Foreign Relations Committee

CIVIL STRIFE IN YUGOSLAVIA: THE UNITED
STATES RESPONSE

HEARING
BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON
EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SECOND CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION

FEBRUARY 21, 1991

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON

CONTENTS
Bentley, Hon. Helen, U.S. Representative from Maryland 48
Prepared statement 62
Bonutti, Dr. Karl B., President, Slovenian-American Heritage Foundation~
Pepper Pike, OH122
Prepared statement124
DioGuardi, Hon. Joseph, Albanian-American Civic League, Scarsdale, NY,
prepared statement 89
Prepared statement 94
Dobbins, Hon. James F., Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State,
Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, Department of State75
Prepared statement78
Dole, Hon. Robert, U.S. Senator from Kansas 36
Prepared statement 39
Laber, Jeri, Executive Director, Helsinki Watch, New York, NY115
Prepared statement117
Moody, Hon. Jim, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin 42
Prepared statement 46
Perpich, Hon. Rudy, Croatian-American Association, Hibbing, MN102
Prepared statement 114
Schifter, Hon. Richard, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Human Rights
and Humanitarian Affairs, Department of State70
Prepared statement 73
Responses to Questions asked by Senator Pressler 165
Stone, Robert Rade, President, Serb National Federation, Pittsburgh, PA125
Prepared statement 129

APPENDIX

A Coffin for Mihailovic (article), New York Times Book Review, Feb. 10, 1991, by David Binder145
Albanians in U.S. Share Homeland?s Burdens (article), New York Times, Feb. 10, 1991, by David Binder144
Bonior, David E., prepared statement143
Damich, Prof. Edward J., prepared statement161
Information on the present situation in the world and Yugoslavia, and on the immediate tasks of the Yugoslav People?s Army158
Luketich, Bernard M., President, Croatian Fraternal Union of America, prepared statement163
Paraga, Dobroslav, President, Croatian Party of Rights, prepared statement 159
Raskovic, Dr. Jovan, prepared statement144
Rebecca West: This Time, Let?s Listen (article), New York Times Book Review, Feb. 10, 1991 by Larry Wolff153
Secret Serbian Cameras Roll on Croatian Unrest (article), The European, Feb. 1-3, 1991, by Dusko Doder 146
Vuich, David, Serbian American Voter Alliance, prepared statement 149
Yambrusic, Edward Slavko, President, National Confederation of American Ethnic Groups, Inc., Feb. 27, 1991, letter from, to Senator Biden 157
Yugoslav Presidents Defuse Croatian Tensions (article), Financial Times, Jan. 27, 1991, by Laura Silber 148
Yugoslavia Tense Over TV Film on Croatian Arms (article), New York Times, Jan. 26, 1991, by Chuck Sudetic 147

STATEMENT OF HON. .JOSEPH DIOGUARDI, ALBANIAN-AMERICAN
CIVIC LEAGUE, SCARSDALE, NY

Now, on our next and very patient panel we have Congressman DioGuardi of the Albanian-American Civic League from Scarsdale, NY; the honorable Rudy Perpich, former Governor, Croatian-American Association from Minnesota; Ms. Jeri Laber, Executive Director of Helsinki Watch in New York, NY; Dr. Karl Bonutti, of the Slovenian-American Heritage Foundation in Ohio; and Mr. Robert, Stone, President of the Serb National Federation, Pitts-burgh, PA. I appreciate you all being here.
It is good to see you again, Governor. I have not seen you in a long time. it. is a pleasure to see you and you as well, Congressman.
It would be very helpful because we want to get a chance to ask a lot of questions and hear sonic cross-comments here if you would all do as you were requested prior to the hearing beginning and keep your statements to five minutes. You all were asked to do that. That is not a surprise to anyone, is it?
Mr. DIOGUARDI. it?s not a surprise, but it will be difficult. But we are going to try to do that.
Senator Biden. Well, I understand for Congressmen and Senators and Governors it is extremely difficult, but. we are used to being cut off. So, I am sure you will not mind. For the rest, I hope they will attempt. to keep it to 5 minutes as well because we will cut you off?.
As the chairman has pointed out to me, there are these lights that we live by here. Any Congressman speaks in 5-minute para-graphs anyway. Isn?t that right, Congressman? You have leaned the 5-minute rule in the 1-louse. You know you never get to speak more than 5 minutes anyway. It is Governors we have the problem with, and the real problem is with Senators. They never stop. But the yellow light will go on when there is 1 minute remaining, and at the red light—your chair will eject you into the ceiling. [laugh-ter.]
Seriously. I am not going to hold it to 5, but give it a shot, if you would.
All right. Let?s begin in the order you were called. Congressman, if you would begin first.

Mr. DioGuardi. Thank you, Senator, and let me begin by com-mending you for this hearing, a hearing that is very, very impor-tant to all the groups that share in this partnership called Yugo-slavia.
And, Senator Pell, thank you for your leadership last year and your continuing leadership in handling a very difficult issue.

