[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11035-11040]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING SREBRENICA

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 310) expressing the sense of the 
House of Representatives regarding Srebrenica.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 310

       Whereas July 2015 will mark 20 years since the genocide at 
     Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina;

[[Page 11036]]

       Whereas beginning in April 1992, aggression and ethnic 
     cleansing perpetrated by Bosnian Serb forces resulted in a 
     massive influx of Bosniaks seeking protection in Srebrenica 
     and its environs, which the United Nations Security Council 
     designated a ``safe area'' within the Srebrenica enclave in 
     Resolution 819 on April 16, 1993, under the protection of the 
     United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR);
       Whereas the UNPROFOR presence in Srebrenica consisted of a 
     Dutch peacekeeping battalion, with representatives of the 
     United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the 
     International Committee of the Red Cross, and the 
     humanitarian medical aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres 
     (Doctors Without Borders) helping to provide humanitarian 
     relief to the displaced population living in conditions of 
     massive overcrowding, destitution, and disease;
       Whereas early in 1995, an intensified blockade of the 
     enclave by Bosnian Serb forces deprived the entire population 
     of humanitarian aid and outside communication and contact, 
     and effectively reduced the ability of the Dutch peacekeeping 
     battalion to deter aggression or otherwise respond 
     effectively to a deteriorating situation;
       Whereas beginning on July 6, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces 
     attacked UNPROFOR outposts, seized control of the isolated 
     enclave, held captured Dutch soldiers hostage and, after 
     skirmishes with local defenders, took control of the town of 
     Srebrenica on July 11, 1995;
       Whereas an estimated one-third of the population of 
     Srebrenica at the time, including a relatively small number 
     of soldiers, attempted to pass through the lines of Bosnian 
     Serb forces to the relative safety of Bosnian-government 
     controlled territory, but many were killed by patrols and 
     ambushes;
       Whereas the remaining population sought protection with the 
     Dutch peacekeeping battalion at its headquarters in the 
     village of Potocari north of Srebrenica, but many of these 
     individuals were with seeming randomness seized by Bosnian 
     Serb forces to be beaten, raped, or executed;
       Whereas Bosnian Serb forces deported women, children, and 
     the elderly in buses, but held over 8,000 primarily Bosniak 
     men and boys at collection points and sites in northeastern 
     Bosnia and Herzegovina under their control, and then 
     summarily executed these captives and buried them in mass 
     graves;
       Whereas Bosnian Serb forces, hoping to conceal evidence of 
     the massacre at Srebrenica, subsequently moved corpses from 
     initial mass grave sites to many secondary sites scattered 
     throughout parts of eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina under 
     their control;
       Whereas the International Commission for Missing Persons 
     (ICMP) deserves recognition for its assistance to the 
     relevant institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina in accounting 
     for close to 90 percent of those individuals reported missing 
     from Srebrenica, despite active attempts to conceal evidence 
     of the massacre, through the careful excavation of mass 
     graves sites and subsequent DNA analysis which confirmed the 
     true extent of the massacre;
       Whereas the massacre at Srebrenica was among the worst of 
     many atrocities to occur in the conflict in Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina from April 1992 to November 1995, during which 
     the policies of aggression and ethnic cleansing pursued by 
     Bosnian Serb forces with the direct support of the Serbian 
     regime of Slobodan Milosevic and its followers ultimately led 
     to the displacement of more than 2,000,000 people, more than 
     100,000 killed, tens of thousands raped or otherwise tortured 
     and abused, including at concentration camps in the Prijedor 
     area, with the innocent civilians of Sarajevo and other urban 
     centers repeatedly subjected to traumatic shelling and sniper 
     attacks;
       Whereas in addition to being the primary victims at 
     Srebrenica, individuals with Bosniak heritage comprise the 
     vast majority of the victims during the conflict in Bosnia 
     and Herzegovina as a whole, especially among the civilian 
     population;
       Whereas Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and 
     Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as ``any 
     of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in 
     whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious 
     group, as such: (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing 
     serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) 
     deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life 
     calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole 
     or in part; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births 
     within the group; and (e) forcibly transferring children of 
     the group to another group'';
       Whereas, on May 25, 1993, the United Nations Security 
     Council adopted Resolution 827 establishing the International 
     Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), based in 
     The Hague, the Netherlands, and charging the ICTY with 
     responsibility for investigating and prosecuting individuals 
     suspected of committing war crimes, genocide, crimes against 
