June 22, 1999 – CBS World News Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
June 22, 1999 – President Clinton arrived in Skopje Macedonia for a visit to a Kosovar refugee camp. In going to the Stenkovec Refugee camp, just a few miles from the Kosovo border, the President got to see the human face of the victims of Ethnic Cleansing the U.S. and its NATO allies went to war to stop. The flood of refugees put a sizable burden on Macedonia and Albania, and Clinton met with their leaders to acknowledge their help. “I came here, as much as anything else, to say thank you”, President Clinton said as he addressed the assembled group outside the camp. Inside, he walked among some of the 10,000 now housed in the camp and and aide said he begged them not to seek revenge on Serbs still living in Kosovo, but to commit to live in peace with them.
Meanwhile, the NATO commander, Gen. Wesley Clark wanted a speed-up in the deployment of peacekeeping forces, saying the Kosovo mission may need even more soldiers than planned. Remarking that they “walked into the wild west, with guns on the streets and women and children hiding”, NATO troops said not a shot was fired, and the presence of US troops was enough to turn the wartorn town of Urosevac around.
On Capitol Hill – a gaggle of hearings regarding security problems at the nation’s nuclear labs began this day. Calls for an independent agency to run America’s Nuclear program were heard. Since the scandal over Chinese spying at various Nuclear facilities was revealed, attention was put on just how safe and secure these facilities were. Many thought the best thing was to take it out of the hands of the government.
And author Stephen King was resting comfortably after his second trip to the operating room. Doctors said the operation went well, but there was a third operation slated to take place. King was hit by a van as he walked along a road near his Lewiston, Maine home. He was expected to remain hospitalized for another 2-3 weeks before spending months in physical therapy.
And that’s just a little of what went on, this June 22nd in 1999 as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
