Nick Lampson: “Yesterday in, Galveston, Texas, I was visited by one of my constituents, Lisa Halili, who brought about 15 other people…”

“Yesterday in, Galveston, Texas, I was visited by one of my constituents, Lisa Halili, who brought about 15 other people along with her, many of whom had relatives and certainly had friends in Kosovo. The story that they proceeded to tell me was one that was absolutely amazing. The pictures that they brought of the murder of Lisa's father-in-law last week in Kosovo and the pictures of people who had been tortured, who have been butchered, have been sprayed with hot water, all while they were attempting to do peaceful demonstrations by carrying bread in their hands and by holding their fingers up in a symbol for peace, and then being attacked in the way that they have was something that I had a difficult time understanding. I do not understand how we could in any way stand by while people are injured and killed for participating in a nonviolent protest. The Serbian Government must acknowledge the basic civil rights of all of their citizens. This bill condemns the violent repression of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo by Serbian authorities and calls for a dialogue between the Serbian Government and the leaders of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo to end violence by all parties.”