     humanity and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions on 
     the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991;
       Whereas the ICTY, along with courts in Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina as well as in Serbia, have indicted and in most 
     cases convicted approximately three dozen individuals at 
     various levels of responsibility for grave breaches of the 
     1949 Geneva Conventions, violations of the laws or customs of 
     war, crimes against humanity, genocide, and complicity in 
     genocide associated with the massacre at Srebrenica, most 
     notably Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic whose trials are 
     ongoing;
       Whereas both the ICTY and the International Court of 
     Justice (ICJ) have ruled that the actions of Bosnian Serb 
     forces in Srebrenica in July 1995 constitute genocide;
       Whereas House Resolution 199, passed on June 27, 2005, 
     expressed the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
     aggression and ethnic cleansing committed by Serb forces in 
     Bosnia and Herzegovina meets the terms defining genocide 
     according to the 1949 Genocide Convention;
       Whereas the United Nations has largely acknowledged its 
     failure to fulfill its responsibility to take actions and 
     make decisions that could have deterred the assault on 
     Srebrenica and prevented the subsequent genocide from 
     occurring;
       Whereas some prominent Serbian and Bosnian Serb officials, 
     among others, have denied or at least refused to acknowledge 
     that the massacre at Srebrenica constituted a genocide, or 
     have sought otherwise to trivialize the extent and importance 
     of the massacre; and
       Whereas the international community, including the United 
     States, has continued to provide personnel and resources, 
     including through direct military intervention, to prevent 
     further aggression and ethnic cleansing, to negotiate the 
     General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina (initialed in Dayton, Ohio, on November 21, 1995, 
     and signed in Paris on December 14, 1995), and to help ensure 
     its fullest implementation, including cooperation with the 
     International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia as 
     well as reconciliation among all of Bosnia and Herzegovina's 
     citizens: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) affirms that the policies of aggression and ethnic 
     cleansing as implemented by Serb forces in Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 meet the terms defining the 
     crime of genocide in Article 2 of the Convention on the 
     Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;
       (2) condemns statements that deny or question that the 
     massacre at Srebrenica constituted a genocide;
       (3) urges the Atrocities Prevention Board, a United States 
     interagency committee established by the Administration in 
     2012, to study the lessons of Srebrenica and issue informed 
     guidance on how to prevent similar incidents from recurring 
     in the future, paying particular regard to troubled countries 
     including but not limited to Syria, the Central African 
     Republic and Burundi;
       (4) encourages the United States to maintain and reaffirm 
     its policy of supporting the independence and territorial 
     integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, peace and stability in 
     southeastern Europe as a whole, and the right of all people 
     living in the region, regardless of national, racial, ethnic 
     or religious background, to return to their homes and enjoy 
     the benefits of democratic institutions, the rule of law, and 
     economic opportunity, as well as to know the fate of missing 
     relatives and friends;
       (5) recognizes the achievement of the International 
     Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP) in accounting for those 
     missing in conflicts or natural disasters around the world 
     and believes that the ICMP deserves justified recognition for 
     its assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina and its relevant 
     institutions in accounting for approximately ninety percent 
     of those reported missing after the Srebrenica massacre and 
     seventy percent of those reported missing during the whole of 
     the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
       (6) welcomes the arrest and transfer to the International 
     Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of all 
     persons indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity, 
     genocide and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, 
     particularly those of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, 
     which has helped strengthen peace and encouraged 
     reconciliation between the countries of the region and their 
     citizens;
       (7) asserts that it is in the national interest of the 
     United States that those individuals who are responsible for 
     these crimes and breaches should continue to be held 
     accountable for their actions, and that the work of the ICTY 
     therefore warrants continued support until all trials and 
     appeals have been completed; and
       (8) honors the thousands of innocent people killed or 
     executed at Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 
     1995, along with all individuals who were victimized during 
     the conflict and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 
     to 1995, as well as foreign nationals, including United 
     States citizens, and those individuals in Serbia, Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina, and other countries of the region who risked and 
     in some cases lost their lives during their brave defense of 
     human rights and fundamental freedoms, and advocacy of 
     respect for ethnic identity without discrimination.


