IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 36 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States 
should declare its support for the independence of Kosova. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 5, 2007 
Mr. LANTOS (for himself and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States should declare its support for the 
independence of Kosova. 
Whereas the United States and the international community 
recognize that a right to self-determination exists as a 
fundamental right of all people; 
Whereas Kosova was constitutionally defined as a sovereign 
territory in the First National Liberation Conference for 
Kosova on January 2, 1944, and this status was con-
firmed in the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Re-
public of Yugoslavia adopted in 1946, and the amended 
Yugoslav constitution adopted in 1974 preserved the au-
tonomous status of Kosova as a de facto republic; 
Whereas prior to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, 
Kosova was a separate political and legal entity with sep-
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•HRES 36 IH 
arate and distinct financial institutions, police force, mu-
nicipal and national government, school system, judicial 
and legal system, hospitals and other independent organi-
zations; 
Whereas Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic rose to power in 
1987 on a platform of ultra nationalism and anti-Alba-
nian racism, advocating violence and hatred against all 
non-Slavs and specifically targeting the Albanians of 
Kosova; 
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic subsequently stripped Kosova of 
its self-rule, without the consent of the people of Kosova; 
Whereas the elected Assembly of Kosova, faced with these in-
tolerable acts, adopted a Declaration of Independence on 
July 2, 1990, proclaimed the Republic of Kosova, and 
adopted a constitution on September 7, 1990, based on 
the international legal principles of self-determination, 
equality, and sovereignty; 
Whereas in recognition of the de facto dissolution of the 
Yugoslav federation, the European community estab-
lished principles for the recognition of the independence 
and sovereignty of the republics of the former Socialist 
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Kosova fully satisfied 
those principles as a de facto republic within the federa-
tion; 
Whereas a popular referendum was held in Kosova from Sep-
tember 26–30, 1991, in which 87 percent of all eligible 
voters cast ballots and 99.87 percent voted in favor of de-
claring Kosova independent of the Socialist Federal Re-
public of Yugoslavia; 
Whereas, from the occupation of Kosova in 1989 until the 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military ac-
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•HRES 36 IH 
tion against the Milosevic regime in 1999, the Albanians 
of Kosova were subjected to the most brutal treatment in 
the heart of Europe since the Nazi era, forcing approxi-
mately 400,000 Albanians to flee to Western Europe and 
the United States; 
Whereas in the spring of 1999 almost 1,000,000 Kosovar Al-
banians were driven out of Kosova and at least 10,000 
were murdered by the Serbian paramilitary and military; 
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the International 
War Crimes Tribunal and extradited to The Hague in 
June 2001 to stand trial for war crimes, crimes against 
humanity, and genocide in Kosova, Bosnia, and Croatia; 
Whereas the United Nations established Kosova as a protec-
torate under Resolution 1244, ending the decade long 
Serbian occupation of Kosova and Milosevic’s genocidal 
war in Kosova; 
Whereas Kosovar Albanians, together with representatives of 
the Serb, Turkish, Roma, Bosniak, and Ashkali minori-
ties in Kosova, have held free and fair municipal and 
general elections in 2000 and 2001 and successfully es-
tablished a parliament in 2002, which in turn elected a 
president and prime minister; 
Whereas 50 percent of the population in Kosova is under the 
age of 25 and the unemployment rate is currently be-
tween 60 and 70 percent, increasing the likelihood of 
young people entering criminal networks, the source of 
which lies outside of Kosova, or working abroad in order 
to survive unless massive job creation is facilitated by 
guaranteeing the security of foreign investments through 
an orderly transition to the independence of Kosova; 
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•HRES 36 IH 
Whereas the Kosova parliament is committed to developing a 
western-style democracy in which all citizens, regardless 
of ethnicity, are granted full human and civil rights and 
are committed to the return of all non-criminal Serbs 
who fled Kosova during and after the war; and 
Whereas there is every reason to believe that independence 
from Serbia is the only viable option for Kosova, after 
autonomy has failed time and time again: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the United States should— 
(1) recognize the danger that delay in the reso-
lution of Kosova’s final status poses for the political 
and economic viability of Kosova and its neighbors, 
and consequently for the future of Southeast Eu-
rope; 
(2) publicly support the independence of Kosova 
within its existing borders as a sovereign and demo-
cratic state in which human rights, including the 
rights of ethnic and religious minorities, and the rule 
of law are respected as the only way to lasting peace 
and stability in the Balkans; 
(3) establish a monitoring body in conjunction 
with the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization, and other multilateral organizations to 
ensure that the new state of Kosova achieves the 
standards set forth by the UN Security Council, in-
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•HRES 36 IH 
cluding the protection of minority rights and secu-
rity for all of Kosova’s communities, and to facilitate 
an orderly transition from a UN protectorate to a 
fully functioning democratic government; 
(4) work with the Council of Europe to develop 
and implement anti-racism programs that would be 
instituted at the level of federal and municipal gov-
ernments throughout the Balkans; 
(5) work with the United Nations and North 
Atlantic Treaty Organization to facilitate the return 
of Albanians to their pre-war homes in northern 
Mitrovica and its environs and Serbs to theirs in 
southern Mitrovica and other parts of Kosova; and 
(6) provide its share of assistance, trade, and 
other programs to support the government of an 
independent Kosova and to encourage the further 
development of democracy, rule of law, and a free 
market economic system in Kosova and throughout 
the Balkans. 
Æ 
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