[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 4, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H269-H270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REPORT ON PROGRESS IN ACHIEVING MILITARILY SIGNIFICANT BENCHMARKS FOR 
  CONDITIONS ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE PEACE IN KOSOVO--MESSAGE FROM THE 
          PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 108-33)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States; which was read and, together 
with the accompanying papers, without objection, referred to the 
Committee on International Relations, the Committee on Armed Services, 
and the Committee on Appropriations and ordered to be printed.

To the Congress of the United States:
  Pursuant to section 1212 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2001, Public Law 106-398, I hereby submit a report, 
prepared by my Administration, on the progress made in achieving the 
militarily significant benchmarks for conditions that would achieve a 
sustainable peace in Kosovo and ultimately allow for the withdrawal of 
the United States military presence in Kosovo.
  The term ``militarily significant'' relates to tasks and objectives 
significant from a military standpoint that once accomplished, would 
allow for withdrawal of military forces from Kosovo. In the 
establishment of the Kosovo benchmarks, four critical tasks for NATO 
forces were identified: military stability; public security; border/
boundary issues; and war crimes/support to the International Criminal 
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Objectives for these tasks were 
drawn from United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, the NATO 
Operations

[[Page H270]]

Plan, the Military Technical Agreement, and the Kosovo Liberation Army 
Undertaking.
  I anticipate that Kosovo Force--and U.S. participation in it--will 
gradually reduce in size as public security conditions improve and 
Kosovars assume increasing responsibility for their own self-
government.
                                                      George W. Bush.  
The White House, January 31, 2003.

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