[[Page 11037]]


  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days to submit statements and 
extraneous materials for the Record on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, this week, the world pauses to remember and reflect on 
the Srebrenica genocide, horrific acts of brutality, wanton cruelty, 
and mass murder committed in Srebrenica beginning July 11, 20 years 
ago.
  This week, we pause to honor those brave Bosniaks who suffered and 
died, victims of genocide. This week, the people in the United States 
and men and women of goodwill throughout the world again extend our 
deepest condolences and respect to the mothers and surviving family 
members who have endured unspeakable sorrow and loss that time will 
never abate. And this week, the international community must recommit 
itself to justice, once and for all, for those who perpetrated these 
heinous crimes.
  Today, Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are incarcerated, awaiting 
final disposition of their cases before the International Tribunal for 
the former Yugoslavia for multiple counts of genocide, crimes against 
humanity, and violations of laws and customs of war.
  Twenty years ago, Madam Speaker, an estimated 8,000 people were 
systematically slaughtered by Bosnian Serb soldiers in the United 
Nations-designated ``safe haven'' area of Srebrenica. They killed 
Muslim women and children, but especially sought out and murdered adult 
males in that area.

                              {time}  1600

  These brutal killings were not committed in battle. They were 
committed against people who were unarmed and helpless and who had been 
repeatedly assured by Dutch peacekeepers that they would not be harmed 
if they surrendered.
  The evidence is overwhelming that the executions were committed with 
the specific intention of destroying the Bosnian Muslim population of 
that area. This intention is the central element in the crime of 
genocide.
  The U.N. peacekeeping forces in Srebrenica were charged with 
enforcing Security Council Resolution 836, which had pledged to defend 
the safe areas with ``all necessary means, including the use of 
force.''
  But when the moment of truth came, the U.N. forces offered only token 
resistance to the Serb offensive. Their military and political 
commanders had redefined their primary mission not as the protection of 
the people of Srebrenica, but as the safety of the U.N. forces 
themselves.
  When Bosnian Serb Commander Ratko Mladic threatened violence against 
the blue-helmeted soldiers, here is the way one of those soldiers 
described the reaction. And I quote him: ``Everybody got a fright. You 
could easily get killed in such an operation. As far as I knew, we had 
not been sent to Srebrenica to defend the enclave, but, rather, as some 
kind of spruced-up observers.''
  So that is what the peacekeepers became: observers to genocide. Soon 
they became something more than observers: enablers.
  On July 13, the Dutch blue-helmet battalion handed Bosnian Muslims 
who had sought safety within the U.N. compound over to the Serbs. They 
watched as the men were separated from the women and children, a 
process which was already well known in Bosnia--it was at the time--as 
a sign that the men were in imminent danger of being executed. These 
men were never heard from again.
  At one congressional hearing I chaired in March of 1998--and I had 
six of them--Hasan Nuhanovic, the indigenous translator working for the 
U.N. peacekeepers in Srebrenica, testified.
  He was there in the room. Hasan lost his family in the genocide. He 
was there when Mladic and the commanders of the Dutch peacekeepers 
talked about the terms.
  Here is what he told my panel, in part:
