[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H1416-H1417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CONGRESSIONAL TRIP TO KOSOVO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I too just returned from the Republic of 
Macedonia, where I participated in this 14-member bipartisan 
congressional mission to Kosovo, invited to observe presidential and 
parliamentary elections in the Republic of Kosovo. We also sought to 
learn the facts surrounding the brutal repression currently taking 
place in Kosovo by the Serbs. Our mission was simply to observe and 
bear witness to the happenings in this troubled part of the world.
  Unfortunately, the Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic, denied our 
entry into Kosovo. Let us be clear. We worked very diligently in 
advance of this trip to ensure that we would receive our visas to enter 
Kosovo. We contacted the Yugoslav embassy in Washington well in advance 
of our trip. We submitted our visa applications and generally provided 
whatever information was needed to support this important trip.
  We waited several days for a response to our request and called the 
embassy on a daily basis to inquire into the status of our request. The 
answer always came back the same, ``We are considering it. We'll get 
back to you.'' With still no answer, our delegation made the decision 
to proceed with the hope that we would be granted visas. Unfortunately, 
we arrived in Macedonia, which borders Kosovo, to the disappointing 
news that our request had been denied.
  Why? Supposedly the reason given was the inadequacies of the 
information we provided in our visa applications to the Yugoslav 
government. Perhaps the true reason was that President Milosevic did 
not want us to see firsthand the brutal campaign of repression he has 
waged against the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo.
  Despite this denial, Mr. Speaker, we decided to make one last effort 
to cross the border. We assembled the delegation and made our way to 
the nearest border post separating Kosovo and Macedonia. The location 
was a remote one. It was extremely cold as we made our way on foot from 
the Macedonian checkpoint to the border of Kosovo. Unfortunately, the 
heavily armed border guards had no intention of allowing us to proceed.
  A CNN camera crew which was already across the border in Kosovo was 
prevented from coming down to the border checkpoint to talk with us. We 
finally gave up, Mr. Speaker, and returned to the capital of Macedonia, 
where we established an election monitoring effort there. The election 
did take place despite repression and violence by Serb police and 
paramilitary units, and the people of Kosovo elected Ibrahim Rugova to 
another term as President.

  Sadly, the Serbs consider this election an illegal one and continue 
to deny the people of Kosovo basic human rights, such as the right to 
choose their own elected leaders. Mr. Speaker, the people of Kosovo 
want nothing more than to simply live and work in peace, yet the Serbs 
time and again resort to violence and repression in an effort to 
maintain control over the former Yugoslav republics.
  I want my colleagues in this institution as well as the American 
people to know of our experiences in simply seeking to observe an 
election and investigate human rights abuses. I want them to know of 
the violence that is taking place right now against the people of 
Kosovo.
  I heard today that another half a dozen villages have been surrounded 
and there is heavy artillery up there around these new villages that 
have been surrounded. Many are dead, tens of thousands are homeless, 
and scores of towns are currently under siege by Serbian military 
units. Innocent civilians are without food and heat. It was recently 
reported that six ethnic Albanians died from starvation and cold.
  I want the world to know of what is going on in Kosovo because we 
must not allow Kosovo to become another Bosnia. Yet that is exactly 
what could happen. Until now, the resistance in Kosovo has largely been 
peaceful and nonviolent. I hope and pray that it remains that way. My 
greatest fear is that the Serbian brutality and repression results in 
more armed resistance

[[Page H1417]]

in Kosovo which will lead to only greater violence and bloodshed.
  We must not allow this to happen, Mr. Speaker. The world community 
can prevent this if it has the will to do so.

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