There is no question that the issue that I represent—we can talk about a lot of things about Yugoslavia, but I must confine my re-marks to the ethnic Albanians there, Senator and Senator Pell. It is a very complex issue, not well-understood. The Albanian people are not well-understood, it is a dispersed nation. Much like the Jewish nation that was dispersed by the Romans 2,000 years ago, the Albanian nation was dispersed by the Ottoman Turks so that you have 3.2 million Albanians in Albania, you have 3 million in Yugoslavia, almost 3 million in Turkey, over 1 million in Greece. It is a difficult situation for the Albanian nation, but we are going to confine our comments today, Senator Biden, to Yugoslavia, mainly Kosuvo because that is where the pot is boiling for the Albanians.
There is much that I heard, Senator, that 1 disagree with from Congressman Moody?s testimony, Congresswoman Bentley?s testi-mony. Obviously, we can be treated to a course in history. rrhat is not the issue here today. The issue today, Senator, is current reali-ty, what is happenmg. If we had to redraw the map of Europe based on every ethnic group?s history, what would we have? We have to look at what is happening.
And in Kosovo today you have 2 million Albanians that are com-pletely disenfranchised. Every independent group that is allowed to go there and I say allowed because many are thrown out. The Eu-ropean Parliament was evicted several times. I have been evicted. Would you believe, Senator, a former U.S. Congressman, one now that is an advocate kr a large group of Albanian—Americans and these people? I have been to Belgrade three times in the past year, Kosovo three times. I have been literally evicted from the interna-tional press center in Belgrade just to express my views.
If you thought. hat you heard a good analysis of the elections, what you should have heard was Mrs. Phyllis Karninski, who is here by the way. She was involved with the National Republican Institute for International Affairs. They will be issuing a report very shortly on their independent observance of those elections in Serbia and other republics. And she is in the audience, and I saw her moving around quite a bit and disagreeing with what you heard as well. So, I would wish that you would take her report for the record even I though you may not l)e able to take her comments today. That is our U.S. agency AiD, and 1 would hope that we would accept that as an objective report.
But. we have 2 million Albanians in this area that today have been reduced to nothing. They have been dismissed from their jobs. They are beaten. They are tortured. They have been killed. There are lists of killings. I just received—and I had to get this by plane yesterday—the latest report dated February 19, 1991. This is the Pristina Branch of the Yugoslav 1-lelsinki Committee. This is a litany of horrors, Senator. 1 do not think there is a group of people in the world today that is treated as badly as 2 million Albanians who are in a so-called civilized state that our State Department consistently stands fbr called Yugoslavia. And they have some good reasons from a national security point of view, but. let. me say inter-national convent ions should never allow any group to be treated this way. And may I give you this statement. for (lie record?
Also, let me give you for the record—because this is current. This is not 500 years old. This is not ancient history. Here is a report issued just last week by the city bar association. Their human rights committee went to Kosovo. They prepared an 80-page report with a press release.
Senator BIDEN. What bar is that?
Mr. DIOGUARDI. Excuse me. The New York City Bar.
And I would like to again put their report, again a litany of hor-rors.
You have heard about the State Department?s country report. I applaud our great Ambassador Zimmermann, Mr. Chairman, for the work he is doing because that report for the first time is an honest assessment of the plight of the ethnic Albanians, and it itself is a litany of horrors.
Let me also put on the record—because I received this by an air-plane yesterday from Belgrade. This is the Independent Trade Union of Kosovo report of the general economic and social situa-tion after application of repressive measures in the Kosovian com-panies, et cetera, February 19, 1991, not hundreds of years old, not history, today. And I would offer this report for the record as well.
What we face today is nothing less than an issue of communism versus democracy. We have democratic leaders in Kosovo. In fact, there are five democratic parties. They cannot freely associate without being harassed or even arrested. Senator Dole told you what happened when he went there. When I went there with Con-gressman Lantos last June, just for merely expressing our concern and in some cases outrage at the treatment even in front of us, I was banned for 5 years. I am a former U.S. Congressman. Our State Department quietly protested it, but I am still banned. I cannot go, according to the Serbian authorities, back to Yugoslavia to talk about these people. This is the condition that has been im-posed on the Albanians today.
Let me not go through the litany of horrors because they are here in my testimony. I have given 8 pages. So, let me shift for a minute to an issue of self-determination because if you talk about human rights, you must be concerned where does that lead.
Senator, why shouldn?t 2 million Albanians have the right of self-determination in the state of Yugoslavia? They are the third largest ethnic group in the country. The Slovenes, lesser people, 1.5 million, have a republic. The Montenegrins, even less than that, have a republic. But yet, 2 million Albanians are denied even the thought. In fact, if you go on the streets and use the word ?repub-lic,? you will be arrested on the spot, and you could be imprisoned from 5 to 15 years under the provisions of the Serbian law.
You talk about the rule of law today. Go to Kosovo and look at the tanks on the streets today. It is an unholy combination of apartheid. It is the Warsaw ghetto all over again. It is every ugly stain that anyone could ever imagine, and it is in Europe today. It is in this day and age, and yet very few people see it because the Serbian government does not want you to see it. Many of the inde-pendent groups have been chased away from seeing it. When Sena-tor Dole came, they had dispersed thousands of people before he ar-rived, and yet he smelled the tear gas. His press secretary took the video and brought it back. It was literally disgusting.
So, why shouldn?t self-determination for these people—especially with the oppression that they have been to for 45 years, why shouldn?t that lead to a republic status for the Albanians? What is wrong with that? That is the only guarantee that they have against this oppression. Look at the history of this area. They need to enjoy some sort of autonomy, but within the state of Yugoslavia.
All responsible leaders that I have met with, Congressman Lantos has met with, Senator Dole, have not heard anyone express that they would like to secede and join with Albania. This is the Serbian propaganda machine. And, Mr. Chairman, you cannot be-lieve the propaganda that the Serbs have, their Tanjug and Poli-tika. I know because I have seen my quotes. But do not listen to me. Look at even recent reports in the press. In fact, there was an article in the press just a little while ago that talked about the truth being compromised. And I will probably put my hand on it later, but it was in the New York Times that truth is compromised easily by that Serbian propaganda machine.
And it was used against the opposition, even the Serbian opposi-tion, to create a monopoly of power by a Stalinist Communist. His
name is Slobodan Milosevic. And you know something? It is not bad enough that he is a Communist, Mr. Chairman. He is an ardent nationalist. It is the worst of both forms. Usually if you are a Communist—and communism has quelled nationalism in many places. It is with the demise of communism that we see a resur-gence of nationalism. This gentleman combines the worst of both. He is a Stalinist bolshevik and he is an ardent nationalist.
And he has used Kosovo as his only platform. When he rose to power in the last 10 years, or certainly in the last 2 or 3, his only platform was to recolonize Kosovo. Can you imagine in this day and age using the word ?recolonization?? But that is what he wants to do. If you are a Serb and you move back to Kosovo, you not only get the wage, the government will double the wage. In other words, there are incentives now for Serbs to go back and they are taking the jobs away from all the Albanians so they leave. This has been a plan that has been a dream of Serbs for years. I remem-ber a memo that I read by Mr. Chubrilovic. It was in his plan in 1939 that we must recolonize Kosovo, and they call it their Jerusa-lem.
Well, I understand the importance of it to them. But the Albani-ans were there before they came. The Slays came in in the eighth and the ninth century. The Albanians were already there. The Al-banian people are the remnants of the Syrian Empire. They have : been there for thousands of years. They share nothing with the Slays, not their alphabet, not their language, not their culture. And we can see right now they cannot even share a common politi-cal denominator because the leaders of the Albanians want democ-racy.
And 700,000 who have registered with the Democratic Alliance, Dr. Rugova, threw their Communist cards in the bonfire and they are not able to vote. They would not vote. They boycotted the elec-tions because they did want to dignify the fact that Serbia has been imposing their brand of political self-determination on them. And I think they had every right to do it.
My testimony goes for three pages as to why the republic status for Kosovo is a logical conclusion to guarantee their human rights and give these people their self-determination.
And finally, let me just talk about State Department policy, Mr. Chairman, because it is misguided. If this policy were a good policy several years ago, I have to tell you today that it is a lousy policy today. And it is based on three shaky principles that again I go through here.
And by the way, I take issue with something that I think Con-gressman Moody said because he cited a vote in the House last year 352 to 50 as some kind of a referendum on why the State De-partment should give aid. That was a misguided resolution intro-duced by Congressman Broomfield. Broomfield has been one that has stood up on this issue, and we applaud everything that he has done. But that resolution did not have the support of the Albanian-American Civic League. It did not have the support of the Albani-an people. It was a weak resolution. The Albanians were not pre-pared when that came to the floor. We were surprised. But I will give you a better barometer, Mr. Chairman. Within a week, I had to deal with an amendment to the foreign aid appropriations bill. And as you know, that was Congressman Obey’s committee. And that passed. it passed unanimously in the Senate, Dole, Nickles, and D’Amato, and many others. In the House there was a problem. There had to be a compromise, but in fact after 13 hours of a con-ference committee, 95 percent of that amendment passed. And that is I think the indicator that should be looked at in terms of action in the House, to take away aid from any republic that is commu-nistic that is imposing its chauvinism on other people.
But the three principles. One, the State Department is tied into the past relationship with Yugoslavia when we needed a broker, when we needed a bridge. We don’t need that bridge and broker anymore.
Two, as far as the State Department is concerned, we must pre-vent the dissolution of Yugoslavia under any conditions or at any cost. I don’t buy that.
And three, we must not prevent the process of democratization from going forward.
These, Mr. Chairman, are their expressed policy items because in a letter where they actively lobbied against the amendment that we were for, that ultimately passed, they cited these three reasons in a letter by Assistant Secretary Mullins I believe. And I had to, for the record and in front of Republicans and Democrats, Senate and House, argue against all three and obviously did it successfully because the amendment did pass.
Well, in conclusion, because I know there is a lot that can be said and I will offer much of what I have for the record, Mr. Chairman. It is a complex issue. Kosovo is not going to break up Yugoslavia. You saw it in the papers today. It is happening without Kosovo. In fact, if we deal with the issue of Kosovo honestly, it might help in keeping Yugoslavia together. The Albanians want their place in a confederation within Yugoslavia. They really do.
And it is a shame that Serbian chauvinism and that this Com-munist Party boss, Slobodan Milosevic, is imposing his brand of a monopolized political system on the others. There is an apartheid that has been created. Unfortunately, the world does not know about it as well as they know about the apartheid in South Africa. And in a press release that 1 issued today, Mr. Chairman, I call Kosovo the Kuwait of Europe. Why? It is occupied. There is no question. The
Serbs have moved into Kosovo and have assumed every indicia of living, not only economic. The judges are Serbian. The police are Serbian. Everything has been subsumed by the Serbs. So, there is—and make no bones about it—occupation today. So, I would conclude by saying that we have to question our State Department. We have to question why they inevitably seem to be against any congressional resolution, amendment or statement. They actively lobby. My feeling, Mr. Chairman, is they should be loudly proclaiming the democratic aims of the Albanian people. And if they really believe their own country report, if they have a conscience, they should be working with the leaders in Kosovo in order to give these people self- determination within a confederation so that the experiment of Yugoslavia remains together. I would like to see Yugoslavia remain together, but I do not think it is going to happen based upon what we have read in the press today and based upon what you are going to hear from these other witnesses.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Senator Pell.
[The prepared statement of Mr. DioGuardi follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF JOSEPH J. DIOGUARDI

