[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 24 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 24

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
   States should declare its support for the independence of Kosova.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 2005

     Mr. Lantos (for himself and Mr. Hyde) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
   States should declare its support for the independence of Kosova.

Whereas the United States and the international community recognize that a right 
        to self-determination exists as a fundamental right of all people;
Whereas Kosova was constitutionally defined as a sovereign territory in the 
        First National Liberation Conference for Kosova on January 2, 1944, and 
        this status was confirmed in the Constitution of the Socialist Federal 
        Republic of Yugoslavia adopted in 1946, and the amended Yugoslav 
        constitution adopted in 1974 preserved the autonomous status of Kosova 
        as a de facto republic;
Whereas prior to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, Kosova was a 
        separate political and legal entity with separate and distinct financial 
        institutions, police force, municipal and national government, school 
        system, judicial and legal system, hospitals and other independent 
        organizations;
Whereas Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic rose to power in 1987 on a platform 
        of ultranationalism and anti-Albanian racism, advocating violence and 
        hatred against all non-Slavs and specifically targeting the Albanians of 
        Kosova;
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic subsequently stripped Kosova of its self-rule, 
        without the consent of the people of Kosova;
Whereas the elected Assembly of Kosova, faced with these intolerable acts, 
        adopted a Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1990, proclaimed the 
        Republic of Kosova, and adopted a constitution on September 7, 1990, 
        based on the international legal principles of self-determination, 
        equality, and sovereignty;
Whereas in recognition of the de facto dissolution of the Yugoslav federation, 
        the European community established principles for the recognition of the 
        independence and sovereignty of the republics of the former Socialist 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Kosova fully satisfied those 
        principles as a de facto republic within the federation;
Whereas a popular referendum was held in Kosova from September 26-30, 1991, in 
        which 87 percent of all eligible voters cast ballots and 99.87 percent 
        voted in favor of declaring Kosova independent of the Socialist Federal 
        Republic of Yugoslavia;
Whereas, from the occupation of Kosova in 1989 until the North Atlantic Treaty 
        Organization (NATO) military action against the Milosevic regime in 
        1999, the Albanians of Kosova were subjected to the most brutal 
        treatment in the heart of Europe since the Nazi era, forcing 
        approximately 400,000 Albanians to flee to Western Europe and the United 
        States;
Whereas in the spring of 1999 almost 1,000,000 Kosovar Albanians were driven out 
        of Kosova and at least 10,000 were murdered by the Serbian paramilitary 
        and military;
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal 
        and extradited to The Hague in June 2001 to stand trial for war crimes, 
        crimes against humanity, and genocide in Kosova, Bosnia, and Croatia;
Whereas the United Nations established Kosova as a protectorate under Resolution 
        1244, ending the decade long Serbian occupation of Kosova and 
        Milosevic's genocidal war in Kosova;
Whereas Kosovar Albanians, together with representatives of the Serb, Turkish, 
        Roma, Bosniak, and Ashkali minorities in Kosova, have held free and fair 
        municipal and general elections in 2000 and 2001 and successfully 
        established a parliament in 2002, which in turn elected a president and 
        prime minister;
Whereas 50 percent of the population in Kosova is under the age of 25 and the 
        unemployment rate is currently between 60 and 70 percent, increasing the 
        likelihood of young people entering criminal networks, the source of 
        which lies outside of Kosova, or working abroad in order to survive 
        unless massive job creation is facilitated by guaranteeing the security 
        of foreign investments through an orderly transition to the independence 
        of Kosova;
Whereas the Kosova parliament is committed to developing a western-style 
        democracy in which all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, are granted 
        full human and civil rights and are committed to the return of all 
        noncriminal Serbs who fled Kosova during and after the war; and
Whereas there is every reason to believe that independence from Serbia is the 
        only viable option for Kosova, after autonomy has failed time and time 
        again: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States should--
            (1) recognize the danger that delay in the resolution of 
        Kosova's final status poses for the political and economic 
        viability of Kosova and its neighbors, and consequently for the 
        future of Southeast Europe;
            (2) publicly support the independence of Kosova within its 
        existing borders as a sovereign and democratic state in which 
        human rights, including the rights of ethnic and religious 
        minorities, and the rule of law are respected as the only way 
        to lasting peace and stability in the Balkans;
            (3) establish a monitoring body in conjunction with the 
        United Nations, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and 
        other multilateral organizations to ensure that the new state 
        of Kosova achieves the standards set forth by the UN Security 
        Council, including the protection of minority rights and 
        security for all of Kosova's communities, and to facilitate an 
        orderly transition from a UN protectorate to a fully 
        functioning democratic government;
            (4) work with the Council of Europe to develop and 
        implement anti-racism programs that would be instituted at the 
        level of federal and municipal governments throughout the 
        Balkans;
            (5) work with the United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty 
        Organization to facilitate the return of Albanians to their 
        pre-war homes in northern Mitrovica and its environs and Serbs 
        to theirs in southern Mitrovica and other parts of Kosova; and
            (6) provide its share of assistance, trade, and other 
        programs to support the government of an independent Kosova and 
        to encourage the further development of democracy, rule of law, 
        and a free market economic system in Kosova and throughout the 
        Balkans.
                                 <all>