[originaltext] The Clinton administration suffered two setbacks in its Kosovo

The Clinton administration suffered two setbacks in its Kosovo policy on Wednesday, as talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic failed and Congress planned to debate the proposed deployment of U. S. troops.
   House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert set the debate for yesterday, as divided views on the wisdom of sending more American forces on an overseas mission to a small, but strategic, Balkan trouble spot were expected to pour forth.
   Hours later, administration officials were struggling to decide next steps after U.S. Balkan peace envoy Richard Holbrooke failed to persuade Milosevic, during eight hours of talks, to accept a Kosovo peace deal. "There has been no change in the Yugoslav position during the day, and needless to say there has been no change in our position,” Holbrooke told reporters in Belgrade.
   The news could be a serious blow to U.S. efforts to achieve a political settlement which would end the fighting between Serbs and ethnic Albanian separatists by granting the Kosovo Albanians self-rule and deploying NATO troops as peacekeepers.
   Earlier, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright criticized Hastert’s plans. She said the congressional de- bate "would complicate our efforts to get Serbs and the Kosovo Albanians on board" for a peace deal.
   "A vote at any time to oppose an authorization (of troops) would be seen by both sides (in Kosovo) as a green light to resume fighting," Albright told a House subcommittee.
   She was backed by former Republican Senator Bob Dole, who told Congress, "If you want to throw cold water on any possible (Kosovo) agreement, you vote no (deploying U. S. troops). If you vote yes, it’s probably a little boost. ’
   Hastert rejected arguments against holding the debate now, saying, "No one should fear the free expression of ideas and the frank exchange of opinions in a representative democracy. In fact, many can learn from this debate that a free people can disagree without violence and bloodshed. ’
   Republicans, who control Congress, are divided over administration plans to deploy about 4,000 U. S. troops as part of a prospective 28,000-member NATO peace implementation force in the event of a Kosovo peace deal.