IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1684 

Honoring the memories of Ronald H. Brown, 32 other remarkable Americans 

and 2 distinguished Croatians who prematurely lost their lives on April 

3, 1996, while on a trade mission to the Balkans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Mr. TURNER (for himself and Mr. DELAHUNT) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the memories of Ronald H. Brown, 32 other remarkable Americans and 2 distinguished Croatians who 

prematurely lost their lives on April 3, 1996, while on 

a trade mission to the Balkans. 

Whereas, after visiting troops at the American headquarters 

in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the delegation aircraft 

crashed into a mountainside while attempting an instrument approach to Cilipi airport, outside of Dubrovnik, 

Croatia; 

Whereas, the aircraft carried U.S. Secretary of Commerce 

Ronald H. Brown, a public servant, who defended the 

United States as a soldier, bettered our society as a civil 

rights pioneer, and built economic bridges for people of 

all races and creeds as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce; 


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Whereas, Ronald H. Brown served as the first African-American United States Secretary of Commerce from January 

22, 1993, until his honorable service to our country came 

to an unexpected end on April 3, 1996, in that tragic airplane accident; 

Whereas, 32 remarkable American government and business 

leaders as well as a Croatian photographer and interpreter also lost their lives in the accident; 

Whereas, the contributions of all of the deceased ultimately 

promoted Bosnia and Herzegovina’s transition towards 

peace, stability and economic viability; 

Whereas, Secretary Brown’s mission advanced the goals of 

the Dayton Peace Accords, negotiated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, concluded on November 21, 1995, when the leaders of Bosnia and 

Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia all agreed to a breakthrough peace settlement to halt conflicts that began in 

Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 1992; 

Whereas, on December 14, 1995, the General Framework 

Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, known 

as the Dayton Accords, ended a conflict that threatened 

to destabilize Europe and resulted in the death of approximately 250,000 people, and the displacement of 

more than two million men, women and children; 

Whereas, President Bill Clinton charged Secretary Brown, 

those who joined him in this mission of peace, and those 

who followed him on future missions, to contribute to the 

successful implementation of the civilian aspects of the 

Dayton Accords; by starting the economic reconstruction 

and inviting U.S. companies to help maintain the peace 

through creating economic opportunity; 


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Whereas, Secretary Brown and those who followed him in future missions promoted prosperity in the Balkans, established U.S. commercial presence there increasing the efforts for peace through openness and trade opportunities; 

Whereas, every participant brought hope and inspiration to 

the war torn region through the U.S. investment in reconstructing buildings, rebuilding water and energy infrastructure, and revitalizing banking and tourism industries; 

Whereas, Secretary Ron Brown, along with the outstanding 

business leaders, brave members of the military, brilliant 

correspondent and dedicated public servants on the mission, sought to highlight the strength of the U.S. economy as a positive force for peace; 

Whereas, on April 7, 1996, President Bill Clinton honored 

the patriotism of the dead by calling them ‘‘the best of 

America’’ and recalling that ‘‘they believed that America, 

through their efforts, could help restore a broken land, 

help to heal a people of their hatreds, help to bring a better tomorrow through honest work and shared enterprise’’; 

Whereas, the United States negotiating team, led by Richard 

Holbrooke, guided peace negotiations endorsed by members of the European Union and Russian Federation, and 

ultimately enabled the transition within the Balkan states 

from the former Yugoslavia’s communist regime to an 

open market economy; and 

Whereas the mission and sacrifice by Secretary Brown laid 

the foundation for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s eventual 

successful transition to free markets, as well as Slovenia’s 

accession to the European Union (EU) and adoption of 


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its currency, Croatia’s progress towards EU membership 

expected in 2012, Montenegro’s May 2010 Stabilization 

and Association Agreement with the EU, Serbia’s December 22, 2009, application for EU membership and 

Macedonia’s accession negotiations which commenced on 

October 14, 2009, for EU membership: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) honors the memories of Secretary of Com3 merce Ronald H. Brown, and 32 other remarkable 

