[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 294 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 294

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
                       the situation in Burundi.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 4, 1993

Mr. Johnston of Florida (for himself, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Payne 
of New Jersey, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Engel, and Mr. Frank of Massachusetts) 
    introduced the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
                       the situation in Burundi.

Whereas Burundi has a long history of military rule and ethnic conflict between 
        the majority Hutu and the minority Tutsi tribes;
Whereas on March 9, 1992, the people of Burundi adopted a democratic 
        constitution, leading to Burundi's first multiparty elections on June 1, 
        1993, through which Melchoir Ndadaye was overwhelmingly elected 
        president in a free and fair election;
Whereas President Ndadaye had shown his commitment to ethnic reconciliation and 
        democracy by appointing many members of the opposition party to key 
        government posts;
Whereas recent years have also witnessed a period of ethnic reconciliation in 
        Burundi in large part because of policies implemented by former 
        President Buyoya;
Whereas as October 21, 1993, President Ndadaye and several of his cabinet 
        ministers were murdered by the leaders of an attempted coup d'etat;
Whereas the attempted coup and the murder of President Ndadaye have sparked 
        ethnic violence in which several thousand people may have died; and
Whereas the ethnic violence has forced approximately 500,000 Burundians to flee 
        their country into neighboring Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zaire: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) strongly condemns the attempted coup d'etat in Burundi 
        and the murder of President Ndadaye and his cabinet ministers;
            (2) calls for the installation of the democratically 
        elected government in Burundi as soon as possible;
            (3) commends the people of Burundi for their commitment to 
        democracy as evidenced by their adoption of a constitution and 
        their participation in free and fair elections;
            (4) urges the people of Burundi to help end the ethnic 
        violence that has inflicted untold suffering on innocent 
        civilians;
            (5) calls on the military authorities to restore law and 
        order and hand over power to the democratically elected 
        civilian government;
            (6) encourages the people of Burundi to continue their 
        commitment to ethnic reconciliation and democracy;
            (7) commends the Clinton administration and the 
        international community in general for the prompt condemnation 
        of the October 21, 1993, attempted coup;
            (8) calls on the Organization of African Unity to assist in 
        restoring democracy and ending the ethnic strife in Burundi;
            (9) calls upon the international community to assist the 
        Organization of African Unity in its efforts to restore 
        democracy and end ethnic violence in Burundi; and
            (10) calls on the international community to provide 
        humanitarian assistance to the people of Burundi.

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