague, has been the Virginian most critical of the administration's plan. He suggested last week that the president consider alternatives to the commitment of ground troops, including greater use of American naval and air power to support the forces of other NATO countries in Bosnia.
Warner, a Republican who is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has made several trips to the former Yugoslavia during the civil war there. After his most recent trip, in August, he spoke of being struck by the continuing intense hatred between the region's warring factions despite the damage the long war has done to their countries.
Among House members representing the area, U.S. Reps. Norman Sisisky and Robert C. Scott seem most favorably disposed toward U.S. involvement in Bosnia. A Petersburg Democrat whose district includes parts of Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk, Sisisky has not taken a formal position but has said repeatedly in recent weeks that he's inclined to support Clinton's plan.
Scott, a Newport News Democrat who represents parts of Norfolk, Portsmouth and the Peninsula, on Tuesday issued a statement saying that ``because the risks of supporting the peace plan outweigh the risks involved in not supporting it, I will join the bi-partisan Congressional leadership in supporting U.S. participation.''
Scott warned that a failure by the United States to put troops on the ground will suggest that ``the U.S. has turned its back on the very peace settlement that we pushed the warring factions to negotiate.''
Rep. Owen B. Pickett, D-Virginia Beach, also seems likely to back Clinton, though in a statement issued Monday he carefully avoided making a commitment.
Pickett said that ``failure to move forward with (deployment) would, at the very least, make the U.S. an undependable ally'' in NATO. At the worst, it could ``lead to (the alliance's) complete demise,'' he warned.
But Pickett said he'll reserve a final decision pending signing of the peace agreement later this month, the receipt of assurances by all the warring factions that they'll honor the deal and his receipt of more details on the conditions under which U.S. forces will enter and leave Bosnia.
The area's lone Republican House member, Rep. Herbert H. Bateman of Newport News, also has avoided making a commitment. Bateman, who heads a House subcommittee on military readiness, joined other GOP congressmen in November in supporting a non-binding resolution urging the administration to obtain congressional approval before sending ground troops to Bosnia.
But Bateman bucked his party leadership later by voting against a Republican-authored resolution to block any expenditure of tax money in support of a deployment. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
KEYWORDS: OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR BOSNIA U.S. MILITARY by CNB