Mr. Chairman, the recently issued State Department Country Report on Yugoslavia for 1990 does a good job in reporting the gross violations of human rights against Albanians in Yugoslavia, especially in Kosovo. I agree with the latest Helsinki Watch Report that the credit for this goes to the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, especially our Ambassador, Warren Zimmermañn, for excellent work in monitoring and reporting the true state of human affairs in Yugoslavia. The Country Report describes Yugoslavia as being in a process of change toward democracy with the notable exception of Serbia and Montenegro. Although advances have been made in the northern Republics of Slovenia and Croatia, the situation has deteriorated dangerously in Kosovo. To cite just one outrageous example. a doctor who was not a
defendant testified that Serbian police had ordered him to examine Albanian prisoners ?to see how much beating they could withstand.? Arbitrary arrests occurred in Kosovo where Albanians are routinely accused on the basis of an unsupported statement by a single policeman. It is believed that over 5,000 Albanians were arrested just for participating in the 1990 demonstrations. Courts are politically motivated, and in Yugoslavia there is strong opposition to the introduction of a genuinely independent judiciary. While Albanians living outside Kosovo (in Macedonia for example) have also charged that courts are often biased against them, in Kosovo itself (where most of the 3 million Albanians in Yugoslavia live) any semblance of an independent judiciary has disappeared since the Serbian occupation on July 5, 1990. The Country Report writes: ?Most ethnic Albanian judicial officials and judges were replaced by ethnic Serbs, and thousands of Albanians were sentenced on a variety of trumped up criminal charges.? As a result, the vast majority of those sentenced in 1990 for political offenses were ethnic Albanians (160 out of a total of 190).
In Kosovo, police search homes without a warrant ostensibly searching for weapons, but confiscate hard currency and other valuables. All Albanians in Kosovo are fair game, including the clergy. Albanian demonstrations have been crushed with the use of excessive force, in violation of all basic human rights. Between January 24 and February 3, 1990, at least 30 Albanians were killed and the number may be even much higher. Even a gathering in Prishtina to welcome a U.S. senatorial delegation headed by Senator Bob Dole last August left 46 Albanians beaten with clubs and subjected to tear gas and water cannons. A few days later, four more Albanians were killed by Serbian police. Following the occupation of Kosovo, almost all Albanian language media were suppressed, including the Prishtina Radio and TV, and the only Albanian daily newspaper, Relindja.
In education, at least 90 university professors were fired. Almost the entire teaching staff of the Medical School in Prishtina—76 instructors—were also fired, all of them Albanian, and all because they refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Republic of Serbia. Freedom of peaceful assembly and association does not exist for Albanians. Any gathering is seen as being ?hostile to the policies of the Serbian government,? and ends up in arrest, sometimes accompanied by loss of human lives. This illegal practice is used also against the Albanians in Macedonia. Last February, 107 Albanian demonstrators were detained in Tetova, mistreated by the police and many of them were sentenced to jail. The law against ?association for purposes of hostile activities? has been used to prosecute Albanians who advocate Republic Status for Kosovo. The penalty for this verbal expression has been 5 to 15 years imprisonment. The Country Report confirms that ?Serbian election law denies registration to any party that
does not accept the territorial integrity of Serbia, a provision that is aimed at Albanian political parties, almost all of which seek separate status for Kosovo within Yugoslavia, but outside Serbia.? The measure left no choice for Albanians but to totally boycott the elections in Serbia last December. Freedom of movement is curtailed, especially for Albanians. Albanian refugees from Albania were sent back in spite of the protests of the U.N. Commissioner for Refugees. Of the 1,241 passports refused, 90 percent were Albanians. With the occupation of Kosovo by Serbia all civil rights of citizens were eliminated. Serbia abolished the Assembly of Kosovo, the Executive Council, the judiciary, and the police of Kosovo, taking full and unbridged control of the region, allegedly for ?endangering the territorial integrity of Serbia.? Social prejudice against Albanians is deeply rooted. Macedonia limits social welfare payments to the first three children in a family, a policy aimed primarily at ethnic Albanians. In the last election in Macedonia (November 1990) some of the elected Albanian delegates were denied admittance to the Assembly and, more recently, in local elections Albanians were excluded from town and village councils even in the areas where they represent a majority. Albanian trade union leaders are routinely jailed. The peaceful Labor Day strike was observed by virtually all the working and school age population. But over 50,000 workers have been fired since then, and private businesses were padlocked by police and not allowed to open. Albanians are also the notable exception with the respect to the right to strike. And finally, a new form of forced labor has been instituted by Serbia in Kosovo, the so-called work obligation where the refusal to work is punishable by administrative and criminal sanctions. Having cited the many ways in which the Serbian authorities cause human misery for Albanians in Yugoslavia on a daily basis, I would like to now, Mr. Chairman, deal with the Albanian request for Republic Status for Kosovo within Yugoslavia but outside Serbia whichseems to be the only bay to guarantee equal treatment for the Albanian people there. (By the way, the ample voicing of such a request is now punishable by law, even though this is a gross violation of the right to free speech.) On July 2, 1990, 115 delegates of the Assembly of Kosovo proclaimed the independence of Kosovo within the Yugoslav Federation/Confederation. Three days later, Serbia declared this constitutional act to be null and void, imposed a military occupation, and destroyed the former autonomy of Kosovo. The Assembly of Kosovo went underground and, on September 7, 1990, the delegates met clandestinely in the town of Kachanik (Kosovo), where they promulgated the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. Serbia issued warrants for the arrest of all the delegates. They escaped, and are now either in hiding or in exile. Let me now, Mr. Chairman, offer the following in support of the actions of the Kosovo Assembly:
A. The proclamation of the independence of Kosovo and the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo are a reaction to the suppression and the continuous violation of human and national rights of the Albanian majority (about 90 percent) of Kosovo. As was the case for ?The Intolerable Acts? of 1774 in the colonial America, which brought America?s Independence and our Constitution, 45 years of Serbian repression (1945—90) justified the Albanian resistance by both history and tradition, placing the burden of the conflict on the Serbian Government. The same situation was repeated with the ?troisieme Etat? in 1789, in France. When the people were convinced that their grievances went unheeded, they proclaimed themselves the National Assembly, drafted the Constitution, and established the Republic of France. In 1990, Albanians in Kosovo did just that.
B. The demand for a Republic of Kosovo has clearly taken the modern form of the perennial quest for elementary justice. For Albanians this is an effort to avoid persecution and prosecution, to avoid mass arrests, widespread torture, imprisonment, and deaths in jail or on the streets of Kosovo. Therefore, the establishment of the Republic of Kosovo, free, equal and sovereign within the Yugoslav Federation/ Confederation is simply an ?insurance policy,? an indispensable mechanism of defense against Serbian abuses, and cannot be construed as an obsession to have a state, or as an attempt to secede. It would be foolish for Albanians to accept any ?warranties? from a government which has oppressed them for. 45 long years.
