[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 89 (Friday, June 28, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1175-E1176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  H. RES. 467: INDEPENDENCE FOR KOSOVA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 27, 2002

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, since the cessation of NATO's 1999 conflict 
with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in Kosova remains under a 
United Nations mandate. But progress in Kosova is being held up by its 
lack of independence and its inability to determine its own fate. For 
that reason, I am introducing, together with the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Lantos), a resolution expressing the sense of the House 
of Representatives that the United States should declare its support 
for the independence of Kosova.
  The Kosovars, the United Nations, NATO and the international 
community are now making efforts to rebuild Kosova, revitalize its 
economy, establish democratic institutions of self-government, and heal 
the scars of war.
  Under President Slobodan Milosevic, the Yugoslav government 
dismantled Kosova's political structures, replaced ethnic Albanians 
with Serbs in most jobs, enabled Serb-owned firms to take over 
Albanian-owned companies, and forbade Albanians from purchasing or 
improving property.
  As a result of this systematic persecution and discrimination, today 
the unemployment rate in Kosova is currently between 60 and 70 percent, 
increasing the likelihood of Kosovars either entering criminal networks 
or working abroad in order to survive. The perpetuation of these 
economic difficulties heightens the potential for continued instability 
in the region.
  The only way to address the problem of the chronic instability that 
plagues the region, and the way towards a genuine, long-term political 
and economic stability of Kosova and the region, lies not only in the 
physical and social reconstruction of Kosova, but in considering 
Kosovar independence as a solution. Unless massive job creation is 
facilitated by guaranteeing the security of foreign investments through 
an independent Kosova, the impact of these economic difficulties could 
prove detrimental to U.S. interests in the region.
  Three years after the war's end, Kosova is already responsible for 93 
percent of its budget, with 7 percent supplied by foreign donors, 
underscoring its commitment to growing a market economy, not an aid 
economy. Under the Yugoslav constitution of 1974, Kosova was equivalent 
in most ways to Slovenia, Croatia, and the other republics. In its 
position as an ``autonomous province,'' Kosova, in practice, exercised 
the same powers as a republic. It has its own parliament, high courts, 
central bank, police service, and defense force. Through its definition 
in 1968 as a part of the Yugoslav Federal System, it gained 
representation at the federal level.
  When Slovenia and Croatia demanded independence, similar arguments 
were made by Western governments against recognizing those countries. 
However, eventually the same Western governments did recognize not only 
the independence of Slovenia and Croatia, but Bosnia-Herzegovina and 
Macedonia as well, having discovered that independence for those 
nations involved not so much a change of borders as a change in the 
status of existing borders. The lines on the map remained the same, but 
their status was upgraded from republican to national. It is fitting 
that the Kosovars are allowed to follow the same path towards 
independence.
  Accordingly, it is time for the United States to abide by its 
recognition that a right to self-determination exists as a fundamental 
right of all people through declaring its support for the independence 
of Kosova.
  Mr. Speaker, for the information of my colleagues, I insert a copy of 
H. Res. 467 at this point in the Record.

