April 21, 1999
Web posted at: 3:18 p.m. EDT (1918 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 21) -- With Congress preparing to approve billions of dollars to fund the U.S. portion of NATO's military strikes in Yugoslavia, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told the House International Relations Committee Wednesday the Clinton Administration will not accept "some kind of half-baked deal" to end the conflict.

"This struggle may be long. We can expect days of tragedy for us as well as for the people of the region," Albright said." But we must not falter and we cannot fail."

She also warned of the "serious consequences" if the Serbs widen the Balkans conflict into pro-Western Montenegro.

"On Montenegro, we are very concerned about what is going on there and have been in very close ... with President (Milo) Djukanovic, who seeks to maintain a degree of self-government there," Albright said. ""We have warned ... that incursions into Montenegro would have serious consequences."

The Yugoslav army and Serb special police have been fighting in northwest Kosovo, near the border with Serbia's sister republic of Montenegro and reports say Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's forces are trying to evict from many ethnic Kosovar-Albanian refugees from Montenegro.

Other reports suggest Montenegro rebuffed demands that the republic's police force be placed under Belgrade's control. Serbia and Montenegro comprise Yugoslavia.

Albright also faced tough questioning from committee members critical of the administration's policy.

"Our policies to date are clearly not working," Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa) told Albright.

But the secretary told the committee the Clinton Administration is against the Congress passing a formal declaration of war, saying they don't view the U.S. as being "at war" with Yugoslavia.

She also said NATO intends to launch a concerted effort to "pierce the veil of propaganda with which Milosevic has tried to shroud the people of former Yugoslavia," saying that most of the Serbs want a peaceful Democracy.

"The evidence is there in the testimony of average people...that they are far more interested in plugging into the wold economy than in slugging it out with former adversaries," Albright said.

Albright admitted to the committee that NATO is still undecided on how to stop oil from flowing into Yugoslavia by sea. "We have not yet come to a decision on how to do that," Albright said. The U.S. has proposed that ships be boarded and searched in the Adriatic.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Wednesday, April 21, 1999

• Bauer officially jumps into 2000 race
• House members want Europeans to chip in for costs of Yugoslav strikes
• Albright to Congress: "We cannot fail' in Kosovo
• School shooting sparks gun control debate
• Janet Reno to visit scene of Colorado school shooting
• Presidential hopefuls react to school shooting
• Starr promotes three staff members
• Deficit rises in March; increased tax refunds, military spending cited
• Education flexibility bill passed
• GOP lawmakers want more college aid
• Democrats unveil Medicare drug plan
• GOP proposes Social Security surplus restrictions
• First lady discusses Middle East
• Government details children's online privacy
• IRS oversight board still not named
• House panel approves bill requiring reports on costs of federal rules
• New kids' health program enrolls nearly 1 million

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