,,iii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session 
,s4 ,,res4 #aca  ,,in ,,the ,,senate    
,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #h1  
#bjac ,mr4 ,begich submitted the        
following resolution2 which was referred
 to the ,committee on ,foreign          
,relations  ,,resolution  ,recommending 
the designation of a ,presidential      
,special ,envoy to the ,balkans to      
evaluate the successes and shortcomings 
of the implementation of the ,dayton    
,peace ,accords in ,bosnia and          
,herzegovina1 to provide policy         
recommendations1 and to report back to  
,congress within one year4  ,whereas1 on
 ,december #ad1 #aiie1 the ,general     
,framework ,agreement for ,peace in     
,bosnia and ,herzegovina 7referred to in
 this resolution as ,bi,h71 known as the
 ,dayton ,peace ,accords1 brought an end
 to the brutal conflict in that country 
that was marked by aggression and ethnic
 cleansing1 including the commission of 
war crimes1 crimes against humanity1 and
 genocide2 ,whereas the ,dayton ,peace  

,accords define ,bi,h as a country with 
three constituent peoples--,bosniaks1   
,croats1 and ,serbs--to be comprised of 
two internal entities known as the      
,federation of ,bosnia and ,herzegovina 
7,f,bi,h7 and ,republika ,srpska 7,,rs71
 from which an extremely complex1       
fundamentally flawed system of          
governance and administration has been  
derived2 ,whereas the ,dayton ,peace    
,accords included many compromises      
imposed by the need for quick action to 
preserve human life and bring an end to 
the conflict in ,bi,h1 and as a result  
may have hindered efforts to develop    
efficient and effective political       
institutions capable of overcoming the  
challenges required to become an        
integral member of the ,euro-,atlantic  
community of nation-states2 ,whereas1   
since the signing of the ,dayton ,peace 
,accords1 the ,government and people of 
,bi,h have been working in partnership  
with the international community to     
achieve progress in building a peaceful 

and democratic society based on the rule
 of law1 respect for human rights1 and a
 free market economy2 ,whereas ,bi,h    
demonstrated its commitment to the      
shared values of democracy1 security1   
and stability by joining the            
,partnership for ,peace program of the  
,north ,atlantic ,treaty ,organization  
7,,nato7 in ,december #bjjf2 ,whereas   
,bi,h received a conditional ,membership
 ,action ,plan status in ,,nato in      
,april #bjaj pending completion of      
specific military and political reforms2
 ,whereas the ,government of ,bi,h took 
the first important step on the road    
toward ,european ,union 7,,eu7          
membership by signing a ,stabilization  
and ,association ,agreement 7,,saa7 with
 the ,,eu in ,june #bjjh2 ,whereas1     
despite these notable achievements1 the 
,government and people of ,bi,h continue
 to face significant challenges in their
 efforts at integrating into            
,euro-,atlantic institutions and the    
country's economy continues to decline2 

,whereas the ,council of ,europe's      
,venice ,commission concluded that the  
current constitutional arrangements in  
,bi,h are not conducive to the efficient
 or rational functioning of state       
institutions1 hindering the pace of the 
country's accession to ,,nato and the   
,,eu2 ,whereas the ,government of ,bi,h 
has the obligation to implement the     
ruling of the ,grand ,chamber of the    
,european ,court of ,human ,rights in   
the case of ,sejdi-,finci from #bjji    
with regard to the election to the      
,presidency and ,house of ,peoples of   
,bi,h of ,others1 who are defined as    
those ,bosnian citizens who are not     
primarily a member of the ,dayton       
,accords' stipulated three constitutive 
peoples--the ,serb ,bosnians1 the ,croat
 ,bosnians1 and the ,muslim ,bosnians or
 ,bosniaks2 ,whereas reform at any      
level1 including that originating from  
the implementation of the ,european     
,court of ,human ,rights ruling on the  
,sejdi-,finci ,case1 should take into   

