HF 2415

1st Engrossment - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             memorializing the United States government to act with 
  1.3             all speed to provide humanitarian aid to Kosovo. 
  1.4      
  1.5      WHEREAS, in the name of "ethnic cleansing," the Serbs under 
  1.6   the leadership of the ruthless demagogue President Slobodan 
  1.7   Milosevic conducted from 1992 to 1995 a campaign of rape, 
  1.8   murder, and torture against the people of Bosnia comparable to 
  1.9   the atrocities of the Nazis against the Jews during World War 
  1.10  II; and 
  1.11     WHEREAS, those actions resulted in the deaths of over 
  1.12  250,000 innocent people, including women, children, and elderly, 
  1.13  and left over one million civilians wounded; and 
  1.14     WHEREAS, in Kosovo, President Milosevic has now increased 
  1.15  the intensity of the Serbian program of so-called "ethnic 
  1.16  cleansing," of genocide, and of unspeakable crimes against 
  1.17  humanity; and 
  1.18     WHEREAS, as ethnic Albanians flee Kosovo by the hundreds of 
  1.19  thousands, the resulting refugee crisis is overwhelming the 
  1.20  people of the states that border Kosovo, so that tens of 
  1.21  thousands are backed up in inhumane conditions at the Macedonian 
  1.22  border, and this fact threatens destabilization of the Balkan 
  1.23  nations in Central Europe; and 
  1.24     WHEREAS, this foreign policy catastrophe further threatens 
  2.1   the peace of all of Europe and the West; and 
  2.2      WHEREAS, President Clinton and his administration did not 
  2.3   speak out against President Milosevic for his crimes against 
  2.4   humanity in Bosnia in 1993 and 1994 and did not take the 
  2.5   forceful or decisive actions urged by the Minnesota House of 
  2.6   Representatives in H.F. 3058 of 1994, and this inaction and 
  2.7   hesitation only served to embolden President Milosevic and the 
  2.8   Serbs in their aggression against the people of Kosovo; and 
  2.9      WHEREAS, the actions of NATO forces in Kosovo, which were 
  2.10  intended to deter Serbian atrocities against ethnic Albanians, 
  2.11  have not so far had a deterrent effect; and 
  2.12     WHEREAS, the refugees have repeatedly given firsthand 
  2.13  accounts of mass killings in villages where Serbs were forcing 
  2.14  out ethnic Albanians, burning their homes and villages, and 
  2.15  committing massive violations of human rights; and 
  2.16     WHEREAS, the very actions that NATO must take to bring this 
  2.17  terror to an end will also bring about terrible destruction in 
  2.18  Yugoslavia; and 
  2.19     WHEREAS, the credibility and respect of NATO, the United 
  2.20  States government, and all of the West is at stake in the final 
  2.21  outcome of Serbian aggression in Kosovo; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  2.22     BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  2.23  that it urges the federal government to act with all speed to 
  2.24  provide generous humanitarian aid to the people of Kosovo. 
  2.25     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature commends the 
  2.26  people of Minnesota, particularly its young people and its many 
  2.27  charities, churches, and nonprofit organizations, who are 
  2.28  donating and helping organize relief and humanitarian aid to the 
  2.29  refugees and deportees from Kosovo. 
  2.30     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature urges that all 
  2.31  Minnesotans and all levels of government - state and local as 
  2.32  well as federal - be involved in efforts to provide humanitarian 
  2.33  aid to the Kosovars. 
  2.34     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature condemns the 
  2.35  genocide, atrocities, and crimes against humanity being 
  2.36  perpetrated by the government of Slobodan Milosevic. 
  3.1      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature supports the 
  3.2   efforts of President Clinton, Congress, and the United States 
  3.3   government and its armed forces to meet United States and NATO 
  3.4   objectives in Kosovo and the Balkans. 
  3.5      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that President Clinton and his 
  3.6   administration should actively and vigorously pursue a policy 
  3.7   that will bring Slobodan Milosevic and his top paramilitary 
  3.8   lieutenants before the International Court of Justice at the 
  3.9   Hague to be put on trial for crimes against humanity. 
  3.10     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the Minnesota 
  3.11  Congressional delegation are urged to be actively involved in 
  3.12  the distribution of this resolution to their fellow members of 
  3.13  Congress. 
  3.14     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  3.15  State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  3.16  memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
  3.17  States, the United States Secretary of State, the Committee on 
  3.18  International Relations of the United States House of 
  3.19  Representatives, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
  3.20  United States Senate, and Minnesota's Senators and 
  3.21  Representatives in Congress.