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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 99

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the congressional leadership and

the Administration should support the efforts and recommendations of

the United States Congress-Russian Duma meeting in Vienna, Austria,

held April 30, to May 1, 1999, in order to bring about a fair, equitable,

and peaceful settlement between warring factions in Yugoslavia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 5, 1999

Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. HINCHEY,

Mr. SAXTON, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. PITTS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SHERWOOD,

Mr. HAYES, Mr. CONYERS, and Mr. WHITFIELD) submitted the following

concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the congressional

leadership and the Administration should support the

efforts and recommendations of the United States Congress-Russian Duma meeting in Vienna, Austria, held

April 30, to May 1, 1999, in order to bring about a

fair, equitable, and peaceful settlement between warring

factions in Yugoslavia.

Whereas a joint meeting between Members of Congress and

Russian Duma representatives in Vienna, Austria, was

held from April 30 to May 1, 1999, in order to bring
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about a fair, equitable, and peaceful settlement between

warring factions in Yugoslavia;

Whereas the bilateral meeting was conducted not to negotiate

United States or North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO) policy but to provide the framework for a peaceful solution to this conflict with full appreciation of Administration goals;

Whereas the Balkan crisis, including ethnic cleansing and

terrorism, is one of the most serious challenges to international security since World War II;

Whereas the Balkan crisis in Kosovo creates serious threats

to global and regional security and may undermine efforts to discourage the proliferation of nuclear weapons;

Whereas this crisis increases the threat of further human and

ecological catastrophes, as evidenced by the growing refugee problem, and creates obstacles to further development of constructive United States-Russian relations;

Whereas the humanitarian crisis will not be solved by bombing and a diplomatic solution to the problem is preferable

to the alternative of military escalation;

Whereas the attendees of the Vienna meeting recognize the

basic principles of the territorial integrity of the Federal

Republic of Yugoslavia, which include (1) wide autonomy

for Kosovo, (2) a multi-ethnic population, and (3) treatment of all Yugoslavian peoples in accordance with international norms; and

Whereas the attendees of the Vienna meeting support efforts

to provide international assistance to rebuild homes of

refugees and other humanitarian assistance, as appropriate, to victims in Kosovo: Now, therefore, be it
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1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—

3 (1) the Speaker of the House of Representa4 tives, in consultation with the minority leader of the

5 House of Representatives, and the majority leader of

6 the Senate, in consultation with the minority leader

7 of the Senate, and the Administration should sup8 port the efforts and recommendations of the United

9 States Congress-Russian Duma meeting in Vienna,

10 Austria, held April 30 to May 1, 1999, in order to

11 bring about a fair, equitable, and peaceful settlement

12 between warring factions in Yugoslavia;

13 (2) in order to achieve the settlement described

14 in paragraph (1), focus should be provided on the

15 following 3 tasks (without regard to sequence)—

16 (A) the termination of bombing by the

17 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of

18 the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;

19 (B) the withdrawal of Serbian armed

20 forces from Kosovo; and

21 (C) the cessation of the military activities

22 of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA); and

23 (3) the tasks described in paragraph (2) should

24 be accomplished through a series of confidence-build-
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1 ing measures, which should include (but are not lim2 ited to)—

3 (A) the release of all prisoners of war held

4 by all sides;

5 (B)(i) the voluntary repatriation of all ref6 ugees in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

7 and unhindered access to them by humanitarian

8 aid organizations; and

9 (ii) the policing by NATO of the Federal

10 Republic of Yugoslavia borders with Albania

11 and Macedonia to ensure that weapons do not

12 reenter the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with

13 the returning refugees or at a later time;

14 (C)(i) an agreement on the composition of

15 the armed international forces which would ad16 minister Kosovo after the Serbian withdrawal;

17 and

18 (ii) an understanding that the composition

19 of the group should be decided by a consensus

20 agreement of the five permanent members of

21 the United Nations Security Council, in con22 sultation with Macedonia, Albania, the Federal

23 Republic of Yugoslavia, and the recognized

24 leadership of Kosovo, and that the group will be

25 supplemented by the monitoring activities of the
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1 Organization for Security and Cooperation in

2 Europe (OSCE); and

3 (D) all possible actions by the United

4 States Congress and the Russian Duma in

5 order to successfully move ahead the process of

6 resolving the situation in Yugoslavia on the

7 basis of stopping the violence and atrocities.

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