104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 21

AN ACT

To terminate the United States arms embargo applicable

to the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bosnia and

5 Herzegovina Self-Defense Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) For the reasons stated in section 520 of the

4 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years

5 1994 and 1995 (Public Law 103–236), the Congress

6 has found that continued application of an inter7 national arms embargo to the Government of Bosnia

8 and Herzegovina contravenes that Government’s in9 herent right of individual or collective self-defense

10 under Article 51 of the United National Charter and

11 therefore is inconsistent with international law.

12 (2) The United States has not formally sought

13 multilateral support for terminating the arms em14 bargo against Bosnia and Herzegovina through a

15 vote on a United Nations Security Council resolution

16 since the enactment of section 1404 of the National

17 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995

18 (Public Law 103–337).

19 (3) The United Nations Security Council has

20 not taken measures necessary to maintain inter21 national peace and security in Bosnia and

22 Herzegovina since the aggression against that coun23 try began in April 1992.

24 (4) The Contact Group, composed of represent25 atives of the United States, Russia, France, Great

26 Britain, and Germany, has since July 1994 main-
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1 tained that in the event of continuing rejection by

2 the Bosnian Serbs of the Contact Group’s proposal

3 for Bosnia and Herzegovina, a decision in the Unit4 ed Nations Security Council to lift the Bosnian arms

5 embargo as a last resort would be unavoidable.

6 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF SUPPORT.

7 The Congress supports the efforts of the Government

8 of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina—

9 (1) to defend its people and the territory of the

10 Republic;

11 (2) to preserve the sovereignty, independence,

12 and territorial integrity of the Republic; and

13 (3) to bring about a peaceful, just, fair, viable,

14 and sustainable settlement of the conflict in Bosnia

15 and Herzegovina.

16 SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF ARMS EMBARGO.

17 (a) TERMINATION.—The President shall terminate

18 the United States arms embargo of the Government of

19 Bosnia and Herzegovina, as provided in subsection (b),

20 following—

21 (1) receipt by the United States Government of

22 a request from the Government of Bosnia and

23 Herzegovina for termination of the United States

24 arms embargo and submission by the Government of

25 Bosnia and Herzegovina, in exercise of its sovereign
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1 rights as a nation, of a request to the United Na2 tions Security Council for the departure of

3 UNPROFOR from Bosnia and Herzegovina; or

4 (2) a decision by the United Nations Security

5 Council, or decisions by countries contributing forces

6 to UNPROFOR, to withdraw UNPROFOR from

7 Bosnia and Herzegovina.

8 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF TERMINATION.—The

9 President may implement termination of the United

10 States arms embargo of the Government of Bosnia and

11 Herzegovina pursuant to subsection (a) prior to the date

12 of completion of the withdrawal of UNPROFOR personnel

13 from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but shall, subject to sub14 section (c), implement termination of the embargo pursu15 ant to that subsection no later than the earlier of—

16 (1) the date of completion of the withdrawal of

17 UNPROFOR personnel from Bosnia and

18 Herzegovina; or

19 (2) the date which is 12 weeks after the date

20 of submission by the Government of Bosnia and

21 Herzegovina of a request to the United Nations Se22 curity Council for the departure of UNPROFOR

23 from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

24 (c) PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER AUTHORITY.—If the

25 President determines and reports in advance to Congress
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1 that the safety, security, and successful completion of the

2 withdrawal of UNPROFOR personnel from Bosnia and

3 Herzegovina in accordance with subsection (b)(2) requires

4 more time than the period provided for in that subsection,

5 the President may extend the time period available under

6 subsection (b)(2) for implementing termination of the

7 United States arms embargo of the Government of Bosnia

8 and Herzegovina for a period of up to 30 days. The au9 thority in this subsection may be exercised to extend the

10 time period available under subsection (b)(2) for more

11 than one 30-day period.

12 (d) PRESIDENTIAL REPORTS.—Within 7 days of the

13 commencement of the withdrawal of UNPROFOR from

14 Bosnia and Herzegovina, and every 14 days thereafter, the

15 President shall report in writing to the President pro tem16 pore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Rep17 resentatives on the status and estimated date of comple18 tion of the withdrawal operation. If any such report in19 cludes an estimated date of completion of the withdrawal

20 which is later than 12 weeks after commencement of the

21 withdrawal operation, the report shall include the oper22 ational reasons which prevent the completion of the with23 drawal within 12 weeks of commencement.

24 (e) INTERNATIONAL POLICY.—If the Government of

25 Bosnia and Herzegovina submits a request to the United
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1 Nations Security Council for the departure of

2 UNPROFOR from Bosnia and Herzegovina or if the

3 United Nations Security Council or the countries contrib4 uting forces to UNPROFOR decide to withdraw from

5 Bosnia and Herzegovina, as provided in subsection (a), the

6 President (or his representative) shall immediately intro7 duce and support in the United Nations Security Council

8 a resolution to terminate the application of United Na9 tions Security Council resolution 713 to the Government

10 of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United States shall insist

11 on a vote on the resolution by the Security Council. The

12 resolution shall, at a minimum, provide for the termi13 nation of the applicability of United Nations Security

14 Council resolution 713 to the government of Bosnia and

15 Herzegovina no later than the completion of the with16 drawal of UNPROFOR personnel from Bosnia and

17 Herzegovina. In the event the United Nations Security

18 Council fails to adopt the resolution to terminate the ap19 plication of United Nations Security Council resolution

20 713 to the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina be21 cause of a lack of unanimity of the permanent members,

22 thereby failing to exercise its primary responsibility for the

23 maintenance of international peace and security, the Unit24 ed States shall promptly endeavor to bring the issue before
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1 the General Assembly for decision as provided for in the

2 Assembly’s Uniting for Peace Resolution of 1950.

3 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall be interpreted as authorization for deployment

5 of United States forces in the territory of Bosnia and

6 Herzegovina for any purpose, including training, support,

7 or delivery of military equipment.

8 (g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

9 (1) the term ‘‘United States arms embargo of

10 the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina’’ means

11 the application to the Government of Bosnia and

12 Herzegovina of—

13 (A) the policy adopted July 10, 1991, and

14 published in the Federal Register of July 19,

15 1991 (58 FR 33322) under the heading ‘‘Sus16 pension of Munitions Export Licenses to Yugo17 slavia’’; and

18 (B) any similar policy being applied by the

19 United States Government as of the date of

20 completion of withdrawal of UNPROFOR per21 sonnel from Bosnia and Herzegovina, pursuant

22 to which approval is denied for transfers of de23 fense articles and defense services to the former

24 Yugoslavia; and
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1 (2) the term ‘‘completion of the withdrawal of

2 UNPROFOR personnel from Bosnia and

3 Herzegovina’’ means the departure from the terri4 tory of Bosnia and Herzegovina of substantially all

5 personnel participating in UNPROFOR and sub6 stantially all other personnel assisting in their with7 drawal, within a reasonable period of time, without

8 regard to whether the withdrawal was initiated pur9 suant to a request by the Government of Bosnia and

10 Herzegovina, a decision by the United Nations Secu11 rity Council, or decisions by countries contributing

12 forces to UNPROFOR, but the term does not in13 clude such personnel as may remain in Bosnia and

14 Herzegovina pursuant to an agreement between the

15 Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the gov16 ernment of any country providing such personnel.

Passed the Senate July 26 (legislative day, July 10),

1995.

Attest:

Secretary.
104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 21

AN ACT

To terminate the United States arms embargo apHerzegovina. plicable to the Government of Bosnia and