C: The entire resistance movement in Kosovo is peaceful, nonviolent and civilized, asking only for a dialog among equals and for free elections. In spite of the daily provocations by the occupying Serbian police and Army units—arrests, house searches, beatings, torture, ailing, forceful unemployment, denial of education and health services, the destruction of Kosovo?s economy and administration—not one single incident has been provoked by Albanians. A secession movement would inevitably call for violence (for example Northern Ireland, the Basks etc.). In Kosovo, it did not. It is logical to conclude that the struggle in Kosovo is neither ethnic nor religious, as the
Serbian propaganda machine wants us to believe, but a fight between democracy and the residues of Serbian bolshevism in Belgrade.
D. There are 3 million Albanians in Yugoslavia, 45 percent of the Albanian nation in the Balkans. Only about 2 million live in Kosovo. The rest, live in Macedonia (over 700,000), in Serbia Proper and in Mon tenegro. If the intention of the Albanians were to unite with their mother country, Albania, it is logical to think that they would first ask for the unification of all Albanians in Yugoslavia within a Republic (the way Serbia is now asking for the unification of all Serbs within a ?Greater Serbian? State) and then, as a second step, to join with Albania. The present demand for the Republic of Kosovo does not include the over 1 million Albanians outside Kosovo. Any attempt by the Republic of Kosovo to join with Albania by leaving over a million Albanians still in Yugoslavia under Serbia?s control would be treated as ?an act of treason? by all Albanians. Therefore, such an act will not be undertaken or promoted by any Albanian leader, inside or outside Albanian, now or in the future. Furthermore, if over a million Albanians were left within Yugoslavia as a minority, they would continue to be a constant source of friction between Yugoslavia and Albania. It is logical to conclude that the joining of the Republic of Kosovo with Albania is not a solution, but merely propaganda contrived by the Serbian Communists to suppress Albanian aspirations for democracy within Yugoslavia.
E. The entire problem of Kosovo has reached disturbing proportions, not because of the Albanian demands to secure themselves the necessary conditions to live free from fear and free from hunger—which they perceive as achievable under a free, equal and sovereign Republic within Yugoslavia. The real problem in Kosovo are the policies of the present Communist Government of Serbia and its expressed chauvinist ambitions through the statements of its president, Slobodan Milosevic rejecting democracy and trying to create a Greater Serbian State in Yugoslavia which would include, of course, all of Kosovo. A Republic of Kosovo, democratically established, is a—substantial contribution to keeping Serbian expansion in check, and in safeguarding the unity and integrity of the Yugoslav State (whether it be a Federation or Confederation) through democratic and peaceful means, a solution which is also supported by the policies of the U.S. Government. The rejection of communism by the Albanian people brought ?the democratic op position? to the surface, initially with the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo, and later with (bur more political parties, and the Council for the Defense of Rights and Liberties in Kosovo. Their orientation is predetermined by the principles of the U.N. Charter, U.N. Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the 1975 Helsinki Act and more recently the Copenhagen and Paris Charter. (See very recent declaration by democratic leaders attached.) In spite of all that I and all internationally recognized human rights and public watchdog groups have said about the outrageous ?apartheid? that exists in Kosovo today, our State Department, while admitting the wanton abuse of the Albanaan people by the Serbian authorities, has argued against and activity resisted every reasonable Congressional Resolution, Amendment and Statement on Kosovo. Why? If I understand the administration?s position correctly, their refusal to actively support democracy in Kosovo and, therefore, in Serbia, is based on three shaky principles. First, it could adversely challenge the U.S. State Department s policy on Yugoslavia. Second, it could precipitate the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Third, it could disrupt the process of democratization taking place in Yugoslavia. As a former Member who championed this cause while in the Congress from 1985 to 1988, I would like to take issue with the administration on all three points. As regards the Yugoslav policy of the U.S. State Department. An article in the June 28, 1990, ?New York Review of Books? explains that, for geopolitical and security reasons, the U.S. State Department has long credited Yugoslavia with the reputation of a progressive nation, free of major human rights abuses. Given the avowed end of the cold war, the well-publicized divisions in Yugoslavia?s collectivized government, and the obsolescence of both the Yugoslav and Soviet models of comrnunism, the old geopolitical reasons can no longer serve to justify the failure of the U.S. Government and Congress to bring to light and loudly condemn the gross violation of human rights that prevail against Albanians in Yugoslavia today, especially in Kosovo. As regards the precipitation of the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The New York T3mes of September 6, 1990, describing Serbian repression against the ethnic Albanian minority of Kosovo, quotes a Serbian foreign affairs spokesman as saying ?any steps denying Serbia economic aid would spell the dissolution of Yugoslavia.? I strongly contend (along with many prominent Senators and House Members, including Senators Dole, Pressler, D?Amato, Nickles, Lautenberg, and Congressmen Lantos, Gilman, Porter, and Brown) that not U.S. economic sanctions but their target—namely, Serbia?s ethnically bused subjugation of Kosovo is what threatens the integrity of Yugoslavia today. In 1990, while democratic liberalization took hold in Croatia and Slovenia, Serbia?s Communist regime retrenched in Kosovo. Because of this and other Serbian outrages, hostility is rising and Yugoslavia is moving ever closer not only toward political disintegration but also toward civil war. Both can be averted, according to The Financial Times of September 1 but only if Serbia ends its ethnically based subjugation of Kosovo. As regards the disruption of the democratization process occurring in Yugoslavia. The July 15, 1990, ?New York Review of Books? suggested that the incipient Yugoslav democratic revolution has been blocked in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia by Slobodan Milosevic, the President of the Republic and chairman of the Socialist Party of Serbia, formerly the Communist League. Mr. Milosevic was the first to stir nationalist feelings 2 years ago with a campaign to restore Serbian dominance over the Albanians in Kosovo. In a few moves, he transformed Kosovo from a Yugoslav Autonomous Province with a right to home rule to little more than a colony of Serbia without any right to participate in public or eco nomic life. Unless the obstacles of Albanian disenfranchisement are removed, the democratic revolution will not go forward and Yugoslavia will remain the odd-man- out in Europe. in conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the biggest paradox and shame of Europe today is the ugly situation in Kosovo. Caught between the two Communist regimes in Serbia and Albania, Kosovo remains the only region of Europe where free elections are denied to the local majority population. it is my hope and the hope of all the Albanian Americans and other citizens of good will that a new State Department policy in support of democracy in Kosovo along with continued pressure from Congress in 1991 will eliminate the eyesore in the democratic landscape of a free and prosperous Europe.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to testify.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC LEADERS OF Kosovo

