[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 161 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                          May 18, 1999.
Whereas international humanitarian organizations such as the International 
        Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations High Commissioner for 
        Refugees provide a vital role in assessing and responding to the 
        humanitarian needs of refugees around the world and, most recently, of 
        the hundreds of thousands who have fled Kosovo;
Whereas, according to unconfirmed reports, hundreds of thousands of internally 
        displaced persons remain in Kosovo at risk for their lives and requiring 
        immediate food, shelter, and medicine;
Whereas it is the belief of the House of Representatives that the safety and 
        lives of these undetermined legions of internally displaced persons 
        within Kosovo are equal to the safety and lives of the many refugees who 
        have fled the region;
Whereas the international community is committed to providing humanitarian 
        assistance to current and future Kosovo refugees, while uncertain of how 
        vast that need may be;
Whereas during an April 19, 1999, interview in Belgrade with Dr. Ron Hatchett of 
        the University of St. Thomas, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic 
        agreed to and subsequently permitted representatives of the 
        International Committee of the Red Cross to meet with and examine the 
        condition of the three captured American prisoners of war;
Whereas in the same interview, President Milosevic agreed to permit 
        representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the 
        United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees into Kosovo to provide aid 
        and assess the humanitarian needs of internally displaced persons within 
        Kosovo and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
Whereas on May 4, 1999, with the assent of the United Nations Security Council, 
        of which the United States is a member, United Nations Secretary General 
        Kofi Annan initiated a United Nations interagency assessment mission to 
        the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to assess emergency relief and 
        rehabilitation needs within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and to 
        identify the means for providing such critical relief and rehabilitation 
        assistance;
Whereas this humanitarian mission seeks to objectively assess critical needs in 
        the areas of human rights protection, food, security, nutrition, health, 
        water and sanitation, and condition of the civilian population, and also 
        seeks to accurately determine the number, location, and requirements of 
        the people in Kosovo and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia needing 
        immediate and future humanitarian aid;
Whereas on May 14, 1999, the United Nations Security Council adopted Security 
        Council Resolution 1239 by a vote of 13-0, inviting the United Nations 
        High Commission for Refugees and other international humanitarian relief 
        organizations to extend relief assistance to the internally displaced 
        persons in Kosovo, the Republic of Montenegro, and other parts of the 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; and
Whereas the brief United Nations humanitarian mission that was initiated on May 
        4, 1999, subsequently departed for Kosovo and other sectors of the 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on May 15, 1999: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that Yugoslavian 
        President Slobodan Milosevic provide the necessary security assurances 
        and freedom of access to the United Nations interagency mission to the 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia so the international community can be 
        provided with an accurate, objective, first-hand assessment of the 
        condition of the internally displaced persons inside of Kosovo and all 
        sectors of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; and
            (2) the House of Representatives encourages member nations of the 
        North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to weigh the value of this 
        humanitarian mission toward ending human suffering in Kosovo, and to 
        consider reasonable measures to enhance the safety of this international 
        delegation during its brief humanitarian mission within the Federal 
        Republic of Yugoslavia.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.