Rep. Roy Schmidt offered the following resolution:

House Resolution No. 295. 

            A resolution to declare July 11, 2012, as Srebrenica Remembrance Day and July 11-18, 2012, as Bosnia and Herzegovina Tribute Week in the state of Michigan.

Whereas, Both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives passed resolutions in 2005 acknowledging the genocide that Serbian forces perpetrated in Srebrenica and all of Bosnia from 1992-1995; and

Whereas, July 11, 2012, is the 17th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in which at least 8,372 innocent Bosniak civilians were summarily executed and 30,000 were expelled from their homes in the worst atrocity in Europe since the Holocaust; and

Whereas, The commemoration of this anniversary, together with this year’s 20th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, raises awareness of the tragic suffering of the Bosnian people and honors and remembers over 100,000 civilians who died as a result of the policies of ethnic cleansing and aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the period of 1992-1995; and

Whereas, The Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB), the umbrella organization representing Bosniaks in the United States and Canada, requested this resolution; and

Whereas, The state of Michigan recognizes the importance of this event to bring closure for the Bosnian people through justice and truth; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body declare July 11, 2012, as Srebrenica Remembrance Day and July 11-18, 2012, as Bosnia and Herzegovina Tribute Week in the state of Michigan; and be it further

Resolved, That we call upon all citizens to reject violence and hate and to promote peaceful coexistence among all.