[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 99 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 99

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the congressional leadership 
 and the Administration should support the efforts and recommendations 
of the United States Congress-Russian Duma meeting in Vienna, Austria, 
    held April 30, to May 1, 1999, in order to bring about a fair, 
    equitable, and peaceful settlement between warring factions in 
                              Yugoslavia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 5, 1999

Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Bartlett 
   of Maryland, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. 
Saxton, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Sherwood, Mr. Hayes, 
  Mr. Conyers, and Mr. Whitfield) submitted the following concurrent 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the congressional leadership 
 and the Administration should support the efforts and recommendations 
of the United States Congress-Russian Duma meeting in Vienna, Austria, 
    held April 30, to May 1, 1999, in order to bring about a fair, 
    equitable, and peaceful settlement between warring factions in 
                              Yugoslavia.

Whereas a joint meeting between Members of Congress and Russian Duma 
        representatives in Vienna, Austria, was held from April 30 to May 1, 
        1999, in order to bring about a fair, equitable, and peaceful settlement 
        between warring factions in Yugoslavia;
Whereas the bilateral meeting was conducted not to negotiate United States or 
        North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) policy but to provide the 
        framework for a peaceful solution to this conflict with full 
        appreciation of Administration goals;
Whereas the Balkan crisis, including ethnic cleansing and terrorism, is one of 
        the most serious challenges to international security since World War 
        II;
Whereas the Balkan crisis in Kosovo creates serious threats to global and 
        regional security and may undermine efforts to discourage the 
        proliferation of nuclear weapons;
Whereas this crisis increases the threat of further human and ecological 
        catastrophes, as evidenced by the growing refugee problem, and creates 
        obstacles to further development of constructive United States-Russian 
        relations;
Whereas the humanitarian crisis will not be solved by bombing and a diplomatic 
        solution to the problem is preferable to the alternative of military 
        escalation;
Whereas the attendees of the Vienna meeting recognize the basic principles of 
        the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which 
        include (1) wide autonomy for Kosovo, (2) a multi-ethnic population, and 
        (3) treatment of all Yugoslavian peoples in accordance with 
        international norms; and
Whereas the attendees of the Vienna meeting support efforts to provide 
        international assistance to rebuild homes of refugees and other 
        humanitarian assistance, as appropriate, to victims in Kosovo: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in 
        consultation with the minority leader of the House of 
        Representatives, and the majority leader of the Senate, in 
        consultation with the minority leader of the Senate, and the 
        Administration should support the efforts and recommendations 
        of the United States Congress-Russian Duma meeting in Vienna, 
        Austria, held April 30 to May 1, 1999, in order to bring about 
        a fair, equitable, and peaceful settlement between warring 
        factions in Yugoslavia;
            (2) in order to achieve the settlement described in 
        paragraph (1), focus should be provided on the following 3 
        tasks (without regard to sequence)--
                    (A) the termination of bombing by the North 
                Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of the Federal 
                Republic of Yugoslavia;
                    (B) the withdrawal of Serbian armed forces from 
                Kosovo; and
                    (C) the cessation of the military activities of the 
                Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA); and
            (3) the tasks described in paragraph (2) should be 
        accomplished through a series of confidence-building measures, 
        which should include (but are not limited to)--
                    (A) the release of all prisoners of war held by all 
                sides;
                    (B)(i) the voluntary repatriation of all refugees 
                in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and unhindered 
                access to them by humanitarian aid organizations; and
                    (ii) the policing by NATO of the Federal Republic 
                of Yugoslavia borders with Albania and Macedonia to 
                ensure that weapons do not reenter the Federal Republic 
                of Yugoslavia with the returning refugees or at a later 
                time;
                    (C)(i) an agreement on the composition of the armed 
                international forces which would administer Kosovo 
                after the Serbian withdrawal; and
                    (ii) an understanding that the composition of the 
                group should be decided by a consensus agreement of the 
                five permanent members of the United Nations Security 
                Council, in consultation with Macedonia, Albania, the 
                Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the recognized 
                leadership of Kosovo, and that the group will be 
                supplemented by the monitoring activities of the 
                Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
                (OSCE); and
                    (D) all possible actions by the United States 
                Congress and the Russian Duma in order to successfully 
                move ahead the process of resolving the situation in 
                Yugoslavia on the basis of stopping the violence and 
                atrocities.
                                 <all>