[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 32 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 32

Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to self-determination 
           for the people of Kosova, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 11, 1999

 Mr. Engel (for himself, Mr. King, Mr. Olver, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Moran of 
 Virginia, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Thompson of 
Mississippi, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Hefley, Mrs. Lowey, Mrs. Maloney of New 
    York, Mr. Payne, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Forbes, Mr. George Miller of 
 California, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Maloney of Connecticut, and Mr. Crowley) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to self-determination 
           for the people of Kosova, and for other purposes.

Whereas under the United Nations Charter and numerous other binding 
        international agreements friendly relations among nations are based on 
        the principles of equal rights and self-determination of peoples;
Whereas the Helsinki Final Act, to which the Socialist Federal Republic of 
        Yugoslavia was a party, states that ``all peoples have the right, in 
        full freedom, to determine, when and as they wish, their internal and 
        external political status, without external interference, and to pursue 
        as they wish their political, economic, social, and cultural 
        development'';
Whereas the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was 
        founded upon the right of every nationality to self-determination, 
        including the right to secede;
Whereas Kosova was one of the 8 constituent territorial units of the Socialist 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as provided by the Constitution of the 
        Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, adopted in 1946, and the 
        amended Yugoslav Constitution, adopted in 1974;
Whereas until 1989 Kosova was a member of the Yugoslav Federal Presidency, a 
        constitutional entity consisting of members from each of the constituent 
        territorial units of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and 
        served, on a rotating basis, as its president;
Whereas several former constituent territorial units of the Socialist Federal 
        Republic of Yugoslavia, including Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and 
        Herzegovina, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, have, 
        through the exercise of their legitimate right to self-determination, 
        become independent, and Montenegro retains the right to do so in the 
        future;
Whereas the borders of Yugoslavia were altered in the 1990's when Slovenia, 
        Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of 
        Macedonia became independent;
Whereas the United States and the international community do not recognize the 
        rump Yugoslavia as the successor state to the Socialist Federal Republic 
        of Yugoslavia;
Whereas the political rights of Kosova and its people were curtailed on March 
        23, 1989, when the Government of Yugoslavia revoked the autonomous 
        status of Kosova by amending the Yugoslav Constitution without the 
        consent of Kosova, as was constitutionally required;
Whereas Kosova meets many of the traditional indicia of statehood, such as 
        defined boundaries, democratically elected national leadership, existing 
        government-style institutions, and a common language, heritage, and 
        cultural identity for more than the vast majority of the population;
Whereas in September 1990, the people of Kosova expressed their overwhelming 
        desire for independence in a referendum on the question of independence 
        for Kosova in which 87 percent of those eligible to participate voted 
        and 99 percent of those who voted supported independence for Kosova;
Whereas throughout the 1990's, the people of Kosova have peacefully operated a 
        shadow government, separate from the Serbian and Yugoslav authorities, 
        which has governed the overwhelming majority of the population of 
        Kosova;
Whereas since 1989 the majority of the population of Kosova, 92 percent of whom 
        are ethnically Albanian, has been subject to official discrimination 
        including the removal of Albanian students from public schools and the 
        University of Pristina and the firing of more than 100,000 Albanians 
        from the civil service and police;
Whereas since 1989 the people of Kosova have been subject to egregious human 
        rights abuses, and according to the Department of State's Country 
        Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997, the most widespread and 
        worst abuses in Serbia and Montenegro were committed by the police 
        against the ethnic Albanian population of Kosova;
Whereas during and since 1998, the people of Kosova have been subjected to an 
        ethnic cleansing campaign directed by Serbian and Federal Republic of 
        Yugoslavia authorities in Belgrade, resulting in the deaths of 2,000 
        Albanians, the destruction of over 300 civilian villages, the burning of 
        thousands of homes, and the creation of hundreds of thousands of 
        internally and externally displaced persons and refugees;
Whereas in 1998, the Senate and House of Representatives passed resolutions 
        declaring that it is the sense of the Congress that ``there is reason to 
        believe that Slobodan Milosevic, President of the Federal Republic of 
        Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), has committed war crimes, crimes 
        against humanity and genocide'';
Whereas the United States operates an office of the United States Information 
        Service in Pristina, the capital of Kosova; and
Whereas on February 6, 1999, the international community, including the United 
        States, convened a meeting to negotiate an interim agreement on the 
        status of Kosova in Rambouillet, France: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) by illegally revoking the autonomy of Kosova in 1989 
        and undertaking other unconstitutional actions, by officially 
        and harshly discriminating against the majority ethnic 
        Albanians in Kosova, and by committing numerous crimes against 
        humanity, including ethnic cleansing, against the people of 
        Kosova, Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia 
        and Montenegro), especially as ruled by Slobodan Milosevic, 
        have forfeited any right to govern or to determine political 
        status of the territory of Kosova;
            (2) the United States should support the right of self-
        determination for Kosova and its people, as it did for the 
        other former constituent territorial units of the Socialist 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, some of which have become 
        independent;
            (3) the United States should support an interim agreement 
        on the status of Kosova that supports the principle of self-
        determination by--
                    (A) providing Kosova the right to genuine and 
                enhanced autonomy with democratic and effective self-
                governance provisions and protection of minority rights 
                during the interim period at a level greater than 
                provided by the Constitution of the Socialist Federal 
                Republic of Yugoslavia, as amended in 1974; and
                    (B) providing for a referendum on the final status 
                of Kosova, to be held within Kosova on a date certain, 
                which should include independence as an option, and be 
                guaranteed by the international community; and
            (4) the United States should support such representation 
        for Kosova in international institutions as is consistent with 
        Kosova's exercise of the legitimate right of self-
        determination.
                                 <all>