[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9536]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 119--COMMENDING THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA 
    FOR THE CONDUCT OF ITS PARLIAMENTARY AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

  Mr. GORTON (for himself, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Abraham, Mrs. Hutchison, 
Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Sessions) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 119

       Whereas the fourth Croatian parliamentary elections, held 
     on January 3, 2000, marked Croatia's progress toward meeting 
     its commitments as a participating state of the Organization 
     on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and as a member 
     of the Council of Europe;
       Whereas Croatia's third presidential elections were 
     conducted smoothly and professionally and concluded on 
     February 7, 2000, with the landslide election of Stipe Mesic 
     as the new President of the Republic of Croatia;
       Whereas the free and fair elections in Croatia, and the 
     following peaceful and orderly transfer of power from the old 
     government to the new, is an example of democracy to the 
     people of other nations in the region and a major 
     contribution to the democratic development of southeastern 
     Europe; and
       Whereas the people of Croatia have made clear that they 
     want Croatia to take its rightful place in the family of 
     European democracies and to develop a closer and more 
     constructive relationship with the Euro-Atlantic community of 
     democratic nations: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) the people of the Republic of Croatia are to be 
     congratulated on the successful elections and the outgoing 
     Government of Croatia is to be commended for the democratic 
     standards with which it managed the elections;
       (2) the United States should support the efforts of the new 
     Government of Croatia to increase its work on refugee return, 
     privatization reform, media reform, and further cooperation 
     with the International Criminal Tribunal for Former 
     Yugoslavia (ICTY) to set an example to other countries in the 
     region;
       (3) the Congress strongly supports Croatia's commitment to 
     democracy and will give its full support to the efforts of 
     the new Government of Croatia to fully implement democratic 
     reforms;
       (4) the United States should continue to promote Croatian-
     American economic, political, and military relations and to 
     recognize Croatia as a loyal partner in south central Europe; 
     and
       (5) taking into consideration Croatia's contributions as a 
     committed partner in the region, the Congress recommends 
     establishing a strategic partnership with the Republic of 
     Croatia and supports the serious consideration of Croatia's 
     candidacy for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization's Partnership for Peace program and its 
     candidacy for accession into the World Trade Organization.

                          ____________________