[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 26, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                SERB MILITANTS MUST ABIDE BY NATO TERMS

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker NATO has finally stepped in with an ultimatum 
to the Serbs regarding the eastern Bosnian enclave of Gorazde--stop 
shelling and withdraw or face NATO air power. It is shameful that 
Gorazde almost had to fall to aggression before we took this action, 
and over 700 people died in just a few weeks. Many of us had called for 
an expansion of the Sarajevo ultimatum in February; indeed, some of us 
have supported such decisions since the war started in 1992.
  Nevertheless, the ultimatum seems to be working. The Serb militants 
met an interim deadline, albeit very grudgingly, for an initial 
withdrawal from areas within 2 miles of Gorazde. The shelling has 
stopped, U.N. peacekeepers are arriving, and the wounded are being 
evacuated.
  We must now avoid the urge to point to this success, back off and 
forget the Bosnian situation, hoping that it now will work itself out. 
Time has taught us that this will not happen, and we must therefore 
keep up the momentum and pressure on the Serb militants.
  First, we need to ensure Serb compliance with this evening's deadline 
for the withdrawal from the approximately 10-mile area surrounding 
Gorazde.
  Second, we must come up with an acceptable, comprehensive settlement 
that meets the needs of the Bosnians and the international community 
has the political will to ensure implementation.
  Third, we must make it clear to the Serbs that there is no more 
piecemeal response to their barbaric behavior. Their unwillingness to 
cooperate and to live up to their promises as we move to a settlement 
must not be allowed to stand. Instead, punitive force must continually 
be our response.
  I am hopeful that we are moving in this direction. A new 
international contact group has been established to coordinate policy, 
and NATO seems resolute in terms of its ultimatum. I hope we have 
learned that we must keep Bosnia high on the agenda and have the 
political will to stop the horror that is happening there. A lack of 
vigilance in countering what will certainly be more Serb testing in the 
future, will doom Bosnia and Herzegovina and our credibility alike, to 
the detriment of a new world order we all would like to see.

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