[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 2 (Thursday, January 7, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E16]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                RESOLUTION ON THE INDEPENDENCE OF KOSOVA

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. JAMES A. TRAFICANT, JR.

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 1999

  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a House Concurrent 
Resolution urging the Clinton Administration to publicly declare that 
the Albanians of Kosova have a legal right to self-determination and 
independence from Serbia. It is identical to the resolution I 
introduced in the last Congress. I urge all Members to support this 
important resolution.
  The Clinton Administration has failed to deal forthrightly with the 
serious situation in Kosova. It is clear that diplomacy has failed in 
stopping Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's dirty campaign of 
repression against the Kosovar Albanians. The time has come for the 
United States to support, in no uncertain terms, independence for 
Kosova.
  The resolution expresses the sense of the Congress that: 1) the U.S. 
should publicly declare that the Albanians of Kosova have a legal right 
to self-determination and that independence is the only political 
solution acceptable to the Kosovars; 2) the U.S. should, in conformity 
with its principles and beliefs, support and sponsor the right of self-
determination for the Kosovar Albanians and this should be a high 
priority for restoring peace and security to the region; 3) the U.S. 
should provide its share of any financial or other resources necessary 
to facilitate the independence of Kosova; 4) the U.S. in conjunction 
with members of the United Nations and other multilateral 
organizations, should convene a working group that deals with the 
specifics of secession in order to prevent future civil conflict from 
rising to the level of a breach of international peace and security and 
the facilitates constructive dialogue in order to prevent violence; and 
5) the U.S. and others should use any and all means necessary to remove 
impediments to the Kosovar Albanian's right to self-determination.
  The resolution asserts that the Kosovar Albanians satisfy the 
objective requirements for self determination according to well-
established tenets of international law. The Kosovar Albanians comprise 
more than 90 percent of Kosova's population; share the common language 
of Albanian; are descendants of the Illyrian--the first group to occupy 
the Balkans well before the Common Era; share a common ethnicity; share 
a common history in the Kosova region; and share a common cultural 
identity as ethnic Albanians with an unbroken historic bond to the 
region. The resolution also notes that the Kosovar Albanians seek 
independence from Serbia in order to establish a democratic form of 
government.
  Mr. Speaker, prior to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, 
Kosova was a separate political and legal entity with separate and 
distinct political, economic, social, judicial, legal, medical and 
educational institutions. Before it was forcibly absorbed into Serbia 
in the late 1980s, Kosova enjoyed the same legal and political status 
as the other six republics of the former Federal Republic of 
Yugoslavia.
  Since Serbian President Milosevic came to power in 1987 Kosova has 
been brutally stripped of all vestiges of self-rule. We are now at a 
critical juncture in Kosova's history. Failure on the part of the U.S. 
and the world community to take decisive action could lead to further 
repression, genocide and regional instability. Diplomacy has failed. 
Fighting continues to rage. Innocent civilians are being slaughtered. 
Independence may be the only viable option the Kosovar Albanians have 
to realize self-determination. It's time for the Clinton Administration 
to stop coddling Milosevic and take a stand for freedom and self-
determination.

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