account the protection of equal         
constitutional rights of all2 ,whereas  
the elections in ,bi,h should reflect   
the right of the constituent peoples and
 others to choose their legal           
representatives1 who would therefore    
represent those people consistent with  
the founding provisions of the ,dayton  
,peace ,accords1 as opposed to the      
existing practice1 which allows for the 
representatives of one people to be     
elected by the members of other         
constituent peoples1 hindering the      
political stability of ,bi,h2 ,whereas  
only the full protection of equal       
political1 economic1 legal1 and         
religious rights of all the constituent 
peoples and others throughout the       
territory of ,bi,h1 including the       
inalienable right to return1 will       
guarantee the future stability1         
functionality1 and effectiveness of the 
country2 ,whereas the number of ,bosnian
 ,croats has declined from #hbj1jjj     
before the war to around #dfj1jjj       

remaining in ,bi,h today1 as reported by
 the ,catholic ,church in ,bi,h which   
has played an important role in         
protecting rights of ,catholic ,bosnian 
,croats and reporting problems and cases
 of destruction of personal and real    
property of both the ,catholic ,church  
and ,croat returnees2 ,whereas it is not
 acceptable that this negative          
demographic trend is reflected in the   
reduction of constitutional rights of   
,bosnian ,croats1 as that reduction     
directly causes political and           
administrative dysfunctionality of the  
country2 ,whereas a functional ,bi,h as 
a whole is not possible without a fully 
functional ,f,bi,h1 one of the two      
entities established by the ,dayton     
,peace ,accords1 both being ethnically  
and administratively composite2 ,whereas
 ,f,bi,h's protracted poor functionality
 only exacerbates the existing          
predominant separatist tendency in the  
,,rs1 the predominantly ,serb entity of 
,bi,h1 thus threatening the very        

integrity of the country as a whole2    
,whereas continuous economic decline is 
a direct consequence of the fact that   
most of ,bi,h's gross domestic product  
7,,gdp7 is generated from the publicly  
owned companies1 which are run at the   
,,rs and ,f,bi,h entity levels by       
political parties with enduring         
ethnocentric agendas reflecting their   
particular and non-common interests1    
preventing the further creation of      
much-needed free enterprise business    
development and closely integrated      
national internal markets2 ,whereas the 
social fabric of ,bi,h is the single    
most important victim of the war and    
ensuing political conflict1 and the need
 for repair1 strengthening1 and further 
development of civil society is         
fundamental to the country's recovery   
and desired development2 ,whereas the   
,republic of ,croatia has clearly       
demonstrated that allegiance to         
democracy1 market economy1 rule of law1 
and respect for human and citizen rights

 is conducive to full integration into  
the ,euro-,atlantic community1 and the  
,government of ,croatia continues to    
play an active role in contributing to  
,bi,h's political stability1 internal   
integrity1 and international viability2 
,whereas all the other neighbors of     
,bi,h share the ambition to join the    
,european ,union2 and ,whereas the      
future of ,bi,h is in the ,european     
,union and ,,nato3 ,now1 therefore1 be  
it  ,that the ,senate--  7#a7 reiterates
 its support for the sovereignty1       
territorial integrity1 and legal        
continuity of ,bi,h within its          
internationally recognized borders1 as  
well as the equality of its three       
constituent peoples and others within an
 integrated multiethnic country2  7#b7  
welcomes steps taken by the government  
of ,bi,h towards integration into the   
,euro-,atlantic community and reiterates
 its position that this commitment is in
 the interests of the further           
stabilization of the region of          

southeastern ,europe2  7#c7 emphasizes  
that it is urgent that ,bi,h1 as well as
 its internal political entities1 all   
work toward the creation of an efficient
 and effective state able to meet its   
domestic and international obligations  
with effective and functional           
institutions1 and that the national     
government of ,bi,h--as well as the     
institutions of the entities--are able  
to instill necessary reforms in order to
 fulfill ,european ,union and ,north    
,atlantic ,treaty ,organization         
membership requirements2  7#d7          
reiterates its call that constitutional 
reform in ,bi,h take the ,dayton ,peace 
,accords as its basis1 but advance the  
principles of political1 economic1      
legal1 and religious equality and       
tolerance in order to rectify provisions
 that conflict with the ,european       
,charter of ,human ,rights and the      
ruling of the ,european ,court of ,human
 ,rights1 and to rectify the conditions 
to enable economic development and the  

