[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 309 Introduced in House (IH)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 309

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
             States should support independence for Kosovo.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 17, 2007

     Mr. Engel (for himself and Mr. Kirk) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
             States should support independence for Kosovo.

Whereas the United States has enduring national interests in the peace and 
        security of southeastern Europe, and in the greater integration of the 
        region into the Euro-Atlantic community of democratic, well-governed 
        states;
Whereas, in March 1999, the United States, along with other members of the North 
        Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), commenced military action aimed at 
        ending Slobodan Milosevic's brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against 
        the people of Kosovo;
Whereas that military action resulted in the defeat of Serb forces and the 
        creation of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, an interim United 
        Nations administration that governs Kosovo, and which ended, de facto, 
        the sovereignty that was previously exercised by the Government of the 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia over Kosovo;
Whereas the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States have served 
        bravely in Kosovo since 1999, and their presence and participation in 
        the NATO-led Kosovo Force has been indispensable in protecting the 
        people of Kosovo and stabilizing the region;
Whereas United Nations administration was never intended nor understood as a 
        permanent solution to the political status of Kosovo;
Whereas, in light of NATO's military intervention in Kosovo and the United 
        Nations trusteeship established in Kosovo pursuant to United Nations 
        Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999), the international community has 
        recognized the political circumstances in Kosovo as unique, and the 
        settlement of Kosovo's status therefore does not establish a precedent 
        for the resolution of other conflicts;
Whereas continuing uncertainty about the status of Kosovo is unacceptable to the 
        overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of Kosovo, inhibits economic 
        and political development in Kosovo, and contributes to instability and 
        radicalism in both Kosovo and Serbia;
Whereas, in 2005, the United Nations Secretary General appointed the former 
        President of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, as United Nations Special Envoy 
        for Kosovo to develop a comprehensive settlement proposal to resolve the 
        political status of Kosovo;
Whereas, in March 2007, after 14 months of intensive diplomacy, Special Envoy 
        Ahtisaari submitted to the Security Council a comprehensive settlement 
        proposal that would result in supervised independence for Kosovo, with 
        robust protections for the rights of minorities; and
Whereas Special Envoy Ahtisaari has explored every reasonable avenue for 
        compromise in the course of his diplomacy and has stated that further 
        negotiations would be counterproductive: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the United States should support the independence of 
        Kosovo in accordance with its currently constituted borders, a 
        resolution that represents the only just, sustainable solution 
        for an economically viable and politically stable Kosovo;
            (2) the United States should, in consultation and 
        cooperation with its allies, vigorously and promptly pursue a 
        United Nations Security Council resolution that endorses the 
        recommendations of United Nations Special Envoy for Kosovo 
        Martti Ahtisaari;
            (3) in the absence of timely action by the United Nations 
        Security Council, the United States should be prepared to act 
        in conjunction with like-minded democracies to confer 
        diplomatic recognition on, and establish full diplomatic 
        relations with, Kosovo as an independent state, much as the 
        United States worked in cooperation with like-minded 
        democracies to protect the people of Kosovo in 1999;
            (4) the United States should oppose any delay in the 
        resolution of the political status of Kosovo as 
        counterproductive, potentially dangerous, and likely to make 
        the achievement of a lasting settlement more difficult;
            (5) the United States should work together with the 
        European Union as a full partner in supporting the political 
        and economic development of an independent Kosovo;
            (6) the United States should support the integration of 
        Kosovo into international and Euro-Atlantic institutions, 
        including its timely admission to the Partnership for Peace 
        program of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with 
        the ultimate goal of full membership in NATO;
            (7) the United States should reaffirm its commitment to 
        southeastern Europe, including the continuation of the military 
        mission in Kosovo to deter and disrupt any efforts by any party 
        to destabilize the region through violence;
            (8) the Government of Kosovo should exercise responsible 
        leadership under supervised independence and thereby accelerate 
        the transition to full independence, taking particular care to 
        reassure, protect, and ensure the full political and economic 
        rights of Serb and other minority communities in Kosovo;
            (9) the Government of Kosovo should make every reasonable 
        effort to develop a cooperative relationship with the 
        Government of Serbia, in recognition of its legitimate 
        interests in the safety of the Serb population in Kosovo and in 
        the protection and preservation of the patrimonial sites of the 
        Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo; and
            (10) the Government of Serbia should exercise responsible 
        leadership and seize the opportunity and the imperative 
        presented by the independence of Kosovo to end the dark chapter 
        of the 1990s and focus its energies toward achieving a 
        prosperous and peaceful future through regional cooperation and 
        integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions, including NATO and 
        the European Union, and toward the establishment of open, 
        constructive relations with the government of Kosovo.
                                 <all>