Eliot Engel: “I strongly oppose the Franks amendment. The language that was adopted was adopted unanimously by the Committee on…”

“I strongly oppose the Franks amendment. The language that was adopted was adopted unanimously by the Committee on International Relations in a bipartisan way; and with all due respect to my colleague from Arizona, his amendment addresses a problem which does not exist. The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) is trying to strike a reporting requirement. This has nothing to do with the financial status of Kosova, Serbia, Montenegro, or anywhere else. As the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) said right now, consular and visa services are not offered at the United States office in Pristina. The section the Committee on International Relations bipartisanly and unanimously adopted merely asked the State Department to submit a report describing the possibility of providing consular and visa services at the United States offices in Pristina, Kosova to the residents of Kosova. That is all it does. It is very hard for people who live in Pristina and in Kosova to go to other countries, particularly old people, to get a visa. And as far as Kosova or Kosovo, there are 12 other provisions, and I have them here, in United States law that mention Kosova with an ``a.'' So for the gentleman from Arizona to say that this somehow changes existing law is just not true.…”