105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 315
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress condemning
the atrocities by Serbian police and military
forces against Albanians in Kosova and urging
that blocked assets of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) under con-
trol of the United States and other governments
be used to compensate the Albanians in Kosova
for losses suffered through Serbian police and
military action.
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 315
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas the ethnic Albanian population of the province of
Kosova, which makes up the overwhelming majority of
the population of that area, has been denied internation-
ally recognized human rights and political rights, includ-
ing the protection of life, freedom of speech, freedom of
assembly, and freedom of the press;
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Whereas Serbian police and military forces have engaged in
brutal suppression of the Albanian people, and the num-
ber of Serbian police and military forces which have been
deployed in Kosova is estimated at some 50,000 men;
Whereas human rights groups have reported and documented
instances of Serbian forces conducting abductions and
summary executions of innocent ethnic Albanian civilians
in reprisal killings that are similar to those conducted by
Nazi forces during World War II and are similar to the
ethnic cleansing which was carried out by ethnic Serbian
troops in Bosnia;
Whereas Serbian forces have indiscriminately shelled and
burned villages, reducing them to rubble, in order to
drive out the ethnic Albanian inhabitants, inflicting heavy
material losses upon the ethnic Albanians in Kosova;
Whereas hundreds of ethnic Albanians, including women and
children, have been killed and over 200,000 ethnic Alba-
nians have been forced to flee and have become refugees
as a result of this Serbian military action;
Whereas the stubborn denial of human rights and political
rights to the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosova by the
Government of Serbia has been the major factor in the
radicalization of the political situation in the province
and made the prospects of a peaceful resolution of the
conflict there difficult if not impossible;
Whereas the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (SFRY) resulted in 5 independent states and
the ownership of the blocked assets of the SFRY has yet
to be determined and apportioned among the successor
states; and
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Whereas the United States and the governments of other
countries have blocked the assets of the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) as part of the
blocked assets of the SFRY: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) deeply deplores and strongly condemns the
appalling loss of life and the extensive destruction of
property in Kosova that is the consequence of the
brutal actions of Serbian police and military forces
against the ethnic Albanian population of the prov-
ince;
(2) believes that the Government of Serbia is
primarily responsible for the loss of life and destruc-
tion of property, and thus Serbia should bear the
principal burden of providing compensation for the
loss of life and for the costs of rebuilding areas
which its forces have devastated;
(3) urges the President and officials he des-
ignates to work with the Congress to draft legisla-
tion and regulations which will permit the claims of
ethnic Albanians from Kosova who have suffered as
a consequence of the brutal actions of Serbian police
and military forces in Kosova to be considered, with-
out prejudice to the claims of United States nation-
als, when claims settlement negotiations involving
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the assets of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro) which the United States
has blocked or asserted control over takes place;
(4) urges that, in drafting such legislation and
implementing regulations, special consideration be
given to the circumstances of the Government of the
Republic of Montenegro and to persons located in
and organized under the laws of the Republic of
Montenegro;
(5) urges the President and the Secretary of
State to urge all other countries to follow a policy
which permits ethnic Albanians who have suffered as
a consequence of the brutal actions of Serbian police
and military forces in Kosova to make claims
against the assets of the Federal Republic of Yugo-
slavia (Serbia and Montenegro) which are in the
control of the respective country; and
(6) requests that a copy of this resolution be
transmitted to the President and the Secretary of
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State by the Clerk of the House of Representatives
and the Secretary of the Senate.
Passed the House of Representatives September 23,
1998.
Attest:
Clerk.