[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S952-S953]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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   SENATE RESOLUTION 529--SUPPORTING A DEMOCRATIC, PLURALISTIC, AND 
   PROSPEROUS BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ON THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS 
                      DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

  Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
Wicker, and Mr. Peters) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 529

       Whereas Bosnia and Herzegovina has historically been a 
     pluralistic society influenced by and composed of a diverse 
     set of religions, cultures, and ethnicities;
       Whereas, on March 3, 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared 
     independence, and on April 7, 1992, the United States 
     recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent state;
       Whereas more than 100,000 people died and 2,000,000 more 
     were displaced in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 
     1995;
       Whereas the United States, alongside the North Atlantic 
     Treaty Organization (NATO), played a crucial role in ending 
     the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and brokering the General 
     Framework Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina (also known as 
     the ``Dayton Agreement'' and the ``Dayton Accords'') in 
     November 1995;
       Whereas the Dayton Accords ended the war, affirmed the 
     territorial integrity and political independence of Bosnia 
     and Herzegovina, established the Federation of Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, and two tiers of government at 
     the state, entity, district, canton, and municipal levels, 
     installed the NATO Stabilization Force (SFOR) as an 
     international interim peacekeeping force, and created the 
     Office of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina 
     (OHR) to oversee civilian implementation of the accords;
       Whereas, since the Dayton Accords were signed, the 
     Government and people of Bosnia and Herzegovina have made 
     important strides toward re-building a peaceful society based 
     on democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and a free-
     market economy;
       Whereas, in 2004, the United Nations Security Council 
     adopted United Nations Security Council Resolution 1575 
     authorizing a multinational stabilization force led by the 
     European Union (EUFOR) as the legal successor to SFOR in 
     Bosnia and Herzegovina;
       Whereas, in 2008, the Peace Implementation Council Steering 
     Board set out the requirements that need to be met prior to 
     the closure of the OHR in the 5+2 Agenda;
       Whereas, since 2009 and the case of Sejdic-Finci, the 
     European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued judgments 
     concerning ethnic- and territory-based discrimination in the 
     elections of Bosnia and Herzegovina and requiring reforms, 
     which have yet to be implemented;
       Whereas Bosnia and Herzegovina was invited to join a NATO 
     Membership Action Plan in 2010, and Bosnia and Herzegovina 
     submitted its first Reform Program to NATO in 2019;
       Whereas Bosnia and Herzegovina formally applied for 
     European Union membership on February 15, 2016;
       Whereas, on May 29, 2019, the European Union adopted a 
     roadmap to membership for Bosnia and Herzegovina, outlining 
     needed reforms in the areas of democracy, the rule of

[[Page S953]]

