IV

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 170

Expressing United States policy toward the Republic of Bulgaria.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 2, 1999

Mr. GILMAN (for himself and Mr. MICA) submitted the following concurrent

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing United States policy toward the Republic of

Bulgaria.

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds the following:

5 (1) Elections held in April 1997 in the Republic

6 of Bulgaria brought to office a government com7 mitted to full economic reforms, discipline in govern8 ment budgetary and currency policies, increased for9 eign, direct investment in Bulgaria, and energetic ef10 forts to combat corrupt and criminal activities that

11 had undermined previous economic reforms.
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1 (2) The Government of the Republic of Bul2 garia has worked to ensure the proper treatment of

3 its citizens, regardless of ethnic background, includ4 ing those of ethnic Turkish background, many of

5 whom were subjected to forced assimilation cam6 paigns and deportation under the former communist

7 regime in Bulgaria.

8 (3) The Government of the Republic of Bul9 garia has made Bulgaria’s integration into pan-Eu10 ropean and trans-Atlantic institutions, including the

11 European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Or12 ganization (NATO), the highest priority of its for13 eign policy, and has undertaken efforts to promote

14 stability in southeastern Europe and the Black Sea

15 region.

16 (4) The economy of the Republic of Bulgaria

17 has suffered considerable decline due to the disrup18 tion of important markets caused by the break-up of

19 the former, Soviet-dominated ‘‘COMECON’’ eco20 nomic and trade organization, the application of

21 international sanctions on Iraq, and the failure of

22 the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria to con23 front widespread corrupt activities prior to the elec24 tions of April 1997 that resulted in the theft of large
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1 sums from both government and industry and that

2 bankrupted many Bulgarian banks.

3 (5) The economy of the Republic of Bulgaria

4 has suffered as well from the imposition of inter5 national sanctions on neighboring Serbia and con6 tinues to suffer from the conflict in that country,

7 which has disrupted commerce throughout the re8 gion of southeastern Europe.

9 (6) The Government of the Republic of Bul10 garia has recently taken steps to finalize bilateral

11 agreements with the neighboring Republic of Mac12 edonia, recognized by the United States as the

13 ‘‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’’, over14 coming a long-standing dispute over the language to

15 be used in those agreements.

16 (7) The Government of the Republic of Bul17 garia has undertaken to reform Bulgaria’s armed

18 forces, adopting a military doctrine to that effect in

19 March 1999.

20 (8) The Government of the Republic of Bul21 garia has stated its continuing support for the mis22 sion of NATO in supporting democratization and

23 stability across Europe.

24 (9) As a result of the conflict in Serbia with re25 gard to the region of Kosovo, the Republic of Bul-
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1 garia has accepted several thousand refugees from

2 the conflict.

3 SEC. 2. POLICY TOWARD THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA.

4 It is the policy of the United States—

5 (1) to promote the development in the Republic

6 of Bulgaria of a market-based economy and a demo7 cratic government that respects the rights of all of

8 its citizens, regardless of ethnic background;

9 (2) to support the territorial integrity of the

10 Republic of Bulgaria;

11 (3) to insist that the territorial integrity of the

12 Republic of Bulgaria be respected by neighboring

13 countries and by all political movements within and

14 outside Bulgaria; and

15 (4) to support the integration of the Republic

16 of Bulgaria into pan-European and trans-Atlantic

17 economic and security institutions.

18 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

19 It is the sense of Congress that—

20 (1) the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria

21 is to be commended for its efforts to ensure proper

22 treatment of all of its citizens, regardless of ethnic

23 background, particularly those of ethnic Turkish

24 background;
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1 (2) the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria

2 is to be commended—

3 (A) for its efforts to accelerate the privat4 ization of state-owned enterprises in a fair and

5 transparent process;

6 (B) for its establishment of a currency

7 board to ensure the value of the Bulgarian cur8 rency; and

9 (C) for its efforts to combat corrupt and

10 criminal activities that undermine reforms and

11 the viability of Bulgaria’s government and in12 dustry;

13 (3) the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria

14 should continue to implement programs that may

15 qualify Bulgaria for entrance into the European

16 Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

17 (NATO) and is to be commended for its continuing

18 support of the NATO effort to ensure stability and

19 democratization across Europe;

20 (4) the Republic of Bulgaria is suffering the ad21 verse economic impact of the disruption of commerce

22 in southeastern Europe and an influx of refugees

23 caused by the conflict in neighboring Serbia;

24 (5) the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria

25 should ensure the expeditious ratification of all bilat-
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1 eral treaties that have been negotiated with the

2 neighboring Government of the Former Yugoslav

3 Republic of Macedonia;

4 (6) the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria

5 should undertake steps to immediately halt any illicit

6 transfer of arms and military equipment that may

7 occur in Bulgaria or may cross Bulgarian territory;

8 (7) the Republic of Bulgaria should play a cen9 tral role in any effort by NATO to create a joint

10 peacekeeping military unit involving personnel from

11 throughout the countries of southeastern Europe or

12 in the creation of facilities in support of such a

13 peacekeeping unit; and

14 (8) the United States should join other official

15 creditors of the Republic of Bulgaria in providing

16 Bulgaria with relief from such official debt through

17 rescheduling and, where appropriate, forgiveness.

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