[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 108 (Thursday, August 1, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S8025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ENCOURAGING THE PEACE PROCESS IN SRI LANKA

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 516, S. Res. 300.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 300) encouraging the peace process in 
     Sri Lanka.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution, which had been reported by the Committee on Foreign 
Relations with an amendment and amendments to the preamble, as follows:
  [Omit the part enclosed by boldface brackets and insert the part 
printed in italic.]
       Whereas the United States has enjoyed a long and cordial 
     friendship with Sri Lanka;
       [Whereas the people of Sri Lanka have long valued political 
     pluralism, religious freedom, democracy, and a respect for 
     human rights;
       [Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation 
     Tigers of Tamil Eelam have waged a protracted and costly war 
     for the past 19 years;
       Whereas for the past 19 years, the Government of Sri Landa 
     has fought a protracted and costly war against the Liberation 
     Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a group labeled as a foreign terrorist 
     organization by the Department of State;
       Whereas an estimated 65,000 people have died in Sri Lanka 
     as a result of these hostilities;
       Whereas the war has created an estimated 1,000,000 
     displaced persons over the course of the conflict;
       Whereas 19 years of war have crippled the economy of the 
     north and east of Sri Lanka and resulted in low growth rates 
     and economic instability in the south of Sri Lanka;
       Whereas the economic impact of the conflict is felt most 
     severely by the poor in both the north and the south of Sri 
     Lanka;
       Whereas efforts to solve the conflict through military 
     means have failed and neither side appears able to impose its 
     will on the other by force of arms;
       Whereas the Government of Norway has offered and been 
     accepted by the parties of the conflict to play the role of 
     international facilitator;
       Whereas an agreement on a cease-fire between the Government 
     of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was 
     signed by both parties and went into effect February 23, 
     2002; and
       Whereas both the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation 
     Tigers of Tamil Eelam [have agreed] are now in the process of 
     agreeing to meet for peace talks in Thailand: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) notes with great satisfaction the warm and friendly 
     relations that have existed between the people of the United 
     States and Sri Lanka;
       (2) recognizes that the costly military stalemate that has 
     existed between the Government of Sri Lanka and the 
     Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [can only] should be 
     resolved at the negotiating table;
       (3) believes that a political solution, including 
     appropriate constitutional structures and adequate protection 
     of minority rights and cessation of violence, is the path to 
     a comprehensive and lasting peace in Sri Lanka;
       (4) calls on all parties to negotiate in good faith with a 
     view to finding a just and lasting political settlement to 
     Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict while respecting the territorial 
     integrity of Sri Lanka;
       (5) denounces all political violence and acts of terrorism 
     in Sri Lanka, and calls upon those who espouse or use such 
     methods to reject these methods and to embrace dialogue, 
     democratic norms, and the peaceful resolution of disputes;
       (6) applauds the important role played by Norway in 
     facilitating the peace process between the Government of Sri 
     Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam;
       (7) applauds the cooperation of the Government of Sri Lanka 
     and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in lifting the 
     cumbersome travel restrictions that for the last 19 years 
     have hampered the movement of goods, services, and people in 
     the war-affected areas;
       (8) applauds the agreement of the Government of Sri Lanka 
     and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in implementing the 
     Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission;
       (9) calls on all parties to recognize that adherence to 
     internationally recognized human rights facilitates the 
     building of trust necessary for an equitable, sustainable 
     peace;
       (10) further encourages both parties to develop a 
     comprehensive and effective process for human rights 
     monitoring;
       (11) states its willingness in principle to see the United 
     States lend its good offices to play a constructive role in 
     supporting the peace process, if so desired by all parties to 
     the conflict;
       (12) calls on members of the international community to use 
     their good offices to support the peace process and, as 
     appropriate, lend assistance to the reconstruction of war-
     damaged areas of Sri Lanka and to reconciliation among all 
     parties to the conflict; and
       (13) calls on members of the international community to 
     ensure that any assistance to Sri Lanka will be framed in the 
     context of supporting the ongoing peace process and will 
     avoid exacerbating existing ethnic tensions.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee 
amendment to the resolution be agreed to; that the resolution, as 
amended, be agreed to; that the amendments to the preamble be agreed 
to; that the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; that the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, en bloc, with no further intervening 
action or debate; and that any statement relating to the resolution be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee amendment was agreed to.
  The resolution (S. Res. 300), as amended, was agreed to.
  The amendments to the preamble were agreed to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  (The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, will be 
printed in a future edition of the Record.)

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