4 Americans and two distinguished Croatian citizens 

5 who lost their lives on April 3, 1996, serving their 

6 countries on a trade mission to the Balkans; 

7 (2) commends the service of the following 

8 Americans: Staff Sergeant Gerald Aldrich (Flight 

9 Mechanic), Duane Christian (Security Officer for 

10 Secretary Brown), Barry Conrad (Chairman and 

11 CEO of Barrington Group, Miami, Florida), Paul 

12 Cushman III (Chairman and CEO of Riggs Inter13 national Banking Corp., Washington, DC), Adam 

14 Darling (Confidential Assistant for Secretary 

15 Brown), Captain Ashley James Davis (Pilot), Gail 

16 Dobert (Deputy Director, Department of Commerce 

17 Office of Business Liaison), Robert Donovan (Presi18 dent and CEO, ABB Inc., Norwalk, Connecticut), 

19 Claudio Elia (Chairman and CEO, Air & Water 

20 Technologies Corp., Somerville, New Jersey), Staff 


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1 Sergeant Robert Farrington, Jr. (Steward), David 

2 Ford (President and CEO, InterGuard Corp. of 

3 Guardian International, Auburn Hills, Michigan), 

4 Carol Hamilton (Press Secretary for Secretary 

5 Brown), Kathryn Hoffman (Senior Advisor for Stra6 tegic Scheduling and Special Initiatives for Secretary 

7 Brown), Lee Jackson (Treasury Department), Ste8 ven Kaminski (Commercial Counselor, Department 

9 of Commerce U.S. and Foreign Commercial Serv10 ices), Katheryn Kellogg (Confidential Assistant, De11 partment of Commerce Office of Business Liaison), 

12 Technical Sergeant Shelley Kelly (Steward), James 

13 Lewek (Analyst, Central Intelligence Agency), Frank 

14 Maier (President, Enserch International Ltd., Dal15 las, Texas), Charles Meissner (Assistant Secretary of 

16 Commerce for International Trade), William Morton 

17 (Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Eco18 nomic Development, Department of Commerce), 

19 Walter Murphy (Senior Vice President, AT&T Sub20 marine Systems Inc., Morristown, New Jersey) Law21 rence Payne (Special Assistant, Department of Com22 merce U.S. and Foreign Commercial Services), Na23 thaniel Nash (Frankfurt Bureau Chief, New York 

24 Times), Leonard Pieroni (Chairman and CEO, Par25 sons Corp., Pasadena, California), Captain Timothy 


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1 Schafer (Pilot), John Scoville (Chairman, Harza En2 gineering Co., Chicago, Illinois), I. Donald Terner 

3 (President, Bridge Housing Corp., San Francisco, 

4 California), P. Stuart Tholan (President, Bechtel5 Europe/Africa/Middle East/Southwest Asia, San 

6 Francisco, California), Sergeant Cheryl Ann 

7 Turnage (Steward), Naomi Warbasse (International 

8 Trade Specialist, Department of Commerce), and 

9 Robert Whittaker (Chairman and CEO, Foster 

10 Wheeler Energy International, Clinton, New Jersey); 

11 (3) recognizes the contributions of Croatian 

12 citizens Niksˇa Antonini (photographer) and Dragica 

13 Lendic ́-Bedek (interpreter), who also sacrificed their 

14 lives in the effort to promote peace and prosperity 

15 in their homeland, and for the benefit of their coun16 trymen; and 

17 (4) extends its deep gratitude to the contribu18 tions of all of these brave and dedicated men and 

19 women, both Americans and Croats, who helped to 

20 put the Balkans on the path towards peace, stability 

21 and economic viability by making this visionary mis22 sion to Bosnia and Herzegovina; and who thereby 

23 worked to share with other countries the chance to 


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1 live the Dream of peace and prosperity, which is the 

2 American Dream. 

Æ 


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