[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4357 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4357

  To continue the current prohibition of military relations with and 
assistance for the armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia until the 
    President determines and certifies to the Congress that certain 
          conditions with respect to East Timor are being met.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 2, 2000

  Mr. McGovern (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Kennedy of 
  Rhode Island, Mr. Weygand, and Ms. Pelosi) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, 
and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To continue the current prohibition of military relations with and 
assistance for the armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia until the 
    President determines and certifies to the Congress that certain 
          conditions with respect to East Timor are being met.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``East Timor Repatriation and Security 
Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) More than 100,000 East Timorese refugees remain in West 
        Timor, where they fled or were forcibly driven by militia and 
        members of the armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia 
        following the United Nations sponsored popular consultation of 
        August 30, 1999, in which 78.5 percent of East Timor's 
        population voted for independence from Indonesia.
            (2) Most of the East Timorese refugees in West Timor would 
        like to return to East Timor but have been prevented from doing 
        so by militia forces operating with the cooperation of 
        Indonesian army elements.
            (3) Hundreds of the refugees in West Timor have died from 
        preventable illnesses while many thousands continue to live in 
        a state of danger, uncertainty and severe threats, including 
        that of forced resettlement to other areas of Indonesia.
            (4) Elements of the Indonesian army have attempted to 
        infiltrate armed militia members into East Timor, and 
        reportedly have planned a militia invasion of East Timor.
            (5) Border attacks by militia groups remain a threat to 
        peace and stability in the region and to international 
        peacekeeping forces.
            (6) Much of East Timor's infrastructure was destroyed in 
        the violence of 1999 and remains to be rebuilt.
            (7) An estimated 200,000 of East Timor's original estimated 
        population of 700,000 perished from the combined effects of 
        Indonesia's occupation of East Timor before the violence of 
        1999.
            (8) Thousands of East Timorese were killed in violence 
        perpetrated by Indonesian army elements and militia in 1999.
            (9) The prospects for justice for the victims of the 
        violence in East Timor remain unclear.
            (10) An estimated 80 percent of East Timor's population 
        remains unemployed and East Timor's Nobel Prize winning 
        Catholic Bishop, Carlos Ximenes Belo, has made a plea on their 
        behalf.
            (11) United States funds have been committed to efforts by 
        the United Nations and the efforts of others to rebuild East 
        Timor.
            (12) Communications and logistical units of the United 
        States Armed Forces have formed part of the international 
        peacekeeping forces that entered East Timor in 1999.
            (13) The reform government of Indonesia, led by President 
        Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, has 
        made good faith commitments to end Indonesian military support 
        for militias and to establish a fair and transparent mechanism 
        to bring to justice the perpetrators of gross human rights 
        violations in East Timor and elsewhere, but the efforts of the 
        elected leadership of Indonesia have thus far been resisted, 
        and in some cases actively disobeyed, by elements in the 
        military and in the bureaucracy.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that the United States Government 
should utilize all diplomatic and economic means to press for--
            (1) the safe repatriation to East Timor of all East 
        Timorese in West Timor and elsewhere who wish to return to East 
        Timor;
            (2) an end to border incidents and infiltration of militias 
        and an end to any other violent actions by militias and the 
        armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia against the people or 
        territory of East Timor;
            (3) processes and prosecutions leading to justice for the 
        victims of the 1999 violence in East Timor;
            (4) rapid reconstruction of East Timor, including maximum 
        consultation with and inclusion of local personnel; and
            (5) a significant increase in employment for East Timorese 
        in all internationally-sponsored reconstruction and United 
        Nations efforts relating to East Timor.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON MILITARY RELATIONS AND ASSISTANCE TO THE ARMED 
              FORCES OF INDONESIA.

    (a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law (other 
than section 589 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and 
Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2000), United States military 
relations with, and military assistance for, the armed forces of the 
Republic of Indonesia suspended by the President pursuant to the 
directive of the President issued on September 9, 1999, may not be 
resumed until the President determines and certifies to the Congress 
that the Government of Indonesia and the armed forces of Indonesia 
provide for the territorial integrity of East Timor, the security and 
safe return of refugees, and have brought to justice those individuals 
who have committed murder, rape, torture, and other crimes against 
humanity in East Timor and elsewhere.
    (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``crimes against 
humanity'' includes crimes of genocide, torture, forced disappearance, 
extrajudicial killing, and rape, if committed as part of a widespread 
or systematic attack against the civilian population.

SEC. 5. RECOGNITION OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES ASSISTING THE 
              INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING OPERATION IN EAST TIMOR.

    The Congress recognizes and salutes those members of the United 
States Armed Forces who have assisted the international peacekeeping 
operation in East Timor.
                                 <all>