```

[Journal of the House of Representatives, 1995]
[Monday, September 18, 1995 (116), Para 116.9 Sri Lanka Peace Process]
[Pages 1364-1365]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

para.116.9  sri lanka peace process

  Mr. BEREUTER moved to suspend the rules and agree to the following 
resolution (H. Res. 181): 

       Whereas, the United States has enjoyed a long and cordial 
     friendship with Sri Lanka;
       Whereas as one manifestation of the warm ties between the 
     United States and Sri Lanka, the First Lady of the United 
     States visited Sri Lanka in April 1995;
       Whereas Sri Lanka is a vibrant democracy whose government 
     is committed to political pluralism, free market economics, 
     and a respect for human rights;
       Whereas the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (``LTTE'') 
     have waged a protracted secessionist struggle in Sri Lanka 
     for nearly 12 years;
       Whereas an estimated 30,000 people have died in Sri Lanka 
     as a result of these hostilities;
       Whereas the Department of State's report on global 
     terrorism names the LTTE as a major terrorist organization;
       Whereas the LTTE is widely believed to have engaged in 
     political assassinations, including the murder in 1994 of a 
     leading candidate for the Sri Lankan presidency, and the 
     killing in 1993 of President Ranasinghe Premadasa;
       Whereas the government of President Kumaratunga initiated a 
     dialogue with the LTTE in 1994, and took a number of other 
     steps to ease tensions and set the stage for negotiations 
     between the government and the LTTE, including lifting the 
     ban on the transit of many commodities to Jaffna;
       Whereas a cessation of hostilities in Sri Lanka went into 
     effect on January 8, 1995;
       Whereas 4 rounds of peace talks between the government and 
     the LTTE took place; and
       Whereas in April 1995, the LTTE withdrew from these 
     negotiations and resumed military operations against the 
     Government of Sri Lanka that have resulted in hundreds of 
     casualties, including many innocent civilians: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) notes with great satisfaction the warm and friendly 
     relations that exist between the United States and Sri Lanka;
       (2) applauds the commitment to democracy demonstrated by 
     the Sri Lankan people, in defiance of brutal acts of wanton 
     terrorism;

[[Page 1365]]

       (3) commends the Sri Lankan people and the Government of 
     Sri Lanka for the significant improvements in Sri Lanka in 
     the area of human rights;
       (4) applauds the cessation of hostilities in early 1995 
     between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers 
     of Tamil Eelam (``LTTE'') and deplores the resumption of 
     fighting;
       (5) calls on the LTTE to desist in its resort to arms, and 
     to return to the negotiating table;
       (6) calls on all parties to negotiate in good faith with a 
     view to ending the current armed strife in Sri Lanka and to 
     finding a just and lasting political settlement to Sri 
     Lanka's ethnic conflict while assuring the territorial 
     integrity of Sri Lanka;
       (7) believes that a political solution, including 
     appropriate constitutional structures and adequate protection 
     of minority rights, is the path to a comprehensive and 
     lasting peace in Sri Lanka;
       (8) denounces all political violence and acts of terrorism 
     in Sri Lanka, and calls upon those who espouse such methods 
     to reject these methods and to embrace dialogue, democratic 
     norms, and the peaceful resolution of disputes;
       (9) calls on all parties to respect the human rights of the 
     Sri Lankan people; and
       (10) states its willingness in principle to see the United 
     States lend its good offices to help resolve the ethnic 
     conflict in Sri Lanka, if so desired by all parties to the 
     conflict. 

  The SPEAKER pro tempore, Mr. CLINGER, recognized Mr. BEREUTER and Mr. 
SCOTT, each for 20 minutes.
  After debate,
  The question being put, viva voce,
  Will the House suspend the rules and agree to said resolution?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore, Mr. CLINGER, announced that two-thirds of the 
Members present had voted in the affirmative.
  So, two-thirds of the Members present having voted in favor thereof, 
the rules were suspended and said resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider the vote whereby the rules were suspended and 
said resolution was agreed to was, by unanimous consent, laid on the 
table.
```