  ``On July 12, the day before the fall of Srebrenica, the Bosnian Serb 
Army commander, General Ratko Mladic, requested a meeting with the 
Dutchbat commander, Lieutenant Colonel Karemans, and local 
representatives of Srebrenica in the nearby town of Bratunac outside 
the enclave . . . During the meeting, Mladic assured the Dutch and 
local delegation that no harm would come to the refugees in Potocari . 
. .
  ``Upon returning to the camp, three local representatives are ordered 
by Dutchbat deputy commander, Major Franken, to prepare a list of all 
males, all men and boys between the ages of 16 and 65 among the 
refugees inside and outside the camp. The list of the males among the 
6,000 inside the camp was completed the same day . . .
  ``On July 13, the Dutch ordered 6,000 refugees out of the Potocari 
camp. The Serbs were waiting at the gate, separating all males from the 
women and children. Major Franken stated that all the males whose names 
were on the list would be safe . . . I watched my parents and my 
brother being handed over to the Serbs at the gate. None of them have 
been seen since.
  ``I want to explain here that the people hoped that the Dutch were 
going to protect them, the U.N. peacekeeping troops and all other 
members of all other organization who were present in Srebrenica who 
were inside the camp, the people hoped that they would be protected, 
but the Dutch soldiers and officer gave no other option to the refugees 
but to leave. So the refugees inside were told to leave without any 
other choice. My family was told on the evening of 13 July that they 
should leave. About 6 p.m., there were no more refugees inside the 
camp.
  ``I don't know if this is the topic of the meeting or hearing, but 
the same night the Dutch soldiers had a party inside the camp because 
they received two or three trucks full of beer and cigarettes. They 
played music while I was sitting, not knowing what happened to my 
family.''
  As he went on to say later, they had all been slaughtered.
  In July of 2007, Madam Speaker, I visited Srebrenica, where, together 
with my good friends President Haris Silajdzic and the Grand Mufti of 
Bosnia, Reis Ceric, I spoke at a solemn memorial service and witnessed 
the internment of hundreds of wooden coffins of newly discovered 
victims of the genocide.
  It was a deeply moving experience to see 12 years then after the 
genocide--now it is 20 years--families still grieving loved ones whose 
bodies were being identified, often miles from the killing sites, as 
Serb forces, trying to hide the evidence of their crimes, moved the 
bodies of their victims.
  For the record, 10 years ago--in 2005--the House of Representatives 
overwhelmingly passed H. Res. 199, which I authored, which clearly and 
unambiguously condemned the Srebrenica massacre for what it was: 
genocide.
  That resolution was a landmark in the recognition of the Srebrenica 
massacre as a genocide. Two years later the verdict of the 
International Court of Justice found the same, in confirming the ruling 
of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
  Today the international community is nearly unanimous when it 
proclaims that the Srebrenica massacre was a genocide. The resolution 
today, of course, supports that as well.
  Astonishingly, Madam Speaker, there are some genocide deniers. That 
is why this resolution condemns statements that deny that the massacre 
at Srebrenica constituted genocide. Just last weekend Milorad Dodik, 
the president of Republika Srpska, asserted that the Srebrenica 
genocide is a lie.
  Madam Speaker, just as it is doing in Ukraine, Russia is utilizing 
misinformation and historical revisionism in

[[Page 11038]]

