Senate to Vote on Troop Deployment to Bosnia : Congress: Lawmakers will decide on three proposals. White House continues to push for show of support.

The Senate will give itself a multiple choice next week on whether to deploy U.S. peacekeeping troops to Bosnia:

a. Cut off funds.

b. Express opposition.

c. Grudgingly support the mission.

Aides representing Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the White House and Democratic leaders worked on the three-vote plan Friday as the Clinton administration continued to push for a show of support for sending 20,000 U.S. ground troops to Bosnia.

“I don’t support President Clinton,” Dole (R-Kan.) said while campaigning in New Hampshire on Friday. “I support the American forces.”

Some conservatives have criticized Dole for backing the troop deployment. The Union Leader of Manchester, N.H., greeted Dole with a front-page editorial accusing him of “following a draft-dodging president who has unilaterally decided where our national interest lies.”

Though he disagrees with the president’s handling of the Bosnia crisis, Dole said that as a veteran he understands the importance of political support to troops in the field.

Dole scheduled the votes for Wednesday at the end of two days of debate. While the House has not yet announced plans to consider a Bosnia resolution, lawmakers hope Congress will act before Thursday’s formal signing in Paris of the Bosnia peace accord, an event that will set in motion deployment of the full, 60,000-member NATO peacekeeping force.

Clinton has made clear the troops are going into the one-year mission regardless of what Congress does. But the White House considers congressional support crucial to presenting to the world a united front.

Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Friday urged members of Congress to keep in mind the long tradition of bipartisanship in U.S. foreign policy.

“I hope that the members of Congress, especially the younger members, will recall this history,” Christopher told reporters at the State Department. Abandoning the deployment, he said, “would be shortsighted and damaging to American interests and American values.”

Christopher added that he believes support for the troop deployment is growing.

“I think there’s becoming a greater recognition that this is not troops being put into war, but troops being sent to Bosnia to preserve the peace in a part of the world that’s very important to us,” he said.

Under the plan laid out by Dole, the Senate will debate and vote on three options:

* Binding House-passed legislation authored by Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.) barring the expenditure of money “as part of any peacekeeping operation, or as part of any implementation force, unless such funds for such deployment have been specifically appropriated by law.” As of now, Congress has appropriated no money for the Bosnia deployment. “It will not pass,” Dole said of the Hefley measure.

* Binding legislation stating that “Congress opposes President Clinton’s decision to deploy United States military ground forces” to Bosnia. The measure, drafted by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), contains a second clause supporting the troops. Earlier drafts of this bill said Congress “disapproves of the deployment” or “opposes the deployment.” The idea behind the change was to express displeasure with Clinton without flatly opposing the mission. Dole predicted every Republican would support it.

* Binding legislation drafted by Dole and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) backing the deployment but requiring the United States to ensure that the Bosnian government is armed and trained so it can defend itself when NATO peacekeepers leave.

The endorsement contained in a draft version of the Dole-McCain measure is far from ringing. It depicts the mission as an inevitable burden rather than a good idea:

“Recognizing that the president has decided to deploy U.S. armed forces . . . that such deployment has begun, and that preserving United States credibility is a strategic interest, the president may fulfill his commitment,” according to a draft obtained by the Associated Press.

The Dole-McCain measure adds several conditions, including requirements to strengthen the Bosnian government military, map out a clear exit strategy for U.S. and allied forces and keep U.S. troops out of civilian tasks such as rebuilding infrastructure and government institutions.

Democrats and administration officials continue to push for changes in the Dole-McCain proposal strengthening the expression of support.