[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 91 (Friday, July 10, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8015-S8016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          REGARDING THE SITUATION IN INDONESIA AND EAST TIMOR

  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar No. 423, S. Res. 
237.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 237) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate regarding the situation in Indonesia and East Timor.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the resolution?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
and preamble be agreed to, en bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution be 
placed at the appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 237) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 237

       Whereas recent political turmoil and economic failure in 
     Indonesia have endangered the people of that country and 
     fomented instability in the region;
       Whereas President Suharto has properly responded to this 
     crisis by resigning, after 32 years in office, the presidency 
     of Indonesia in accordance with Indonesia's constitutional 
     processes;
       Whereas Indonesia is now embarking on a new era that is 
     ripe for political and economic reform;
       Whereas in 1975 Indonesia invaded, and since that time has 
     illegally occupied, East Timor claiming the lives of 
     approximately 200,000 East Timorese;
       Whereas Indonesia has systematically committed human rights 
     abuses against the

[[Page S8016]]

     people of East Timor through arbitrary arrests, torture, 
     disappearances, extra-judicial executions, and general 
     political repression;
       Whereas 8 United Nations General Assembly and 2 United 
     Nations Security Council resolutions have reaffirmed the 
     right of the people of East Timor to self-determination;
       Whereas Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-
     Horta, who were awarded the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for their 
     courageous contribution to the East Timorese struggle, have 
     called for a United Nations-sponsored referendum on self-
     determination of the East Timorese;
       Whereas President Clinton in a letter dated December 27, 
     1996, expressed interest in the idea of a United Nations-
     sponsored referendum on self-determination in East Timor;
       Whereas the United States cosponsored a 1997 United Nations 
     Human Rights Commission Resolution calling for Indonesia to 
     comply with the directives of existing United Nations 
     resolutions regarding East Timor; and
       Whereas present circumstances provide a unique opportunity 
     for a resolution of the East Timor question: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     President should--
       (1) encourage the new political leadership in Indonesia to 
     institute genuine democratic and economic reforms, including 
     the establishment of an independent judiciary, civilian 
     control of the military, and the release of political 
     prisoners;
       (2) encourage the new political leadership in Indonesia to 
     promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms 
     of all the people of Indonesia and East Timor; and
       (3) work actively, through the United Nations and with 
     United States allies, to carry out the directives of existing 
     United Nations resolutions on East Timor and to support an 
     internationally supervised referendum on self-determination.
       Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy 
     of this resolution to the President.

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