Being faced with the present oppressive situation in Kosovo, we urge: ? the lifting of the state of emergency and the reinstitution of the constitutional order in Kosovo, as well as the reinstatement of the Assembly of Kosovo, its government, and all the legal institutions of the administration which have been suspend ed by force; .
? the holding of free, democratic and multiparty elections in Kosovo, as they will be prepared by the Assembly of Kosovo and supervised by representatives of governments and international organizations;
? that Albanians be included in the negotiations for the future of Yugoslavia as equal partners, and be represented by their legitimate representatives elected in free and multiparty elections.
? that the work of the news media in the Albanian language (Radio and Television of Prishtine and the newspaper Rilindja) whose activities have been forcefully interrupted through the intervention of the Serbian police, be allowed to continue unobstructed;
? that international organizations and representatives of European governments increase their presence in Kosovo to directly influence the stopping of the repression and the gross violations of civic and national rights of the Albanian people-
? that Europe and the democratic countries around the world indicate their support for the expressed political will of the Albanian people, their right to self-determination and independence;
? that the European Parliament, in cooperation with other international bodies, mediate the solution of the Kosovo problem and the position of the Albanian people, and that they take the necessary steps to give effect to the adopted resolutions on Kosovo, since the situation is deteriorating continuously and is now threatening the peace in the Balkans and in Europe.

