S. 21

One Hundred Fourth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,

the fourth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-five

An Act

To terminate the United States arms embargo applicable to the Government of

Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bosnia and Herzegovina SelfDefense Act of 1995’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress makes the following findings:

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

Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 (Public

Law 103–236), the Congress has found that continued application of an international arms embargo to the Government of

Bosnia and Herzegovina contravenes that Government’s inherent right of individual or collective self-defense under Article

51 of the United National Charter and therefore is inconsistent

with international law.

(2) The United States has not formally sought multilateral

support for terminating the arms embargo against Bosnia and

Herzegovina through a vote on a United Nations Security Council resolution since the enactment of section 1404 of the

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (Public

Law 103–337).

(3) The United Nations Security Council has not taken

measures necessary to maintain international peace and security in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the aggression against

that country began in April 1992.

(4) The Contact Group, composed of representatives of the

United States, Russia, France, Great Britain, and Germany,

has since July 1994 maintained that in the event of continuing

rejection by the Bosnian Serbs of the Contact Group’s proposal

for Bosnia and Herzegovina, a decision in the United Nations

Security Council to lift the Bosnian arms embargo as a last

resort would be unavoidable.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF SUPPORT.

The Congress supports the efforts of the Government of the

Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina—

(1) to defend its people and the territory of the Republic;

(2) to preserve the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the Republic; and
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(3) to bring about a peaceful, just, fair, viable, and sustainable settlement of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF ARMS EMBARGO.

(a) TERMINATION.—The President shall terminate the United

States arms embargo of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina,

as provided in subsection (b), following—

(1) receipt by the United States Government of a request

from the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina for termination of the United States arms embargo and submission

by the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in exercise

of its sovereign rights as a nation, of a request to the United

Nations Security Council for the departure of UNPROFOR

from Bosnia and Herzegovina; or

(2) a decision by the United Nations Security Council,

or decisions by countries contributing forces to UNPROFOR,

to withdraw UNPROFOR from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

(b) IMPLEMENTATION OF TERMINATION.—The President may

implement termination of the United States arms embargo of the

Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina pursuant to subsection

(a) prior to the date of completion of the withdrawal of UNPROFOR

personnel from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but shall, subject to subsection (c), implement termination of the embargo pursuant to

that subsection no later than the earlier of—

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

personnel from Bosnia and Herzegovina; or

(2) the date which is 12 weeks after the date of submission

by the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina of a request

to the United Nations Security Council for the departure of

UNPROFOR from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

(c) PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER AUTHORITY.—If the President determines and reports in advance to Congress that the safety, security,

and successful completion of the withdrawal of UNPROFOR personnel from Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with subsection

(b)(2) requires more time than the period provided for in that

subsection, the President may extend the time period available

under subsection (b)(2) for implementing termination of the United

States arms embargo of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina

for a period of up to 30 days. The authority in this subsection

may be exercised to extend the time period available under subsection (b)(2) for more than one 30-day period. (d) PRESIDENTIAL REPORTS.—Within 7 days of the commencement of the withdrawal of UNPROFOR from Bosnia and

Herzegovina, and every 14 days thereafter, the President shall

report in writing to the President pro tempore of the Senate and

the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the status and

estimated date of completion of the withdrawal operation. If any

such report includes an estimated date of completion of the withdrawal which is later than 12 weeks after commencement of the

withdrawal operation, the report shall include the operational reasons which prevent the completion of the withdrawal within 12

weeks of commencement.

(e) INTERNATIONAL POLICY.—If the Government of Bosnia and

Herzegovina submits a request to the United Nations Security

Council for the departure of UNPROFOR from Bosnia and

Herzegovina or if the United Nations Security Council or the countries contributing forces to UNPROFOR decide to withdraw from
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Bosnia and Herzegovina, as provided in subsection (a), the President

(or his representative) shall immediately introduce and support

in the United Nations Security Council a resolution to terminate

the application of United Nations Security Council resolution 713

to the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United States

shall insist on a vote on the resolution by the Security Council.

The resolution shall, at a minimum, provide for the termination

of the applicability of United Nations Security Council resolution

713 to the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina no later than

the completion of the withdrawal of UNPROFOR personnel from

Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the event the United Nations Security

Council fails to adopt the resolution to terminate the application

of United Nations Security Council resolution 713 to the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina because of a lack of unanimity

of the permanent members, thereby failing to exercise its primary

responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the United States shall promptly endeavor to bring the issue

before the General Assembly for decision as provided for in the

Assembly’s Uniting for Peace Resolution of 1950.

(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be

interpreted as authorization for deployment of United States forces

in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina for any purpose, including training, support, or delivery of military equipment.

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

(1) the term ‘‘United States arms embargo of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina’’ means the application to

the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina of—

(A) the policy adopted July 10, 1991, and published in the Federal Register of July 19, 1991 (58 FR 33322)

under the heading ‘‘Suspension of Munitions Export

Licenses to Yugoslavia’’; and (B) any similar policy being applied by the United

States Government as of the date of completion of withdrawal of UNPROFOR personnel from Bosnia and

Herzegovina, pursuant to which approval is denied for

transfers of defense articles and defense services to the

former Yugoslavia; and

(2) the term ‘‘completion of the withdrawal of UNPROFOR

personnel from Bosnia and Herzegovina’’ means the departure

from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina of substantially

all personnel participating in UNPROFOR and substantially

all other personnel assisting in their withdrawal, within a

reasonable period of time, without regard to whether the withdrawal was initiated pursuant to a request by the Government

of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a decision by the United Nations

Security Council, or decisions by countries contributing forces
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to UNPROFOR, but the term does not include such personnel

as may remain in Bosnia and Herzegovina pursuant to an

agreement between the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina

and the government of any country providing such personnel.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.