In 1999, U.S. participation in the Kosovo bombing led to another showdown between some members of Congress and the President over the legality of the War Powers Act. In this case, the air strikes had extended passed the allowed 60 day period without explicit authority from both houses of Congress.
Kosovo War
On March 23, 1999 the Senate, but not the House authorized the President to "to conduct military air operations and missile strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)." The Senate resolution was sponsored by Senator Joe Biden to address the inter-ethnic tensions which were worsening in Kosovo under the Serbian president Slobodan Milošević. For many years, Milošević used intimidation and political maneuvering to drastically reduce Kosovo's special autonomous status within Serbia and oppressed it's ethnic Albanian population, resulting in widespread but non-violent civil disobedience. Overtime the Albanian population became restless and by 1996 an ethnic Albanian guerilla paramilitary group known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) had developed replacing the non-violence with military style attacks launched against the Yugoslav Army and Serbian police in Kosovo. For 14 months, the KLA rebels fought against the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in what is known as the Kosovo War. In June of 1998, as conflicts escalated, President Clinton declared a national emergency, citing the "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States" that the war imposed. In September of that year, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1199 demanding that all parties in Kosovo war cease hostilities. It was estimated, that some 250,000 Albanians had already been displaced, many without warm clothing or shelter as winter was approaching.Račak massacre
In October of 1999, under threat of air strikes from the North Atlantic Council of NATO, a ceasefire was signed, but within two months, fighting resumed. As the KLA increasingly turned to violence especially in urban areas, the Yugoslavian authorities responded by launching a crackdown on the KLA militants. On January 14, 1999, 45 Albanian farmers from Kosovo were rounded up and massacred. When foreign news correspondents reported on what they had found, Yugoslavia denied that the massacre took place. The incident known as the Račak massacre was immediately condemned by the United Nations and became the charges of the war crimes leveled against Milošević and his top officials.NATO Airstrikes
With no end in sight of the violence, NATO began a series of air strikes which lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10th 1999 code named Operation Allied Force. The bombings were an effort to degrade and damage the military and structure of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During the 78-day operation, more than 38,000 sorties were flown with no American casualties. One of the heroes of the operation was Captain John A. Cherrey, a recipients of the President's Silver Medal. Captain Cherrey was invited to attend President Bill Clinton's final State of the Union as an honored guest. He was introduced by the President as "one of the brave airmen who turned the tide "flew into the teeth of enemy air defenses to bring his fellow pilot home". Clinton credited the "skill and bravery" of our Armed forces for prevailing in Kosovo "without losing a single American in combat""When Slobodan Milosevic unleashed his terror on Kosovo, Captain John Cherrey was one of the brave airmen who turned the tide. And when another American plane was shot down over Serbia, he flew into the teeth of enemy air defenses to bring his fellow pilot home. Thanks to our Armed Forces' skill and bravery, we prevailed in Kosovo without losing a single American in combat. I want to introduce Captain Cherrey to you. We honor Captain Cherrey, and we promise you, Captain, we'll finish the job you began. Stand up so we can see you. [Applause]"
Were the Air Strikes Legal?
Captain John Cherry received a standing ovation, but not all members of Congress were as pleased with President Clinton. The debate over whether or not the U.S. should participate in the Kosovo air strikes was very heated. In fact, in a stinging rebuke to Clinton and an embarrassment to the House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-ILL) who backed Clinton, the house vote on the air and missile strikes failed in a a rare tie vote of 213-213. The Senate had already authorized the air strikes, but without Congressional authority, the air strikes could still be subject to the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Section 5 (c) of the War Powers resolution required the president to terminate any use of the Armed forces after a sixty day period unless the Congress had declared war or extended by specific law such sixty day period. Nevertheless, Clinton moved forward and authorized the participation of U.S. Armed forces in Operation Allied Force, and the stage was set for another showdown over the War Powers Resolution. Once the operation reached beyond the 60 day mark, 26 members of Congress led by Rep. Tom Campbell (R-CA) filed a law suit demanding that Clinton immediately seek congressional approval to continue U.S. involvement in the air strikes. Clinton did not, and the case went to the U.S. District court where a federal judge dismissed the case pointing out that Congress had sent seemingly contradictory messages by passing an emergency bill to help pay for the U.S. role in the air strikes, and by defeating a resolution calling upon President Clinton to remove troops from Kosovo. It was one of the first legal blows to the War Powers Act, arguing that Congress already had the power to express it's displeasure about a war by cutting off it's funds. If funds are not cut off, then it serves as an implicit approval overriding the War Powers Act.Aside from the implicit approval, the court found that the question was one of politics not justice because, the operation ended within 90 days. The War Powers act allowed for extensions up to thirty days if the President certified in writing that removal of forces would result in "unavoidable military necessity respecting the safety of United States Armed Forces".
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=58708
“S.Con.Res. 21 — 106th Congress: Kosovo resolution.” www.GovTrack.us. 1999. May 1, 2017 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/106/sconres21>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Resolution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_War
http://www.homeofheroes.com/valor/02_awards/silverstar/6_PostRVN/12_kosovo.html
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/warpower.asp
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/june99/dismiss09.htm
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/sep/04/peter-king/rep-peter-king-says-bill-clinton-continued-kosovo-/
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/16/137222043/why-the-war-powers-act-doesnt-work
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/F-117_Operation_Allied_Force.jpg/752px-F-117_Operation_Allied_Force.jpg
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