an attempt to destabilize Bosnia and the Balkan region. Today Russia 
vetoed a British U.N. Security Council resolution that reaffirms that 
Srebrenica was a genocide.
  Russia has encouraged Serbia itself to protest the resolution and 
emboldened genocide denialism in the Republika Srpska, one of Bosnia's 
two constituent entities.
  Madam Speaker, this resolution also encourages the administration to 
fulfill other neglected responsibilities. In particular, it urges the 
Atrocities Prevention Board to study the lessons of Srebrenica and 
issue informed guidance on how to prevent similar incidents from 
recurring in the future.
  As you may know, the Atrocities Prevention Board is a U.S. 
interagency committee established by the administration in 2012 to flag 
potential atrocities. However, since its creation, the board has been 
marked by inaction and a complete lack of transparency.
  This is unacceptable, especially as conflicts with disturbing 
parallels to Bosnia before the genocide continue to fester in Syria, 
the Central African Republic, Burma, and in Burundi.
  Africa, in particular, would stand to benefit from a more active 
board. The conflict in Burundi is currently at a tipping point, and it 
absolutely needs attention.
  Madam Speaker, despite the need for much greater atrocities 
prevention in U.S. policy, there have been many promising developments 
in the Balkan region, and this needs to be underscored.
  In particular, I would note that Serbia today is not the Serbia of 
the Slobodan Milosevic era. That era was marked by nationalist 
aggression against neighboring countries and peoples, as well as 
considerable repression at home.
  One of those who testified at one of my hearings on Serbia, Curuvija, 
a great young leader, was murdered on the second day after our bombing 
began by Serbian people. And the persons who did that have now been 
held to account. So what has happened there--thankfully, there have now 
been significant changes in Serbia.
  I want to thank my colleagues. I do hope we will have a strong show 
of support for this resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H. Res. 310.
  I am the lead sponsor of this resolution. And I remember 20 years ago 
being in this Chamber when that massacre happened. It is hard to 
believe that it has been 20 years since the Srebrenica genocide, and it 
certainly was a genocide.
  During the Bosnian war, the United Nations declared the area around 
this small town a safe zone. On the eve of the massacre, tens of 
thousands of displaced Bosniak civilians had gathered under the 
protection of the U.N. in what they thought was a safe zone.
  They all rushed to that place, only to be slaughtered a little while 
later. But the 400 U.N. peacekeepers could put up scarce resistance to 
the army of the Republika Srpska, whose leaders were bent on wiping out 
the Bosniak population.
  Over the next few days, men and boys were lined up and mowed down by 
machine guns. Children were murdered in front of their mothers. Women 
and girls were raped and beaten, as onlookers stood powerless to 
intervene. Bulldozers piled bodies into mass graves.
  I remember that happened in our lifetime. It is hard to believe.
  When the killing had ended, more than 8,000 Bosniaks--mostly men and 
boys--had lost their lives in one of the bloodiest episodes on European 
soil since World War II.
  This resolution tells their tragic story. It praises the efforts to 
hold the guilty accountable. It demands that those efforts continue. It 
underscores solidarity with the victims and calls for a reconciliation 
that will one day see the lies, hatred, and violence of the past 
replaced by true friendship and community.
  This resolution tells the truth about what happened because telling 
the truth--however painful--is the starting point for healing to begin.
  We remember the Srebrenica genocide to honor the victims and to 
remind ourselves of the costs of indifference, of what can happen when 
we say, well, that is somebody else's problem.
  As this region of Europe heals--I have just come back from the 
Balkans--and charts a course toward a brighter future, I hope the 
lessons of this tragedy will be a guide for the United States and for 
countries around the world fighting against tyranny and oppression.
  Today there was a disgrace that happened at the United Nations. 
Unfortunately, there are many disgraces that happen at the United 
Nations.
  Two international courts have called the slaughter of Bosnian Serbs 
of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys who had sought refuge in what was 
supposed to be a U.N.-protected site genocide.
  Now, what happened today at the U.N.? Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution 
calling Srebrenica a genocide. It passed the Security Council. Russia 
vetoed it.
  You would think that a veto would be used for something of substance, 
not a resolution. This resolution has substance, but you would not 
think that Russia or any country would veto it.
  Let me see what this defeated resolution stated. It stated that 
acceptance of ``the tragic events at Srebrenica as genocide is a 
prerequisite for reconciliation'' and ``condemns denial of this 
genocide as hindering efforts towards reconciliation.''
  The vote was ten countries in favor; Russia casting a veto; and four 
abstentions: China, Nigeria, Angola, and Venezuela.
  The British Ambassador after the vote said that Britain was outraged 
by Russia's veto. And he said Russia's actions tarnish the memory of 
all those who died in the Srebrenica genocide. Russia will have to 
justify its behavior to the families of over 8,000 people murdered in 
the worst atrocity in Europe since the second World War.
  ``This is a defeat of justice,'' said Camil Durakovic, the mayor of 
Srebrenica. He added that the veto means that the U.N. is not 
recognizing a decision by its own judicial branch, the International 
Court of Justice, which has declared the tragedy a genocide. ``The 
world has lost. The world, and especially Serbia, will have to face the 
truth sooner or later.''
  Our Ambassador Samantha Powell, who was a 24-year-old journalist in 
Bosnia at the time of the Srebrenica massacre, told the Council that, 
``For all of the brutality of a horrific war, this was a singular 
horror. It was genocide, a fact now proven again and again by 
international tribunals.''
  ``Today's vote mattered,'' Power said. ``It mattered hugely to the 
families of the victims of the Srebrenica genocide. Russia's veto is 
heartbreaking for those families, and it is a further stain on this 
Council's record.''
  I read that into the Record because I think it is important to notice 
the actions of Russia. We see their actions in Ukraine. We see their 
actions at the U.N. And we see the actions of the U.N., itself. And it 
really is a shame.
  So, again, we remember this genocide to honor its victims. It is not 
somebody else's problem. It is all of our problems.

