[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2650]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 KOSOVO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise because I listened intently to the 
remarks just made by my friend from Texas, and I want to say that as 
someone who has supported the independence of Kosovo for the past 20 
years, I couldn't disagree more.
  I am proud of the United States for supporting and encouraging the 
independence of Kosovo. I am proud of the Bush administration for doing 
the right thing in Kosovo. I am proud of the United States standing on 
the side of freedom and self-determination and independence, and I am 
proud that the United States understands that the people of Kosovo are 
entitled to the same kinds of freedoms that we had for ourselves in our 
own revolution more than 200 years ago.
  No, I don't think that every independence or separatist movement in 
the world is entitled to declare independence, but I think that we need 
to look at everything in terms of its context.
  The former Yugoslavia broke up. There were several components of the 
former Yugoslavia. We now have several independent countries of 
Macedonia and Croatia and Slovenia and many others, Montenegro, and 
Kosovo, also, as part of the former Yugoslavia is entitled to that same 
kind of independence and self-determination.
  We remember where the former leader of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, 
had set out to ethnically cleanse his country of Albanians, to commit 
genocide against the Albanians in Kosovo to drive them out, to indeed 
burn practically every Albanian home in Kosovo when they were driven 
out. It was only because of the courage at that time of President 
Clinton and the United States where we helped and bombed and prevented 
genocide that that was prevented.
  So I think the situation in the former Yugoslavia, in Kosovo, is 
unique. I think that Serbia relinquished any kind of claim to Kosovo by 
the way their former leader Milosevic persecuted and committed genocide 
against the Albanian population.
  Self-determination for the people of Kosovo is the right thing to do. 
The United States and the European Union have stood strong in 
supporting Kosovo independence. Kosovo, indeed, will be a strong ally 
of the West, of the United States, of the European Union.
  The people of Kosovo love the United States. They trust us. They care 
about us. They know we are there for them. I want to tell you, as 
someone who has been so involved with this issue for the past 20 years, 
there are no better friends that we have across the world, the United 
States has, than the people of Kosovo.
  So I am very, very proud that that is a new nation. I am very proud 
that the United States has recognized them. I, indeed, would urge all 
freedom-loving countries of the world to recognize the people of 
Kosovo.
  We in this wonderful democracy are so blessed and so fortunate to 
live in the United States, and we have principles for which we stand, 
and those are the same principles that the people of Kosovo are 
standing for and looking at us to follow exactly what we have done in 
terms of democracy. I hope to go to Kosovo in the very, very near 
future to celebrate with the people there.
  I want to say one other thing. Kosovo will be a multiethnic state, 
and that means that minority rights have to be protected in Kosovo. 
There are some who are concerned about Serbian Orthodox churches and 
that minority rights, including Serbs, need to be protected. I agree. 
Those churches need to be protected. Minority rights need to be 
protected. I am confident that the leaders of Kosovo will protect those 
churches, will protect those rights, will protect the rights of all 
Kosovors, whether they be Albanian, Serb or others, and the people 
understand that. I know the people of Kosovo, and I know they 
understand that.
  I just want to very, very strongly state that I am proud to be a 
friend of the people of Kosovo. This Congress has been a friend of the 
people of Kosovo. Our government has been a friend of the people of 
Kosovo, and I think we as Americans can hold our heads up high and say 
that the ideals for which our revolution was fought more than 200 years 
ago are the same ideals of the revolution for the new independence and 
new nation of Kosovo.

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