Representatives Lantos and Ros-Lehtinen Introduce H.RES. 36 in Support of the Independence of Kosova in the 110th Congress

The Albanian American Civic League (www.aacl.com) is pleased to announce that Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA), the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Committee’s Ranking Republican (R-FL), have introduced their resolution calling on the United States to support the independence of Kosova.

As Congressman Lantos and former Chairman Henry Hyde stated when they introduced Res. 24 in the last Congress, “the only way to address the problem of the political, economic, and social instability that plagues the Balkans, and to prevent renewed violence in the region, is to grapple with the issue of Kosova’s final status without delay.” Lantos said in the May 2005 hearing on Kosova, that “it is my belief that the sooner we deal with this problem, the better it will be for peace and stability in the region …We simply cannot go on with the continued subservience and subjugation of the Albanian people in the Balkans.”

Balkan Affairs Adviser Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi applauded the reaffirmation of U.S. support for Kosova’s independence by the leaders of foreign affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives. She said that, “Now that the international community has delayed the resolution of Kosova’s final status until after the Serbian elections on January 21 and has sent ambiguous messages about the outcome, it is immensely important that Representatives Lantos and Ros-Lehtinen have moved so quickly to send a message to the Balkans and to the rest of the world that the U.S. Congress stands firm in its support for Kosova’s independence as the only way to bring peace and stability to Southeast Europe.”

According to Former Congressman Joe DioGuardi, AACL’s president, “The introduction of this resolution for Kosova’s independence by Chairman Lantos and Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen is another milestone in the eighteen-year work of the Civic League. I want to thank both of my former colleagues for their foresight and courage in tackling the tough issue of peace and stability in the Balkans at a time when the war in Iraq is the issue of overriding concern to the Congress and to all Americans. I want to urge all of the political leaders in Kosova to join forces in publicly supporting the Lantos/Ros-Lehtinen resolution for the independence of Kosova.”

# # #

About the Albanian American Civic League: Founded in 1989 by former Congressman Joseph DioGuardi and a board of Albanian Americans, the Civic League is the only registered lobby in Washington, DC, representing the concerns and interests of 700,000 Albanian Americans. The main purpose of the Civic League is to ensure equal rights and self-determination for the more than seven million Albanians living side by side in Albania, Kosova, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Presheva Valley (southern Serbia), and Chameria (northern Greece). For 17 years, the Civic League has worked to end the repression and oppression of Albanians living under hostile Slavic regimes in Southeast Europe.