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[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 312 Introduced in House (IH)]

105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 312

    Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the right of the 
 Albanian People of Kosova to self-determination and independence from 
the repressive, authoritarian, and barbaric Serbian regime of Slobodan 
                   Milosevic, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 1998

Mr. Traficant submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
    Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the right of the 
 Albanian People of Kosova to self-determination and independence from 
the repressive, authoritarian, and barbaric Serbian regime of Slobodan 
                   Milosevic, and for other purposes.

Whereas the United States and the international community recognize that a right 
        to self-determination exists as a fundamental right of all people, as 
        set forth in numerous United Nations instruments of which the United 
        States is a signatory;
Whereas international law recognizes a right to self-determination as a right 
        that must be recognized when a group or a people are subjected to 
        persistent and systematic denials of political and social equality and 
        severe deprivations of fundamental human rights;
Whereas in 1987, Slobodan Milosevic came to power on a platform of extreme 
        nationalism, advocating violence and hatred and specifically targeting 
        the Albanians of Kosova, whose self-rule he stripped in violation of the 
        former Yugoslavia's 1974 constitution;
Whereas the Albanians of Kosova satisfy the objective requirements for self-
        determination, in that they comprise more than 90 percent of the total 
        population of Kosova; share a common language of Albanian; are 
        descendants of the Illyrians, the first group to inhabit the Balkans 
        well before the Common Era; share a common ethnicity, and are generally 
        referred to as ethnic Albanians; share a common history in the Kosova 
        region of the Balkans; and share a common cultural identity as ethnic 
        Albanians with an unbroken historic bond in the region;
Whereas the Albanians of Kosova satisfy the subjective requirements for self-
        determination, in that their desire to secede is predicated on the 
        longstanding principles of self-rule and is exhibited in their 
        collective overwhelming belief that they are a people and a nation of 
        Kosovar Albanians; have their own government, manifest their desire to 
        regain self-rule in the form of independence; seek a democratic form of 
        government with ``free and fair'' elections; have a defined territory, 
        with a continuous nexus to the territory, and have established a proven 
        history of self-government prior to the Milosevic regime;
Whereas there is a cognizable connection between human rights and international 
        peace and security and the right to self-determination where severe 
        deprivations of fundamental human rights occur, and the loss of any 
        participatory role in their governance, coupled with well-documented 
        human rights violations tantamount to war crimes, crimes against 
        humanity and genocide (as set forth in the Statute of the International 
        Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) that have been perpetrated 
        against the Albanians of Kosova by the repressive and barbaric Milosevic 
        regime is dispositive of the Kosovar's right to self-determination;
Whereas the Albanians of Kosova enjoyed the right to participate with a legal 
        and political status equal to the other 6 Republics within the former 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and an equal right to participate in the 
        rotating presidency of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; until 
        they were stripped of their self-rule, in violation of the former 
        Yugoslavia Constitution of 1974;
Whereas prior to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, Kosova was a 
        separate political and legal entity with separate and distinct financial 
        institutions, police force, government (municipal and federal), school 
        system, judicial/legal system, hospital and other such independent 
        organizations, and as the other former Republics declared their 
        independence, Kosova was forcibly absorbed into Serbia;
Whereas there is reason to believe that independence is the only viable option 
        for the Albanians of Kosova after autonomy failed time and time again, 
        and only the Kosovars have the right to determine their legal and 
        political destiny as a people;
Whereas at the onset of the war in Bosnia, the other former Republics, with 
        equal political and legal status as Kosova were granted independence, 
        and Kosova's claims were summarily and unfairly rejected, in violation 
        of the recognized principles of international law; and
Whereas the Dayton Accords failed to address the issue of Kosova and the legal 
        and political rights of the Albanians of Kosova, the third largest 
        ethnic group in the Balkans, and that a lasting and secure peace in the 
        Balkans is unlikely unless the question of Kosova's independence is 
        legitimately addressed: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the United States should publicly declare that the 
        Albanians of Kosova have a legal right to self-determination 
        and that independence is the only political solution acceptable 
        to the Kosovars;
            (2) the United States should, in conformity with its 
        principles and beliefs, support and sponsor the right of self-
        determination for the Albanians of Kosova and this should be a 
        high priority for restoring peace and security to the region;
            (3) the United States should provide its share of any 
        financial or other resources necessary to facilitate the 
        independence for Kosova;
            (4) the United States, in conjunction with members of the 
        United Nations and other multilateral organizations, should 
        convene a working group that deals with the specifics of 
        secession in order to prevent future civil conflict from rising 
        to the level of a breach of international peace and security 
        and that facilitates constructive dialogue in order to prevent 
        violence; and
            (5) the United States and others should use any and all 
        means necessary to remove impediments to the Kosovar Albanian's 
        right to self-determination.
                                 <all>
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