creation of a single economic space1    
including through the fair and effective
 functioning of public companies so as  
to be consistent with the goal of       
successful ,,eu membership2  7#e7       
stresses the importance of privatization
 of the publicly owned enterprises      
through fully transparent international 
tenders prepared in close cooperation   
with the ,,eu and the ,office of the    
,high ,representative 7,,ohr7 as a means
 of avoiding the misplacement of        
political attention and energy toward   
running companies rather than providing 
effective service to the citizens of the
 country2  7#f7 commends the present    
focus of the ,united ,states ,government
 in support of stronger civil society in
 ,bi,h1 and urges the ,department of    
,state to further increase endeavors in 
that regard2  7#g7 believes that the    
,department of ,state and the ,president
 must seek to address all these matters 
more emphatically in a manner that      
provides for a just evaluation of the   

current grievances of the three         
constituent peoples and the ,others in  
the two entities of the ,bi,h2  7#h7    
believes that it is of paramount        
importance that the ,united ,states     
,government work closely with the ,,eu  
in conceiving and implementing an       
accession process specifically made for 
,bi,h1 which would link in a causal and 
firmly conditional way the internal     
integration of ,bi,h with its phased    
integration into the ,,eu2  7#i7 urges  
that it is substantially beneficial for 
the process of building up the          
functional capacities of ,bi,h to the   
level of its full ability to enable     
membership in ,,nato and the ,,eu1 that 
the ,united ,states ,government work    
closely with ,bi,h's neighboring        
countries--especially those who are     
signatories to the ,dayton ,peace       
,accords--ensuring consistency along the
 lines of their own ,european ambitions 
so that they actively contribute to     
,bi,h's internal integration and        

political and administrative            
functionality conducive to ,bi,h's      
successful membership in ,,nato and the 
,,eu2  7#aj7 reiterates that a fully    
functional ,federation of ,bi,h entity  
is essential for the future of ,bi,h as 
a functional and stable state and       
therefore any envisaged reform should   
take into account protection of the     
constitutional rights of all1 including 
,bosnian ,croats--demographically       
smallest of the three ,dayton ,peace    
,accords recognized constituent peoples 
in ,bi,h--and prevent further weakening 
of their position2  7#aa7 believes that 
it is important that the ,united ,states
 ,government1 together with other       
international actors1 support countries 
of the region in fulfilling their       
obligations as agreed through the       
launching of the ,sarajevo ,process in  
#bjje1 reaffirmed in the #bjaa ,belgrade
 ,declaration1 as well as during the    
,donor ,conference held in ,sarajevo in 
,april #bjab1 aimed at ending the       

protracted refugee and                  
internal-displacement situation in the  
region of ,southeast ,europe and finding
 durable solutions for the refugees and 
internally displaced persons through the
 implementation of the ,balkans         
,regional ,housing ,programme2  7#ab7   
reiterates its call that the ,united    
,states should designate a ,presidential
 ,special ,envoy to the ,balkans who    
should work in partnership with the     
,,ohr1 the ,,eu1 ,,nato1 and the        
political leaders in ,bosnia and        
,herzegovina1 as well as with           
neighboring countries1 to facilitate    
much needed reforms at all levels of    
government and society in ,bi,h2 and    
7#ac7 urges the ,presidential ,special  
,envoy1 not later than one year after   
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
to submit to the ,committees on ,foreign
 ,relations and ,appropriations of the  
,senate and the ,committees on ,foreign 
,affairs and ,appropriations of the     
,house of ,representatives a report with

 targeted evaluations and discoveries1  
including to provide proposals on how to
 address any ongoing difficulties       
outlined above1 as well as ways to      
overcome any remaining political1       
economic1 legal1 or religious           
inequalities in ,bi,h4