[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1377 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1377

 To authorize the provision of assistance for the victims of torture, 
including rape and other war crimes, in the former Yugoslavia, and for 
                     the families of such victims.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 1993

Mr. Hoyer (for himself, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. DeLauro, and Mr. McCloskey) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the provision of assistance for the victims of torture, 
including rape and other war crimes, in the former Yugoslavia, and for 
                     the families of such victims.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the loss of life and human suffering in Bosnia-
        Herzegovina has reached an unprecedented scale in post-World 
        War II Europe;
            (2) war and ``ethnic cleansing'' in Bosnia-Herzegovina has 
        uprooted more than 1,500,000 individuals, contributing to the 
        largest refugee problem in Europe since World War II;
            (3) the people of the former Yugoslavia, especially those 
        of Bosnia-Herzegovina have been subjected to organized, 
        systematic, and premeditated war crimes and genocide, including 
        willful killings, rape, forced impregnation, abuse of civilians 
        in detention centers, deliberate attacks on noncombatants, 
        ``ethnic cleansing'' through the forcible expulsion and 
        deportation of civilians, and torture of prisoners; and
            (4) there has been no concerted and coordinated effort to 
        provide assistance for the victims of these acts and for their 
        families to meet their short-term and long-term needs.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Eligibility for Assistance.--The President is authorized to 
provide assistance under this section for the victims of torture, 
including rape and other war crimes, in the former Yugoslavia, and for 
the families of such victims, especially children with a particular 
focus on victims of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
    (b) Description of Assistance.--Assistance authorized by subsection 
(a) includes activities such as--
            (1) the provision of medical, psychological, and 
        psychiatric care and crisis counseling for victims of war 
        crimes stemming from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, 
        whether provided in the United States or abroad;
            (2) the training of individuals in the former Yugoslavia, 
        including individuals who have been the victims of torture and 
        individuals of the Moslem faith, to provide medical, 
        psychological, and psychiatric care and crisis counseling; and
            (3) the procurement of necessary medical and training 
        supplies.
    (c) Coordination of Assistance Efforts.--Assistance authorized by 
subsection (a) shall be coordinated by the Administrator of the Agency 
for International Development and channeled through such governments, 
international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations as the 
Administrator determines appropriate to reach individuals in need.

SEC. 3. FORMER YUGOSLAVIA DEFINED.

    For purposes of this Act, the term ``former Yugoslavia'' means the 
territory covered by the former Socialist Federal Republic of 
Yugoslavia, consisting of the republics of Serbia, Montenegro, 
Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, without regard to 
diplomatic recognition by the United States of any republic.

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