Hoyer Remarks at Maryland-Bosnia and Herzegovina Exchange Council Inaugural International Gala
February 13, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC – On Thursday, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) received a Lifetime Achievement Award along with former Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) from the Maryland-Bosnia and Herzegovina Exchange Council at their Inaugural International Gala. Below are his remarks as prepared:
"Good evening, I am honored to receive this award with my dear friend Ben Cardin. Serving on the Helsinki Commission was one of the defining chapters of my forty-five years in the House, and my involvement with Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the defining chapters of my time on the commission.
"I visited what was then Yugoslavia in 1990 before the war. There, one could sense that the country, the continent, and indeed the entire world was not at the 'end of history' but at an inflection point in history. The Balkans brimmed with possibility but also immense peril. As communism’s threat waned, the dangers of nationalism grew. In the West, leaders proclaimed the birth of a 'new world order.' But the question remained: what would that new order look like? Would democracy, international law, and human rights reign, or would strongmen, dictators, and demagogues rule? We on the Helsinki Commission knew that the answer could very well hinge on Bosnia's fate. We also knew that democracy’s triumph was anything but assured. Blinded by the promise of a new world order, however, others forgot an old lesson: tyrants never respond to weakness. That came at a cost.
"I saw that cost with my own eyes, in 1998, when my colleagues and I observed the excavation of the mass grave in Srebrenica. I will never forget what I saw that day. What made that sight even more sickening was that we had seen it coming – and we could have stopped it. Even before widespread fighting began in Bosnia in 1992, the Helsinki Commission warned that a humanitarian disaster loomed. We held dozens of hearings between 1992 and 1995 on the human rights violations occurring in Bosnia. Ben and I even led a congressional delegation to Sarajevo in 1994 when Serbian forces still had it under siege. The stories we heard were horrific. Snipers killing elderly civilians as they gathered food, water, and firewood. A group of children killed by a shell when they were out sledding. A public market was bombed. The United Nations and its member states were not without means to respond, but they were indecisive and feckless in the face of clear aggression. UN monitors like those in Rwanda observed atrocities but believed themselves powerless to respond. The war crimes continued despite the presence of UN safe zones and peacekeepers. The UN's weapons embargo on the former Yugoslavia hobbled Bosnia's ability to defend itself. Our European allies were reluctant to put troops in harm’s way.
"From the start, I called for the United States to take action. Bob Dole, Joe Biden, Dennis Deconcini, Frank McCloskey, Chris Smith, Frank Wolf, and my friend Ben [Cardin] all made that appeal. The House agreed to a resolution I introduced to isolate Serbia, enforce the UN’s sanctions on Milosevic’s regime, create an international tribunal to prosecute the war criminals, and to authorize the use of force to stop the genocide. We also sponsored legislation to lift the embargo on Bosnia – which Congress passed in 1995 after years of effort. Although President Clinton vetoed that legislation because he had a different approach to achieving our shared goal of ending the genocide, Congress sent a signal of America’s resolve to our allies and adversaries. We helped break through the diplomatic logjam, and the Dayton Accords brought the war to an end by the end of the year. I only wish that the West had responded in time to save the tens of thousands of people who lost their lives. We cannot bring them back, but we can and must remember them.
"I fear, however, that we are once again forgetting the lessons we relearned after Srebrenica. Today, Vladimir Putin wages a brutal, unprovoked, and criminal war against Ukraine and its people. Today, Kharkiv is described as a 'human safari,' just as Sarajevo was just over three decades ago. Today, Ukrainian children are being abducted, orphaned, wounded, and killed, just as Bosnian children were. Recently, our national and international response has been piecemeal. There is consensus in Congress that we must act to help Ukraine, but we lack the political will to do so. We need only one more Republican signature to put the Ukraine Support Act on the Floor for a vote – just one signature of courage to join every Democrat in standing up for freedom, international law, democracy and decency.
"The risks of inaction are far greater than the risks of action. This is our Churchill or Chamberlain moment. Being here tonight gives me hope that we will meet this moment. It gives me hope to see this vibrant community strengthening the bond between Maryland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It gives me hope to hear how the partnership between the Maryland National Guard and the Bosnian military is enhancing our mutual security. And it gives me hope to see that democracy endures in Bosnia thirty years after I observed its first post-Dayton election – though I recognize many challenges persist. American democracy has its own challenges. But together, I have faith that we can overcome them. Because it doesn’t matter whether it’s Bosnia or America or Ukraine or anywhere else: democracy’s survival is never inevitable. It requires vigilance. It requires cooperation. It requires courage. And, above all, it requires action. Thank you."