DR. IBRAHIM RUGOVA,
Chairman, Democratic Alliance of Kosovo.

DR. Hivzi ISLAMI,
Chairman, Peasant Party of Kosovo.
SHKELZEN MALIQI,
Chairman, Social-Democratic Party of Kosovo.

VETON SURR0I,
chairman, Parliamentary Party of Kosovo.

LAZER KRASNIQI,
Chairman, Albanian Christian Democratic Party
(Signed February 13, 1991)

EcoNoMic DISPLACEMENT OF ALBANIANS

Kosovo has been transformed entirely into a Serbian colony where the rule of the Serbian Communist minority is complete, despite the fact that it represents no more than 8 percent of the total population. Albanians are excluded from all political, administrative, economic, cultural, health functions/services. etc. Serbian occupation policies have completely destroyed the economic foundations of Kosovo. To start with, it had liquidated the most important social (state-owned) economic companies, and has attacked the private properties of the Albanians. Before the elimination of the autonomy, 1 out of 14 Albanians was employed. Today, that proportion has grown to I out of 30. The Albanian population of Kosovo has been reduced to the status of the poorest population in Europe. As a necessity, it began to emigrate massively to the developed countries of Europe and the U.S.A. Within a few years, the number of those who were forced to leave their homes reached into several hundreds of thousands.
Albanians are also threatened with losing their basic right to education. Many schools have been closed, and the Serbian government has refused to finance the education of children attending first and fifth elementary grades, as well as the freshmen classes in the high schools. These measures have affected nearly 100,000 pupils and about 5,000 teachers. Albanians have the doors to information sealed shut, and their health services all but dismantled. The terror exercised by the Serbian police over the Albanian population, and the punitive activities undertaken against Albanian families and entire villages, has oftentimes ended in loss of human lives.

INDEPENDENT TRADE UNION OF Kosovo REPORT ON THE GENERAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SITUATION AF-FER APPLICATION OF REPRESSIVE MEASURES IN KOSOVIAN COM PANIES AND INSTITUTIONS BY THE SERBIAN AUTHORITIES—PRISHTINE, FEBRUARY 1991 INTRODUCTION
Until July 5, 1990, Kosovo was a socialist autonomous province and a constitutive element of the Yugoslav federation. The Kosovian Parliament approved on July 2, 1990 its declaration, according to which Kosovo was declared equal element of Yugoslavia and on September 7, 1990, it promulgated the Constitution of the Repub lic of Kosovo. By this constitution Kosovo was declared as a sovereign republic and equal element of the Yugoslav (confederation) federation. Kosovo has about 1,900,000 inhabitants. Ninety percent of that population make autochthonous Albanians. The population density is higher than 175 inhabitants per 1 km2 and the average age of the population is 27. Although it is rich in fertile land, rivers, forests, prairies, and underground resources, such as lead and zmc and more than 50 percent of total lignite reserves of Yugoslavia are located in this small region, Kosovo is nowadays one of the most underdeveloped regions of Europe because of the discriminating policy of the Serbian and Yugoslav authorities against the Albanian population. Just after the end of the Second World War the level of the economic and social development was 49 percent of the Yugoslav average and in 1990 it has decreased to 26 percent.
The agriculture was highly neglected and funds were invested mainly in the ore- extraction industry; i.e., mining and energy production in order to provide for cheap raw material and energy for the industry in other republics and first of all for Serbia. As a consequence the Kosovian accumulation was used out of its territory and unemployment grew, although the birth rate was very high (30-40 pro mille). The political and economic crisis in Yugoslavia in the last few years stroke especially Kosovo as a mostly underdeveloped region. The discriminating policy reached a disturbing scale particularly after 1981; i.e., after demonstration of the Albanian population against the situation of that period. Serbian and federal measures, pretendedly for returning of Serbians and Montenegrins back to Kosovo stipulated investments toward communities inhabited with Slavic population to the detriment of the Albanian population and this caused the social situation of the latter to become worse. In 1989 Kosovo participated in the total national income of Yugoslavia with only 2.1 percent and in 1990 it decreased to 1.25 percent. The political and economic activities in 1990 were almost paralyzed, since Albanian workers were thrown out of their work because they had not accepted measures of the discriminating policy and because it was declared as a policy of national and social equality in Yugoslavia. The very high unemployment rate (in Kosovo every 11th Albanian and every 4th or 5th Serbo-Montenegrin is employed) became more severe after these measures. In the unemployment list are 150,0(10 persons (130,000 Albanians) without taking into consideration a huge number of workable students, farmers, etc., who are not included in this list. The income of Kosovian workers was almost continuously two times smaller than the Yugoslav and four or five times smaller than the Slovenian average. After promulgation of Kosovo as independent and sovereign republic of Yugoslavia, on July 5, 1990, the Republic of Serbia suspended unconstitutionally the Kosovian Parliament and its government. The Serbian policemen threw out of their offices all government officials and workers who did not accept the Serbian measures. Later, special police forces occupied RTV Prishtina. A ban was also put on the only daily Rilindja in Albanian language. In that way the Serbian state, helped by federal military forces occupied Kosovo. It passed also special laws of a discriminating character against economic and cultural interests of Kosovian Albanians. Such laws and measures intended to break the Albanian resistance against the Serbian policy in Kosovo.

1. FOUNDATION OF INDEPENDENT TRADE UNION OF KOSOVO (ITU)

The ITU was founded at the beginning of 1990 as a result of workers? indignation and discontent toward the overall situation in Kosovo, and particularly against breaking of basic economic, social, cultural, and trade union rights of Albanian workers. The foundation of an independent trade union was indispensable since the ?official trade union? was a stretched hand of the ruling Communist Party. Instead of protecting workers? rights it was continuously accusing Albanian workers, dealt with the so-called ideological and political differentiation which as a measure for driving and persecuting Albanians, pretending that Albanians were acting ?as Albanian nationalist and eparatists? and against ?Serbia and Yugoslavia.? The steering committee of the ITU was founded on April 14, 1990, and very soon 85 percent of Albanian and other orkers joined the ITU. The first foundation congress of ITU was held from June 31 to July 1, 1990, in Gjakovë and its statute and program were adopted. It is to stress that this congress was held under extraordinary circumstances. in spite of the previously obtained permission, in the second day of our congress the police forces besieged the building. Some of them entered the auditorium and made the request to the presiding officer Mr. Hajrullah Gorani to break off the congress. Since he refused such a request the policemen took him away for an interrogation. The constitution of the assembly of ITU consisting of 85 members was delayed because the Serbian police was continuously hindering the activity of ITU campaigners although the organization and protection of trade union rights are subject of no revocation according to international conventions. The assembly elected the president, the vice president, and the executive council consisting of 19 members. ITU has 19 branches. Union associations are founded according to statutory principles; one institution—one trade union association with the possibility for an adequate connecting into big economic systems.
ITU has at this moment 250,000 members. Most of them are Albanians. Nevertheless, according to the statute, everyone can become a member of ITU without taking into consideration his national or religious affiliation. ITU can be joined voluntarily by signature of the membership declaration and upon acceptance of the program and the statute of ITU. Although 1 year has passed since the foundation of ITU and since its congress was held, the ITU is still ignored by the Yugoslav Association of Trade Union and Serbian policy authorities not only hinder our work and the activity of ITU branches, but it continuously exerts pressure on individual campaigners. Most of presidents of ITU branches have been fired and there were also some cases of arrest. The president of ITU himself, Mr. Hajrullah Gorani spent 1 1/2 months in jail.
ITU has made some contacts with Trade Unions of Slovenia, Croatia, and some trade unions abroad.