                              {time}  1615

  In order to prevent it from happening in the future, we have to 
accurately recall what happened in the past.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the distinguished 
chairman of the full Foreign Affairs Committee and a great leader on 
human rights.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Smith of New Jersey for 
bringing this bill up and keeping this atrocity and the lessons that it 
means for us today in front of this body, and as always, I appreciate 
Mr. Engel's cooperation in seeing this resolution move to the floor.
  I appreciate the powerful stories that were shared by Mr. Engel and 
by Mr. Smith today in terms of what happened on that day 20 years ago 
this month as Bosnian Serb forces transformed what

[[Page 11039]]

was supposed to be a U.N. safe haven for refugees into what became an 
extermination camp.
  On that July day, 8,000 men and boys were massacred. As they shared 
with you, Serb forces compiled detailed lists of those targeted for 
killing. They separated families, and they drove those young Muslim men 
to various fields where they were summarily executed.
  The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ruled 
that this act was an act of genocide--and rightly so. We do not know 
the names of many of these victims, as these killers took extensive 
measures to cover their crimes. As a result, families have never found 
their missing relatives, and experts continue to uncover and identify 
remains at the scenes of these mass killings.
  Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that this 
tragedy will ``haunt the United Nations forever.'' Although it occurred 
20 years ago, this massacre continues to hinder progress towards peace 
in this troubled region. For while Serbia's President has apologized 
for crimes committed, he and other Serbian officials still refuse to 
admit the true extent of the brutality.
  Mr. Speaker, today's resolution encourages Serbian authorities to 
publicly acknowledge the genocide that occurred, which would constitute 
a major step forward in restoring relations with its neighbor.
  This resolution also reaffirms U.S. policy to oppose mass atrocities 
in the strongest terms whenever and wherever they occur; but of course, 
the Srebrenica genocide, along with others in Rwanda, Cambodia, and 
Darfur, are stark reminders that simply saying ``never again'' will 
never be enough. Action is needed, and it is demanded as, around the 
world, violent conflicts threaten to erupt once more into genocidal 
campaigns.
  I will name some right now. Ongoing abuses against the Rohingya 
Muslim population in Burma have caused human rights advocates to sound 
the alarm over a ``grave risk of additional mass atrocities and even 
genocide.'' Unable to claim citizenship in Burma or elsewhere and under 
constant threat of violence, many have called the Rohingya Muslims 
``the most persecuted minority in the world,'' leading thousands upon 
thousands to flee their homes in overloaded boats. That is why I helped 
lead the effort last Congress to pass H. Res. 418, calling for an end 
to the persecution of the Rohingya people.
  In Sri Lanka, anti-Muslim riots broke out last June killing four and 
injuring dozens more. Acting with impunity under the Rajapaksa 
government, extremist forces destroyed mosques and Muslim businesses, 
displacing thousands.
  Under the Sirisena government, however, we have an opportunity to 
press for positive change and inclusivity in the newly elected 
government there in Sri Lanka.
  Extremist groups are similarly targeting minority communities in 
Syria, the Central African Republic, and Burundi. While we absolutely 
must remember past atrocities, we are charged with doing all we can to 
stop today's violence. I don't want future Congresses having to 
memorialize atrocities from our era now.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Chris 
Smith, for introducing this timely and important resolution; and, 
again, I thank Mr. Engel.
  I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend my friend from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his 
leadership on this important resolution, and I am gratified that we 
held this timely debate ahead of the solemn commemorations that will 
take place in Srebrenica and around the world this weekend.
  I thank our chairman for his leadership, Chairman Royce, as usual. It 
shows that we worked again together on the Foreign Affairs Committee in 
a very bipartisan manner. This transcends everything. This is genocide, 
