[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 70 (Friday, May 14, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S5370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      KOSOVO REFUGEE REGISTRATION

  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, we are all horrified by the human suffering 
that we are seeing every day as ethnic Albanians are being forced to 
flee Kosovo. The scope of this tragedy is overwhelming. Many of the 
refugees have not only lost their homes and other material 
possessions--they have been separated from their families and stripped 
of their identities, as documents were stolen and destroyed. While NATO 
and the United Nations are trying to manage the refugee crisis, there 
have been glaring shortcomings in their capacity to help refugees to be 
reunited with loved ones.
  I am pleased the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) is looking to the private sector for assistance, and that the 
private sector is generously contributing equipment, funds, and 
expertise to help ease this horrible situation. UNHCR currently does 
not have the technological capability to furnish a registration system 
which could log and issue identification papers to over 400,000 
displaced Kosovars who have taken refuge in Albania. So Microsoft, 
Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, Securit World Ltd, and ScreenCheck B.V., have 
offered to provide a registration system that will facilitate the 
distribution of relief supplies and assist in the reunification of 
family members. Clearly, this effort will make a substantial difference 
in helping the refugees in Albania to rebuild their lives. While we 
automatically rely on government agencies to respond to such a crisis, 
it is encouraging to see companies step up to the plate and volunteer 
assistance they can provide faster and more efficiently than the public 
sector. This kind of private sector involvement should serve as an 
example for other companies to follow.

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