Mr. Chairman, like others, we listened with great interest to Ambassador Woltmann’s comprehensive report. We appreciate the Mission’s hard work—especially its comprehensive effort on the permanent election law.

We look forward to hearing more about the permanent election law information campaign.

We view this campaign as extraordinarily important. The new electoral law will provide tools for the further advancement of democratization in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The electorate must understand and be prepared to use it.

We congratulate the OSCE Mission on the installation of a functioning municipal government in Srebrenica. At the same time, we view with concern the situation with the municipal government in Drvar.

While the mayor there has been supportive of minority refugee returns, the municipal government has not kept pace with the large number of Serb returnees.

The OSCE is correct in its efforts to get a functioning administration in Drvar, based on a coordinated multi-agency plan.

We regret that those responsible for the violence against returning Bosnian Serbs in 1998 have still not been brought to justice.

Mr. Chairman, as Ambassador Woltmann made clear, the successful conduct of the Stability Pact Summit in Sarajevo in July was a significant milestone. The Pact takes place under the auspices of the OSCE and the OSCE must now assume a lead role on democratization and human rights issues within the framework of that Pact.

The U.S. also sees a role for the OSCE to respond to the challenge issued by Jelavic and Izetbegovic to the regional countries to reduce military budgets. We need to build on the experience the OSCE has already gained in the area, both in the Vienna Document Process and under the Dayton/Paris Agreement.

Mr. Chairman, we believe one of the most significant yet under-reported developments this summer is the increase in minority returns in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The strategy laid out by the international community has increased the momentum of returns across all of Bosnia. Our Mission must continue to work to promote this flow of returns, and address continuing post-return issues.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I wish to comment on the issue of corruption in Bosnia raised by Ambassador Woltmann and others.

Corruption is a serious problem, and Bosnian officials must take corrective action.

The problem, however, is not the loss of foreign aid—we often have effective programs to police the budgets that we provide—it is the loss of domestic revenue either stolen or not collected.

The impact of foreign funds has been lessened significantly by the absence of counterpart locally generated revenue.

It is the Bosnian people who suffer the consequences of this corruption. They deserve better. Foreign aid is decreasing and will probably continue to decrease. Therefore, domestic revenue must increase based on privatization and a significant crackdown on corruption.

When it comes time for elections next April and in October, Bosnian voters should remember who among their elected officials took this issue seriously and who did not.