     law, fundamental rights, and public administration;
       Whereas the United States and the European Union have 
     called on Bosnia and Herzegovina to implement election and 
     targeted constitutional reforms to ensure broad participation 
     in the 2022 general election in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to 
     comply with the Sejdic-Finci judgments from the ECHR;
       Whereas, on October 20, 2021, the United States and the 
     European Union issued a joint statement supporting the 
     territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and calling 
     ``on all parties to respect and protect state institutions, 
     resume constructive dialogue, and take steps to advance 
     progress on the EU integration path--including on relevant 
     reforms'';
       Whereas some politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 
     other countries in the region continue to make statements 
     downplaying or denying the 1995 Srebrenica genocide;
       Whereas Milorad Dodik, a Bosnian Serb member of the 
     Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has hampered 
     reconciliation efforts through genocide denial, engaged in 
     proactive and destabilizing security maneuvers, threatened to 
     withdraw Republika Srpska from state-level institutions, 
     including the judiciary, the security services, the Indirect 
     Tax Authority, and the armed forces of Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina, and called for the dissolution of the OHR;
       Whereas, on December 10, 2021, the parliament of Republika 
     Srpska voted in favor of denying the constitutional and 
     legitimate authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the areas 
     of taxation, justice, and security and defense;
       Whereas the United States has imposed sanctions on Milorad 
     Dodik pursuant to Executive Order 13304 (68 Fed. Reg. 32313; 
     relating to the Termination of Emergencies With Respect to 
     Yugoslavia and Modification of Executive Order 13219 of June 
     26, 2001) and Executive Order 14033 (86 Fed. Reg. 31079; 
     relating to Blocking Property and Suspending Entry Into the 
     United States of Certain Persons Contributing to the 
     Destabilizing Situation in the Western Balkans) for 
     obstructing the Dayton Accords and corruption;
       Whereas, on January 9, 2022, Milorad Dodik presided over 
     commemorations of an unconstitutional holiday, Republika 
     Srpska Day, which coincided with the day Bosnian Serbs 
     declared their own state and ignited four years of war and 
     bloodshed;
       Whereas international financial institutions such as the 
     International Monetary Foundation have warned that withdrawal 
     from the Indirect Tax Authority would cripple the economy of 
     Bosnia and Herzegovina;
       Whereas, in 2020, the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina 
     contracted by an estimated 4.3 percent, and the youth 
     unemployment rate rose to 33.6 percent, disrupting a five-
     year trend of decline in part due to the rampant corruption 
     that remains unaddressed; and
       Whereas at least 400,000 citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina 
     have emigrated from Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past 8 
     years: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) congratulates Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 30th 
     anniversary of its declaration of independence;
       (2) reaffirms strong and longstanding bipartisan support 
     for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and continues to believe that 
     peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina is integral to 
     the peace and stability of Europe as a whole;
       (3) calls on all parties to uphold the spirit of unity 
     enshrined in the Dayton Accords and to redouble their efforts 
     to enact electoral and targeted constitutional reforms prior 
     to the 2022 general election in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
       (4) calls on the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina to recognize their critical role in preserving 
     stability and to work together in the best interests of their 
     constituents as part of a sovereign and independent Bosnia 
     and Herzegovina within its internationally recognized 
     borders;
       (5) encourages the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina to 
     continue pursuing membership in the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization and the European Union and urges the European 
     Union to increase its efforts, cooperation, and assistance to 
     swiftly advance the accession process;
       (6) calls on the President to prioritize efforts to combat 
     political corruption, democratic backsliding, unemployment, 
     and brain drain in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular, by 
     focusing on youth engagement;
       (7) commends the continued efforts of the Office of the 
     High Representative (OHR) to advance reforms, reaffirms the 
     authority of the OHR as articulated in the Dayton Accords, 
     and calls on members of the Peace and Implementation Council 
     to provide their full support to the OHR and advancement of 
     the 5+2 Agenda;
       (8) calls on the President to develop an inclusive and 
     comprehensive strategy for Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 
     coordination with Bosnian and Herzegovinian civil society and 
     the European Union, and to increase engagement with minority 
     groups in an effort to hear from a diverse cross-section of 
     citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina, inclusive of all ethnic, 
     political, or religious affiliations;
       (9) encourages the United Nations and its member states to 
     continue to support the EUFOR-Althea stabilization force and 
     to review the current levels of the force in the face of 
     challenges to the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
       (10) encourages the United States to consider additional 
     steps to support security and stabilization in Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina and to support EUFOR;
       (11) condemns individuals who are actively seeking to 
     undermine the security, stability, and territorial integrity 
     of Bosnia and Herzegovina and urges the President and 
     European allies of the United States to hold such individuals 
     accountable for their actions, including through the use of 
     sanctions where appropriate;
       (12) condemns the inflammatory rhetoric of politicians in 
     Bosnia and Herzegovina and others in the region who deny the 
     severity or perpetration of war crimes and genocide in Bosnia 
     and Herzegovina;
       (13) condemns politicians in Bosnian and Herzegovina and 
     the region who--
       (A) persist in rampant corruption for personal enrichment 
     at the cost of the prosperity of the citizens of Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina; and
       (B) prevent Bosnia and Herzegovina from adopting the 
     reforms necessary to secure membership in the European Union 
     and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and
       (14) emphasizes that the United States Government will 
     continue to support the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 
     their quest to build a unified, pluralistic, prosperous, and 
     peaceful state.

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