IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 28
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 27, 2003
Mr. LANTOS (for himself and Mr. HYDE) 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-
•HRES 28 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 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