[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19578]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 19578]]

                   SERBIA DEMOCRATIZATION ACT OF 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 25, 2000

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 
1064, the Serbia and Montenegro Democracy Act. This resolution 
coincides with the highly important general elections held in Serbia on 
September 24, 2000. We can only hope that the ongoing election count at 
this hour reflects a fair, free, and open election, Mr. Speaker.
  As we all know, Yugoslav President Milosevic has maintained his power 
in Serbia throughout the 1990s through a combination of virulent Serb 
nationalism and outright oppression.
  The violence that occurred in Kosovo was brutal and a dramatic 
affront to the inhabitants of those environs. He has also tried to 
silence democratic opponents in Montenegro--the only remaining republic 
outside Serbia in the Yugoslav Federation. Now, the democratic 
opposition must be given every incentive to flourish in Serbia and 
Montenegro.
  This bill authorizes as much as $50 million to support 
democratization of the Republic of Serbia (excluding Kosovo) and $55 
million in support of ongoing political and economic reforms and 
democratization in the Republic of Montenegro.
  H.R. 1064 directs the radio and television broadcasting to Yugoslavia 
in both the Serbo-Croatian and Albanian languages be carried out by the 
Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Inc. The message 
of democracy and human rights can be disseminated directly to the 
people of Serbia if we use all technological means at our disposal. The 
bill also provides funds for the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe to facilitate contacts by democracy activists in 
Serbia and Montenegro with their counterparts in other countries.
  The bill contains some measures that hold the worst human rights 
abusers accountable. H.R. 1064 maintains sanctions against the 
government of Yugoslavia until the following conditions are met--
agreement on a lasting settlement in Kosovo; compliance with the 
General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina; 
implementation of internal democratic reform; settlement of all 
succession issues with the other republics that emerged from the break-
up of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; and cooperation 
with the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia 
indicted by the tribunal.
  The bill also blocks all Yugoslav assets in the United States; 
restricts U.S. citizens from doing business with the Yugoslav 
government; prohibits U.S. visas to senior Yugoslav government 
officials and their families; and restricts non-humanitarian U.S. 
assistance to Yugoslavia.
  Finally, the bill directs the President to coordinate multilateral 
sanctions on the governments of Serbia and Yugoslavia; requires that 
the United States fully support the investigation of President Slobodan 
Milosevic by the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia 
for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and grave breaches of 
the Geneva Convention; directs the President to report to Congress on 
the information provided to the tribunal; and urges the President to 
condemn the harassment of ethnic Hungarian inhabitants in Vojvodina.

                          ____________________