Wednesday, April 28, 1999
Last week was tragic for United States

By REPRRESENTATIVE MAC COLLINS
3rd District U.S. Congress

This has been a tragic week for our nation. Not only is the air strike against Serbia continuing in the Balkans, but within our own borders, a war was waged upon the students and families of Littleton, Colo.

I know the 3rd District joins me in prayer for our nation, those here on our soil, and those scattered to all corners of the world protecting our freedom. We pray for the people of Littleton, the students, those who were injured, and those whose lives were cut tragically short.

With regard to the situation in Kosovo, the 19 NATO nations have unofficially declared war against the Serbian government on behalf of the Albanian population of Kosovo. The Serbian response has been to retaliate by going after the KLA and the Albanian population with a vengeance for which NATO was unprepared.

One of two things must happen to bring resolution to this unofficial war. Milosevic can cease fighting, withdraw from Kosovo, allow a peacekeeping mission, permit refugees to return to their homes, and consider possible partitioning of Kosovo. Or, all 19 heads of state of the NATO alliance can listen to the advice of military officials and leave the war to the military to fight. I support a quick settlement with Milosevic, and an immediate end to the war.

The harsh reality of the difference between Milosevic and the NATO alliance is that Milosevic bases his decisions on astute military judgment, while NATO's decisions must be made by 19 heads of state each trying to be politically correct.

However, our nation is involved in a war that has greatly depleted our defense resources and has jeopardized campaigns in other regions of the world. We have no choice other than to replenish our resources.

In legislative news, the House and Senate passed the “Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999” (HR 800) Conference Report, and President Clinton is expected to sign it into law. “Ed-Flex” will give states authority to waive certain federal statutory and regulatory requirements in exchange for increased accountability. States can then use federal education funds to support locally designed, comprehensive school improvement efforts.

The best way to serve the education needs of Georgia's students is to eliminate intrusive, restrictive government regulations from the education equation. We must give schools and communities the flexibility to make decisions that are in the best interests of their students.

Georgia groups visiting Washington this week included representatives from Georgia Extension Agents, Georgia Beer Wholesalers, the Georgia Building Trade Council and the Georgia Council of Life Insurance.

As always, I encourage you to visit our web site “http://www.house.gov/maccollins” as a source of information about Congress and Georgia's 3rd District.


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