2. FORCED FIRING OF WORKERS

The hegemonic regime of Serbia began to persecute and fire workers at the time of adoptions of amendments of Serbian Constitution; i.e., in March 1989. This was done
without consent of the Albanian population in Kosovo. Such changes destroyed the autonomy of Kosovo. This wild campaign began by firing and dismissal of Albanian experts in economic enterprises and was continued in those institutions in which the resistance against the hegemonic Serbian policy was the strongest. The firing and dismissal was particularly intensified after July 2, 1990; i.e., after adoption of the declaration on the equality of Kosovo with other Yugoslav subjects. Until the end of 1990, in the frame of its discriminating measures, the Serbian assembly has arbitrarily and illegally applied for a period of 1 year the so-called temporary (forcible)
measures in 250 Kosovian enterprises, institutions, among others in the principal economic systems such as lead and zinc mines and smeltery Trepca in electric power facilities and mines Elektroekonomia e Kosovës, Agrokosova, PTT, Radio and Television of Prishtina, Medical Fakulty, etc. By mentioned measures the illegal managerial staff (consisting of Albanians) was dismissed and their place was taken by imposed forcible managing staff, mainly of Serbian-Montenegrin ethnic origin, very often without an appropriate qualification. In all cases in which workers disagreed with these imposed measures they were thrown out by Serbian police. Until December 31, 1990, more than 43,591 Albanian workers were fired. This procedure is continued and intensified especially these days by masovic suspension .f schoolteachers
and it is estimated that the number of fired workers has reached almost 50,000. This extreme corruption, motivated firstly by numerous anti-Albanian charges, followed
and realized through measures of politic, economic, and physical violence has aggravated for even more the terrible economic, political, social, and cultural position of Albanian nation in Kosovo. During this time, in accordance to the so-called YU Program more than 6,000 Serbian and Montenegrin workers have been employed in mines, electric facilities, tale- communications, administration, health institutions, etc. Such methods have increased the enormous disproportions which have been present in favor of Serbians and Montenegrins. Also, this can be illustrated in this data: In February 1990 the employment structure shows that Albanians participated with 69.82
percent (population structure 88.4 percent), while nowadays their participation has decreased to 60.6 percent, whereas Serbians and Montenegrins participate with 32.80
percent even though their participation in the total population structure is less than 10 percent. The disastrous social and economic situation of Albanians in Kosovo is reflected by the fact that in the period before the so-called temporary measures were applied in Kosovo lived 60,000 families without any family member employed. To this army of unemployed workforce should be added the number of those who were fired in the last 12 months. Such a situation has almost touched the limit of general hunger.

Even though the powerful propagandistic machinery of Serbian government continually illustrates that “ Albanian workers are voluntarily leaving their workplaces upon order of Kosovian alternative • ,“ facts speak differently. The truth is that the main reasons regarding massive suspension of Albanian workers can be resumed in these main motivations: political conviction; Albanian ethnic belonging; and joining ITU.

It could easily be presumed that Albanian workers and intelligency have been suspended and persecuted from their jobs exclusively because of their belonging to Albanian nation, and because their requests for legitimate rights—to enjoy political, economic, cultural, and national rights as equal citizens, in accordance to international conventions and achievements of European civilization. This witnesses that. the elementary human and syndicalistic rights are being heavily violated and infringed. Almost no one oF the suspended workers have realized personal incomes during 5 to 10 months so that the existence of their families is being seriously endangered. if al)Stracting engagement of the Independent Trade Unions and many other solidarity citizens in accumulation and sharing subsidies, these families would face a total hunger. Several international organizations have sent subsidies in clothes and medicine. As illustration of meanness and nonhumanity of Serbian police government can be used the fact that during this situation it obstructed any form olabovementioned sharing subsidies, and in most cases brutally confiscated the means, nourishments, or medicines, imprisoning those who accumulated and transported these subsidies (the cases of Kumanovë, Tet.ovë, Ferizaj, Mi(rovicë, even the cases of brutal medicine confiscating in churches if Ferizaj and I3inçe). To the arsenal of brutal pressure forms on Albanian workers and population, recently was added the method of confiscating private residences belonging to illegally fired workers, and that happens in these cold winter days when this procedure is rigorously forbidden by any law, not matter what reasons present.

Senator BIDEN. Thank you very much, Congressman.

