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THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION,
    UNITED STATES, AND HAWAII-BASED MILITARY AND HUMANITARIAN
    EFFORTS TO ENSURE THE SAFETY AND WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN
    AND FAMILIES IN KOSOVO.



 1        WHEREAS, the wanton brutality and savagery of the
 2   systematic war being waged by Serbian military and paramilitary
 3   forces against the civilian, ethnic Albanian population of
 4   Kosovo, is horrifyingly reminiscent of Nazi "death camps",
 5   Khmer Rouge "killing fields", and the Bataan "death march"; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, the looting and burning of homes and villages,
 8   and the murdering and raping of civilians, is overshadowed only
 9   by the "ethnic cleansing" that has forced thousands of women,
10   children, and infants to evacuate in the cold and rain without
11   food or rest and with only the clothes on their backs as their
12   only alternative to death; and
13   
14        WHEREAS, the systematic murder of the civilian, ethnic
15   Albanian population of Kosovo by Serbian military and
16   paramilitary forces is brutal and savage even by professional
17   military standards, which reached terrifying new heights during
18   the "Hundred-Hour War" against the Iraqi military; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, the lack of food, shelter, clothing, and safety
21   is exacting a horrendous toll on children and infants, who are
22   dying of starvation, hypothermia, and disease, and suffering
23   incalculable emotional pain as their fathers, brothers, and
24   uncles are herded away and murdered in front of their eyes; and
25   
26        WHEREAS, on March 24, 1999, the North Atlantic Treaty
27   Organization (NATO), which includes military forces from the
28   United States, including Hawaii-based military forces,
29   commenced air strikes against Serbian military targets in the
30   former Yugoslavia to:
31   
32        (1)  Stop the Serb offensive in Kosovo;
33   
34        (2)  Force a withdrawal of Serb troops from Kosovo;
35   

 
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 1        (3)  Allow democratic self-government in Kosovo;
 2   
 3        (4)  Allow a NATO-led international peacekeeping force
 4             into Kosovo; and
 5   
 6        (5)  Allow the safe and peaceful return of Kosovar
 7             Albanian refugees;
 8   
 9   and
10   
11        WHEREAS, unless swift and decisive military and
12   humanitarian action is taken to guarantee the safe and peaceful
13   return of ethnic Albanian refugees to Kosovo, humankind will
14   have yet another bloody and shameful name to add to its growing
15   history of human depravity--Kosovo; now, therefore,
16   
17        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
18   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
19   Representatives concurring, that the Legislature expresses its
20   support for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, United States,
21   and Hawaii-based military and humanitarian efforts to ensure
22   the safety and well-being of children and families in Kosovo;
23   and
24   
25        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature, on behalf of
26   the people of the State of Hawaii, expresses its love and
27   prayers for ethnic Albanian children and families in Kosovo and
28   in refugee camps in neighboring countries and Macedonia; and
29   expresses its hopes and prayers for a quick end to all armed
30   conflict and hostilities in the Kosovo region for the sake of
31   these children and families; and
32   
33        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
34   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Secretary General
35   of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the President of the
36   United States, the Speaker of the United States House of
37   Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States
38   Senate, the Governor of the State of Hawaii, and Hawaii-based
39   Kosovo relief agencies and organizations.

 
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