                              H. Res. 467

       Whereas the United States and the international community 
     recognize that a right to self-determination exists as a 
     fundamental right of all people;
       Whereas Kosova was constitutionally defined as a sovereign 
     territory in the First National Liberation Conference for 
     Kosova on January 2, 1944, and this status was confirmed in 
     the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of 
     Yugoslavia adopted in 1946, and the amended Yugoslav 
     constitution adopted in 1974 preserved the autonomous status 
     of Kosova as a de facto republic,
       Whereas prior to the disintegration of the former 
     Yugoslavia, Kosova was a separate political and legal entity 
     with separate and distinct financial institutions, police 
     force, municipal and national government, school system, 
     judicial and legal system, hospitals and other independent 
     organizations;
       Whereas Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic rose to power 
     in 1987 on a platform of ultranationalism and anti-Albanian 
     racism, advocating violence and hatred against all non-Slavs 
     and specifically targeting the Albanians of Kosova,
       Whereas Slobodan Milosevic subsequently stripped Kosova of 
     its self-rule, without the consent of the people of Kosova;
       Whereas the elected Assembly of Kosova, faced with these 
     intolerable acts, adopted a Declaration of Independence on 
     July 2, 1990, proclaimed the Republic of Kosova, and adopted 
     a constitution on September 7, 1990, based on the 
     international legal principles of self-determination, 
     equality, and sovereignty;
       Whereas in recognition of the de facto dissolution of the 
     Yugoslav federation, the European community established 
     principles for the recognition of the independence and 
     sovereignty of the republics of the former Socialist Federal 
     Republic of Yugoslavia and Kosova fully satisfied those 
     principles as a de facto republic within the federation;
       Whereas a popular referendum was held in Kosova from 
     September 26-30, 1991, in which 87 percent of all eligible 
     voters cast ballots and 99.87 percent voted in favor of 
     declaring Kosova independent of the Socialist Federal 
     Republic of Yugoslavia,
       Whereas, from the occupation of Kosova in 1989 until the 
     North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military action 
     against the Milosevic regime in 1999, the Albanians of Kosova 
     were subjected to the most brutal treatment in the heart of 
     Europe since the Nazi era, forcing approximately 400,000 
     Albanians to flee to Western Europe and the United States;
       Whereas in the spring of 1999 almost 1,000,000 Kosovar 
     Albanians were driven out of Kosova and at least 10,000 were 
     murdered by the Serbian paramilitary and military;
       Whereas Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the 
     International War Crimes Tribunal and extradited to The Hague 
     in June 2001 to stand trial for war crimes, crimes against 
     humanity, and genocide in Kosova, Bosnia, and Croatia;
       Whereas the United Nations established Kosova as a 
     protectorate under Resolution 1244, ending the decade long 
     Serbian occupation of Kosova and Milosevic's genocidal war in 
     Kosova;
       Whereas Kosovar Albanians, together with representatives of 
     the Serb, Turkish, Roma, Bosniak, and Ashkali minorities in 
     Kosova, have held free and fair municipal and general 
     elections in 2000 and 2001 and successfully, established a 
     parliament in 2002, which in turn elected a president and 
     prime minister;
       Whereas 50 percent of the population in Kosova is under the 
     age of 25 and the unemployment rate is currently between 60 
     and 70 percent, increasing the likelihood of young people 
     entering criminal networks, the source of which lies outside 
     of Kosova, or working abroad in order to survive unless 
     massive job creation is facilitated by guaranteeing the 
     security of foreign investments through an orderly transition 
     to the independence of Kosova;
       Whereas the Kosova parliament is committed to developing a 
     western-style democracy in which all citizens, regardless of 
     ethnicity, are granted full human and civil rights and are 
     committed to the return of all noncriminal Serbs who fled 
     Kosova during and after the war; and
       Whereas there is every reason to believe that independence 
     from Serbia is the only viable option for Kosova, after 
     autonomy has failed time and time again: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that the United States should--
       (1) publicly support the independence of Kosova and the 
     establishment of Kosova as a

[[Page E1176]]

     soveieign and democratic state in which human rights are 
     respected, including the rights of ethnic and religious 
     minorities, as the only way to lasting peace and stability in 
     the Balkans;
       (2) recognize the danger that delay in the resolution of 
     Kosova's final status poses for the political and economic 
     viability of Kosova and the future of Southeast Europe;
       (3) work in conjunction with the United Nations, the North 
     Atlantic Treaty Organization, and other multilateral 
     organizations to facilitate an orderly transition to the 
     independence of Kosova; and
       (4) provide its share of assistance, trade, and other 
     programs to support the government of an independent Kosova 
     and to encourage the further development of democracy and a 
     free market economic system.

     

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