[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8241-8242]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT MUST MAKE A CHOICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I think all of us grew up in families where 
we were taught from an early age to be proud of our ethnic heritage. 
Millions of Americans were raised in homes where it was not uncommon to 
hear relatives speak Polish or Italian or Yiddish or Chinese or Urdu or 
Arabic or any one of dozens of other tongues. But we always understood 
that no matter what language our family spoke and what their ethnicity, 
at the core we were all Americans.
  Imagine if it were different. Imagine if because your family spoke a 
different language or honored different traditions, you were barred 
from being a police officer or working for the Postal Service or even 
attending college. Imagine for a moment that this bigotry was not only 
sanctioned by the government but it was actually written into the 
Constitution.
  If my colleagues can imagine that, then they have a pretty good idea 
what it is like to be an ethnic Albanian living in Macedonia today. 
Today the Macedonian government is being applauded by leaders 
worldwide; but has it truly earned its praise? Yes, the creation of the 
unity government was a step in the right direction. But it was a very 
small step in a time that calls for great strides, strides that can 
only begin with acknowledging the reality of today's Macedonia. It is a 
country whose constitution disenfranchises 33 to 40 percent of 
Macedonians who are ethnic Albanians.
  Mr. Speaker, in any true democracy, equality is conferred by 
citizenship, not by ethnicity or by religion. That is why the 
Macedonian government must make a choice. Are they committed to

[[Page 8242]]

true democracy or to a sham democracy on the order of the one that 
distinguished South Africa throughout the era of apartheid?

                              {time}  1900

  It is a question we have yet to hear a satisfactory response to.
  What we do know is that today ethnic Albanians are treated like 
second- class citizens in their own country. We know they are denied 
the same educational and job opportunities enjoyed by Slavic 
Macedonians. We know that Slavic Macedonians hold 90 percent of the 
public sector jobs and they compose 90 percent of the police force and 
that 90 percent of the university students are Slavic Macedonians. We 
know that Albanians are even penalized for speaking their own language. 
Universities which use the Albanian language are actually denied public 
funds.
  Macedonians and Albanians should both have equal opportunities to use 
their native languages. Albanians are made to suffer in poorly funded 
schools and universities because they speak, quote, the wrong language. 
But that is not all. Ethnic Albanians not only have second- and third-
rate schools, they have bad roads and inadequate health care.
  There might be a time when Macedonia earns our applause, Mr. Speaker, 
but that time has not arrived and it will not until all of its people 
are treated equally. It will not until their constitution recognizes 
ethnic Albanians as citizens of Macedonia. It will not until ethnic 
Albanians have the right to use their own language. It will not until 
ethnic Albanians have the right to preserve their own cultural 
heritage.
  Power sharing is not just about who holds the positions in the 
government. It is about who has what status in a society as a whole.
  This is no time for baby steps or token gestures. This is the time 
for the Macedonian government to take action to remove the 
institutional discrimination against Albanian Macedonians. This is the 
time for the Macedonian government to take on initiatives that make 
amends to the Albanian people.
  The challenge of democracy is that it does not ask leaders to do what 
is easy. It challenges them to stand up and do what is right.
  Mr. Speaker, in conclusion let me say that I hope that this ethnic 
violence in Macedonia will cease and it can only cease when equality is 
brought to all of its people.

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