Congressman, you indicated in your testimony that you believe that those living in Kosovo of Albanian ancestry, ethnic Albanians, did not have as their goal to separate from Yugoslavia and associ-ate with Albania. My staff informs me that Radio Free Europe re-ported last week that according to a poll of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, most believe the best solution to the province?s problems would be a merger with Albania. Would you comment on that and do you see another solution that might be more likely to improve the conditions in Albania.
Assuming you are correct that Albanians in Kosovo are the vic-tims of repression—assume that to be true, as you certainly do— where does the solution lie? So, back to my original question. Do you believe that the Radio Free Europe poil is incorrect? And what is the answer because I doubt whether you are going to tell me that after a thousand years, you are going to be able to rectify atti-tudes about who stole whose house when?
Mr. DIOGUARDI. Let me begin by again thanking you, Mr. Chair-man, for your patience.
Senator BIDEN. I have more questions than you have time to answer I?m afraid. aughter.)
Mr. DI0GUARDI. I am impressed by your patience and by the concisiveness of your questions.
Let me say this. You have been in politics a long time. I was only in politics 4 years. I was a CPA for 22 years.
Senator BIDEN. Well, you kept your hair. I lost mine.
Mr. DIOGUARDI. Well, that?s debatable. aughter.]
But let me say this. What polls do you believe and what polls don?t you? I don?t know how that poll was taken. I don?t know how the questions were framed.
Senator BIDEN. I don?t either.
Mr. DI0GUARDI. And you don?t either. But let?s assume for a basis of discussion that the poll was prepared along the lines that would be prepared, let?s say, for one of your elections and somehow it came out on that basis. I might be surprised up front, but then I might think about it and say what is the hope for these Albanian people. Why do they even consider answering a question like that? Well, there is such oppression. They are looking for some hope, and Lord knows at the time that question was asked, they may have said that.
But let me tell you why that will not happen, Mr. Chairman. The present leadership of Kosovo, the democratic leadership has said— and by the way, this is what cost me the 5-year ban. It wasn?t be-cause I was a bad boy. I was with Congressman Lantos. He sent a letter to the State Department.
Senator BIDEN. Congressman Lantos used to work for me. He did foreign policy for me, so I know you were in trouble if you were with him. aughter.]
Mr. DI0GUARDI. He was going to be here, but I don?t think he could make it.
But let me say this.
Senator BIDEN. I am only kidding.
Mr. DIOGUARDI. We tried to be as civil, we tried to be as
troversial as possible. And everything was going fine until I cov-ered an area because, as I said before, there is a magnificent propaganda machine in Belgrade. And I found the article. It was in the New York Times September 13. ?Truth is a casualty of the parti-san Yugoslav press.? This is written by our press in the New York Times. And especially since they monopolize the media, it is diffi-cult for the Albanians to contend with that propaganda. But they did, Mr. Chairman, except for one item which I disposed of with Congressman Lantos in June of last year, and that is what resulted in the 5-year ban because Mr. Milosevic did not want to hear it.
But let me tell you what it is. It is very simple and it will guar-antee the fact that the Albanians will never leave Yugoslavia, and that fact is that the democratic leadership of Kosovo has an-nounced that it is willing to put in their constitution, the Kosovo constitution, a point that the Serbian minority can veto any seces-sion from Yugoslavia. So, they have gone on record. I have gone on record, and this was the last big piece of propaganda that Slobodan Milosevic had. He didn?t want to hear it. He doesn?t want to hear from me anymore because now the Albanians have a spokesman for a change. But I am saying to you that no matter what that poii said, you can see the record for itself. The leader of the democratic party there, the Democratic League of Kosovo, the alliance, Dr. Rugova, has said that in the constitution of Kosovo for republic status they will allow the Serbian minority the right to veto any secession from Yugoslavia. What more could you say?
Senator BIDEN. As I said, I have a lot more questions, but I have really trespassed on your time already, especially those of you who have to catch planes.
Mr. DIOGUARDI. If you are going to conclude, I just wanted to make one other point, Mr. Chairman.
Senator BIDEN. Sure.
Mr. DIOGUARDI. We can answer a lot of the assertions that were made, and we won?t. But I think there is one thing, getting back to State Department policy, that you should be aware of because I be-lieve that the most important aspect of this meeting, Mr. Chair-man, is that the State Department address the issue of its account-ability to all the people in Yugoslavia. And obviously, we have con-cerns from a national security point of view. There is no question about that.
But one of the things that I would want to alert you to that you may be aware of already is that the current leader of Serbia—and I have nothing against the Serbian people. I think many of them are very fine people. I am dealing with the Serbian authorities when I speak about that. The current leader has expansionist goals. There is no question. Even in the press recently, he announced his de-signs on parts of Croatia. He literally wants to come back to the greater Serbian dream that was there years ago. He has used that in Kosovo to get elected, and he is not stopping. And this is the problem that we are now seeing with Croatia. He would love to see Slovenia leave. He would love to see Croatia leave if he can keep part of that Dalmatian Coast, which would be very dangerous—and I will tell you why in a minute—because he knows he can subju-gate the Macedonians, the Montenegrins and the Albanians. He lit-erally has a design for greater Serbia. He does not care of Yugo-slavia breaks up as long as he keeps all of Kosovo and he is able to deal with the others.
But our State Department better do a better job than they did in Kuwait. because if we had been positioned in that part of the world and our intelligence was better, we would not be losing men and women right now on the front. We had to react, and we shouldn?t be reacting right now. We should have been better. They are making the same mistake today in Yugoslavia because we know that if Serbia gets its designs and they then get a warm water port, we are now playing into the hands of the Soviet Union. They have been looking for that warm water port for years.
Amid let me tell you. Mr. Milosevic and Mr. Gorbachev have a very comfortable relationship. They have many times for hours in private rooms, and I do not know what they are talking about, but our State Department better be put on notice that if Slobodan Mi-losevic gets his way and somehow Serbia extends to the warm waters, we will undermine another State Department policy and that is keepmg the Soviet Union away from a warm water port in that area.
Mr. STONE. Senator Biden, may I just do one point? I would like if the former Congressman would tell us if he and Congressman Lantos, after being in Pristina and Kosovo, were not in Tirana in Albania afterward.
Senator BIDEN. I would like you not to answer that question. You all can settle that afterward.
Mr. DIOGUARDI. There is nothing to settle.
Mr. STONE. The only reason I mentioned that. Dr. Rugova is in Tirana today.
Mr. DI0GUARDI. There is nothing to settle.
Senator BJDEN. By the way, with all due respect, I quite frankly don?t care whether you were expelled or not expelled, what you said or what you didn?t say, where you were or where you weren?t. As far as I am concerned, any Congressman or American should be able to go anywhere and say anything they want whenever they want to say it. And if they get themselves in trouble in that area, they get themselves in trouble. As long as they don?t try to keep you..
Mr. DI0GUARDI. Mr. Chairman, I will not answer that question, but——-Senator BIDEN. I did not want to get into that. Now, I have a proposal. if we could just get everyone to move to California, we would settle this situation because Jerry Brown is running for the Senate out there this Lime, and I think he needs more help. aughter.]
I want to thank you, Congress man, for spending all this time here. You obviously care deeply about the issue. It is unusual. For those of you who don?t know, the longest walk in America is the walk from the House side to the Senate side, except that the House Members think it is even longer for Senators to walk to the House side, but that is only because we are less welcome there. augh-ter.]
I am only kidding.
And I want to make one other thing clear. I want to close on hopefully a happy note. Congressman Lantos I think is one of the finest Congressman in Congress. I was joking.