[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 20, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E82]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           MILOSEVIC DEFIES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ON KOSOVO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 19, 1999

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend we once again heard of 
despicable, unspeakable crimes committed by Serbian police against 
unarmed men, women, and children. More than 40 ethnic Albanians were 
murdered in cold blood in the village of Racak in southern Kosovo. Now, 
in further defiance, Milosevic has ordered Ambassador William Walker, 
the American diplomat who heads the OSCE's Kosovo Verification Mission 
(KVM) to leave Serbia.
  Milosevic's actions represent a complete rupture of the agreement he 
reached with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, an agreement that led to the 
withdrawal of a NATO threat to bomb Serbia. Unless the international 
community responds to these acts, our word and our credibility will be 
deemed to be utterly worthless, and Milosevic will believe he can 
commit further atrocities with impunity.
  I returned yesterday with a senior Congressional delegation that I 
led to meet with our friends and allies in Europe. We were briefed by 
General Wes Clark, the Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, who told us 
that Milosevic will never respond to anything other than the credible 
threat of force. General Clark is at present in Belgrade awaiting a 
meeting to deliver a strong message to Milosevic.
  If Milosevic does not immediately fully comply with the agreement he 
made with Ambassador Holbrooke, the international community must 
respond swiftly and forcefully. We must not allow the situation in 
Kosovo to continue to deteriorate, nor allow the humanitarian situation 
there to return to the point of disaster that we experienced last 
summer.

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