[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 161 (Wednesday, October 18, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H10211-H10212]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     VOTE AGAINST CROATIAN-AMERICAN ENTERPRISE FUND APPROPRIATIONS

  (Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, the conference on foreign operations 
appropriations is scheduled for next week. One of the areas of 
discussion between the two bills is a $12 million appropriation for the 
Croatian-American Enterprise Fund.
  Mr. Speaker, let me read you some excerpts from a recent human rights 
report by monitors from the European Union who investigated human 
rights atrocities in the Krajina region of Croatia, which was recently 
liberated from Serb occupation:

       After Operation Storm * * * the area was largely 
     devastated. Killings and harassments of civilians have been 
     observed. Looting of virtually all houses took place and 
     houses were burnt to the ground long after fighting had 
     stopped.
       On August 11, an ECMM team from Knin found the body of an 
     old man, shot in the head and in the right side * * * as late 
     as September 11, ECMM Knin found two elderly women recently 
     shot through their head * * * Reports of killing are numerous 
     * * * at some point newly killed Serbs were found at a rate 
     of six per day. The most common murder method is shots in the 
     back of the head or slit throat.

  These reports came in weeks after the fighting has stopped. Many 
Serbs fled the Krajina but those that remained were for the most part 
elderly.
  On September 30, the Washington Post reported:

       That evening [August 25] human rights officials returned to 
     Grubrori and found the bodies of two elderly men. One was on 
     the floor of his bedroom in his pajamas with a bullet in the 
     back of the head * * * the other was discovered in a field 
     with his throat slashed. The next day, monitors found the 
     body of a 90-year-old women who had been burned alive in her 
     house.

  Mr. Speaker, these kinds of atrocities could not have occurred 
without some kind of tacit approval from some elements of the 
government of Zagreb. I am not saying the orders came from Zagreb, but 
the Croatian Government should have known these kinds of things 

[[Page H 10212]]
were going to take place and taken steps to prevent them.
  As Congress is asked to make tough choices about development 
assistance and funding for the poorest of the poor, is it right for 
Congress to appropriate $12 million for the Croatian-American 
Enterprise Fund in light of these recent atrocities.
  The answer is no. Congress would not only be turning our backs on 
genocide, we would be approving it.

                          ____________________