IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 561

Concerning the crisis in Kosovo and calling for NATO agreement to take

direct and decisive action against those forces attacking civilian populations in Kosovo.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 1, 1998

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. FOX

of Pennsylvania, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. OLVER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. ENGEL, Mr.

WEXLER, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, and Mr. MCNULTY) submitted the

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

RESOLUTION

Concerning the crisis in Kosovo and calling for NATO agreement to take direct and decisive action against those

forces attacking civilian populations in Kosovo.

Whereas open conflict erupted in Kosovo in early 1998 between Serbian security forces and the Yugoslav military

on the one hand, and militants among the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo on the other;

Whereas, since that time, the conflict has evolved into an assault on the civilian population of Kosovo, killing approximately a thousand men, women, and children and displacing hundreds of thousands of others, including tens
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of thousands now living as refugees in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro;

Whereas over one-third of Kosovo’s villages and an estimated

4,000 homes have been deliberately damaged or destroyed;

Whereas Yugoslav officials have refused to issue visas to forensic experts seeking to investigate reported deaths in

Kosovo;

Whereas the assault on the civilian population has been reported to include atrocities which could be considered war

crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide;

Whereas Serbian security forces have imposed food blockades

and deliberately destroyed crops and livestock upon which

the population of Kosovo depend;

Whereas Serbian security forces have deliberately hindered

the delivery of humanitarian aid through the denial of

visas to foreign personnel, restricting access to targeted

regions of Kosovo, and attacking aid delivery convoys and

workers;

Whereas the approaching winter season will likely create a

humanitarian catastrophe for those in Kosovo currently

without food and shelter;

Whereas providing sufficient humanitarian aid in a timely

manner to forestall the humanitarian catastrophe requires an immediate halt to the assault on the civilian

population and the assurance that the assault will not be

resumed;

Whereas Yugoslav and Serbian officials, including Slobodan

Milosevic, claim to seek a dialogue on Kosovo but have

not ceased the assault on the civilian population of

Kosovo;
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Whereas Yugoslav and Serbian officials, led by Slobodan

Milosevic, similarly instigated, organized and directed aggressive action against civilians in Croatia in 1991, and

in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995;

Whereas peace was only restored to the region of the former

Yugoslavia in 1995 when Yugoslav and Serbian officials,

including Slobodan Milosevic, were confronted with the

clear resolve of the international community to use force

against them;

Whereas both the House and Senate of the United States

Congress have concurred in their belief that Slobodan

Milosevic is culpable for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide;

Whereas, on September 23, 1998, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1199, expressing ‘‘grave

concern at recent intense fighting and the flow of refugees from Kosovo and the excessive and indiscriminate

use of force by Serbian security forces and the Yugoslav

Army’’; and

Whereas, on September 24, 1998, the North Atlantic Council

approved the issuing of an activation warning for both a

limited air option and a phased air campaign in Kosovo,

signaling the readiness of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to use force if it becomes a necessity

to do so: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that—

3 (1) the President should immediately seek

4 NATO agreement to take direct and decisive action

5 against those forces attacking civilian populations in
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1 Kosovo in order to halt these attacks and ensure

2 they are not resumed, and to compel the withdrawal

3 of security forces and secure access to the vulnerable

4 population for humanitarian aid; and

5 (2) the President should strongly urge the

6 International Criminal Tribunal for the Former

7 Yugoslavia to pursue actively investigations of the

8 assault taking place in Kosovo for prosecution as

9 war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide,

10 including through the provision of all information

11 which could be relevant to such prosecution of

12 Slobodan Milosevic and other Yugoslav and Serbian

13 officials in addition to those comprising the security

14 and military forces present in Kosovo.

15 SEC. 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives

16 shall transmit a copy of this resolution to the President.

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