IV
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 467
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
JUNE 27, 2002
Mr. GILMAN (for himself and Mr. LANTOS) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
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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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 ultranationalism and anti-Albanian
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-
tion against the Milosevic regime in 1999, the Albanians
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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;
Whereas the Kosova parliament is committed to developing a
western-style democracy in which all citizens, regardless
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of ethnicity, are granted full human and civil rights and
are committed to the return of all noncriminal 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) publicly support the independence of Kosova
and the establishment of Kosova as a sovereign and
democratic state in which human rights are re-
spected, including the rights of ethnic and religious
minorities, as the only way to lasting peace and sta-
bility in the Balkans;
(2) recognize the danger that delay in the reso-
lution of Kosova’s final status poses for the political
and economic viability of Kosova and the future of
Southeast Europe;
(3) work in conjunction with the United Na-
tions, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and
other multilateral organizations to facilitate an or-
derly transition to the independence of Kosova; and
(4) provide its share of assistance, trade, and
other programs to support the government of an
independent Kosova and to encourage the further
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development of democracy and a free market eco-
nomic system.
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