[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 148 (Wednesday, November 30, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            THE WAR IN BOSNIA

                                 ______


                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the latest reports out of the United Nations 
designated ``safe haven'' of Bihac indicate that the Serb forces have 
intensified their attack and have seized nearly half of the region. 
Entire villages have reportedly been razed or put to the torch by the 
Serbs. More than 180,000 civilians in the region, mostly Moslems, are 
at risk and food supplies have been virtually exhausted. The blood bath 
in Bihac highlights the utter failure of the international community to 
effectively confront aggression and genocide which have ravaged Bosnia 
for the past 3 years. The humanitarian nightmare continues unabated and 
the prospects are bleak. Not one nation can raise its head today from 
the weight of political indifference and shame. Not one, Mr. Speaker.
  The United Nations, the guarantor of the protection of civilians in 
Bihac and in safe havens elsewhere in Bosnia, cannot even ensure the 
safety of its own personnel. An estimated 400 U.N. peacekeepers are 
currently being held hostage by Serb militants. Beyond Bihac, convoys 
of desperately needed food and fuel to Gorazde, Srebrenica, and Zepa 
continue to be blocked by Serb forces while the airport in Sarajevo 
remains closed.
  The United Nations and NATO have basically deemed themselves 
irrelevant in the face of this latest Serb onslaught as diplomats 
ponder further concessions to lure the emboldened Serbs back to the 
bargaining table. Absurd. You can be certain that such an exercise will 
only embolden the Serbs in their efforts of ethnic cleansing and in 
creating a greater Serbia.
  If they had any doubts about the intentions of the world community, 
they should have none now--the international community will do nothing 
to save Bosnia.
  Mr, Speaker, the on-going war in Bosnia violates virtually every one 
of the principles enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act, the U.N. Charter 
and all norms of human decency. But there is one principle which the 
nations of the world are violating--and that is the right of Bosnia to 
defend itself against aggression. In effect by not lifting the arms 
embargo we have sentenced the people of Bosnia to a slow, brutal death. 
We have done little to stop the deaths and yet have taken effective 
steps to deny them the dignity and right to defend their families, 
their homes, their communities, and their country from extinction.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that we, in this House, should bow our heads 
in a moment of silence upon the death of a nation and of the principles 
which the community of nations committed itself to uphold.

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