BOSNIA: PRELUDE TO THE PEACE CEREMONY : Senate Set to Vote on U.S. Troops in Bosnia : Politics: Lawmakers say they will probably support the soldiers but not president’s policy.

The Senate began debate Tuesday over deployment of U.S. troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the eve of President Clinton’s departure for Paris, where he will witness the signing of a U.S.-brokered peace agreement between the warring factions in the former Yugoslav federation.

The Senate plans to vote today on three Bosnia resolutions. One would support sending the troops without expressing support for the president’s policy. A second would denounce the president’s decision to send troops but voice support for their mission. And a third would cut off funds for troops headed to Bosnia.

Only the third resolution is expected to fail. Votes on the other two could be quite close, according to influential senators.

In any case, the primary message from Capitol Hill will be clear: Congress does not approve of the president’s policy but believes that failing to support the deployment would undermine the safety of the troops, the authority of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the situation on the ground in Bosnia.

“We don’t support the president’s decision, but we do support the troops,” Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said.

Support for the yearlong mission is less clear in the House, where members voted last month for a measure prohibiting the use of funds to put U.S. troops in Bosnia. GOP House leaders have said that they will decide today whether they will vote on any additional Bosnia resolutions.

The White House asserts that the deployment of 20,000 U.S. troops as part of a 60,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force will proceed regardless of Congress’ action. An advance team of U.S. troops is already on the ground.

Nonetheless, the president has said that congressional support is important.

“I can’t believe that when the time for the counting comes, the Congress won’t support our troops in this mission,” Clinton said Tuesday at a meeting here with Bosnia relief workers. “And I believe they will.”

Responding to last-minute pressure from Dole and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), co-sponsors of the resolution supporting the deployment, the president pledged to ensure that the outgunned Bosnian Muslims are trained and equipped before the North Atlantic Treaty Organization force withdraws.

“I have given you my word that we will make certain that the Bosnian federation will receive the assistance necessary to achieve an adequate military balance” when the peacekeepers leave, Clinton said in a letter sent to Dole on Tuesday. “I intend to keep it.”

In an effort to ensure the impartiality of the U.S. force, American troops will not be involved in training, arming or equipping the Bosnian Muslims. But some U.S. military personnel will provide a leadership role in helping prepare the Muslims for the NATO pullout, the president said in the letter.

The senators had written the president earlier in the day warning that Senate action hinged on such a promise from him.

“The president has given his word that there will be a stable military balance when the troops leave after a year,” McCain said Tuesday evening. “I believe that the best we can hope for at the end of the year is a lasting cease-fire, and the only way you can ensure that is giving the Muslims the capability to defend themselves.”

Since the peace agreement was initialed last month, McCain and Dole have prodded a reluctant Senate to provide at least grudging support for the Clinton administration’s policy.

“The Senate will be saying: We do not agree with the president’s commitment, but now the commitment can go forward because of the negative consequences associated with a repudiation of that commitment,” McCain said.

The consequences, he added, would be “a severe blow to the credibility of the United States of America, a severe blow to the NATO alliance and a reignition of the conflict in Bosnia.”

Many Republicans, however, said they cannot support the Dole-McCain resolution.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), a sponsor of the resolution that denounces the president’s decision but supports the U.S. troops, said her version would send a strong message to the White House that Congress opposes sending American troops to foreign conflicts unless there is a clear U.S. security interest.

Hutchison and other supporters of that Bosnia resolution said they hope its approval by the Senate would give the president maneuvering room and the support needed to cancel the mission if the situation in Bosnia deteriorated.

Other senators, however, want to send an even stronger message to the president by voting for a measure that would cut off funds for the troop deployment if it does not have congressional approval.

In emotional floor speeches Tuesday, the senators recalled the televised images of a dead American soldier being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, during a humanitarian mission there two years ago. And they stressed the many dangers that face peacekeeping troops in Bosnia.

“American troops are a special lightning rod that terrorists would like to hit,” Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said.

“We have a responsibility to do something to stop it,” said Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.).”The best way to support our troops is not to send them over there in the first place. People are going to have to answer to this for years to come.”