and these resolutions are very, very important.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, let's think about this. The chairman said something 
that really jostled my mind. I pointed out where a U.N. resolution was 
vetoed today by Russia. These men who were massacred in a genocide went 
to what they were told was a United Nations safe haven.
  For this to happen under the auspices of the United Nations and then 
for Russia to veto a United Nations resolution commemorating solemn, 
solemn 20 years, it is just an absolute disgrace and irony; and it is 
one of the reasons that the United Nations has trouble because of the 
hypocrisy, once again, that we see in that body.
  By passing this resolution, we put the House solidly on record 
honoring the thousands of innocent people killed at Srebrenica and all 
those who suffered during the Bosnian war. We stand alongside those who 
risked and continued to risk life and limb to defend the human rights 
of all people.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution 
unanimously, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to finally say a very special thanks to 
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy for arranging for this bill to come to 
the floor and of course to the Speaker, to Ed Royce, our distinguished 
chairman, and the ranking member for their strong support and 
cosponsorship of this resolution. It is bipartisan, and I think we are 
sending a clear and unambiguous message to the world, again, that 
Srebrenica was a genocide.
  We must hold those to account who committed these atrocities. At 
least two of the major perpetrators, hopefully, will soon get justice, 
one at the end of this year and Mladic probably by 2017. The wheels of 
justice do turn slowly, but they are jailed right now. Above all, I 
think we need to pray for the victims.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to pray for the loved ones who continue to 
suffer unspeakable agony. I do hope the American people and all of us 
in the House and in this town will--especially as this remembrance 
comes around beginning on July 11--keep these people who have suffered 
so much in our prayers.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of 
H. Res. 310, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives 
regarding Srebrenica. As a co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on 
Bosnia, I believe it is crucial to distinguish the Srebrenica massacres 
as genocide while honoring the thousands of innocent people who were 
killed in July twenty years ago.
  In the early 1990s, following Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of 
national sovereignty, Bosnian Serb forces attacked Eastern Bosnia in 
order to unify and secure Serb territory. During this struggle for 
control, those Bosnian Serb forces, also called the Army of Republika 
Srpska committed crimes of ethnic cleansing of the non-Serb population. 
Approximately 8,000 Bosnian men and boys were systematically executed 
in 1995.
  The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina during this time was a 
failure on behalf of the international community. In 1999, UN 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan acknowledged that the global community 
needed to accept responsibility for the ethnic cleansing campaign in 
Bosnia and Herzegovina that killed thousands of unarmed civilians in a 
town designated as a ``safe area.''
  For many years now, I have called on the United Nations to recognize 
Srebrenica as a genocide. Yesterday, I learned that Russia blocked the 
latest effort by the United Kingdom to recognize the Srebrenica 
massacres as a genocide, calling it ``not constructive, 
confrontational, and politically-motivated.'' I am disappointed that 
the UN is unable to formally recognize Europe's worst atrocity since 
World War II.
  Although the global community cannot and will not distinguish 
Srebrenica as genocide, I applaud my fellow Bosnia Caucus co-chair, 
Congressman Chris Smith, for introducing this important resolution. 
While the UN's hands are tied, I am proud that the United States 
continues to be Bosnia and Herzegovina's greatest friend and ally. I 
urge my colleagues to support Bosnia and Herzegovina by voting in favor 
of this resolution.

[[Page 11040]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Walker). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 310.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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