[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 120 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 120

Supporting the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine and the progress 
                 of its political and economic reforms.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 15, 1995

   Mr. Gilman (for himself, Mr. Goodling, Mr. Solomon, and Mr. Hoke) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Supporting the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine and the progress 
                 of its political and economic reforms.

Whereas August 24, 1995, marked the fourth anniversary of the independence of 
        Ukraine;
Whereas the independent State of Ukraine is a member State of the United Nations 
        and the United Nations has established in Ukraine an office to assist 
        Ukraine in building relations with the international community and in 
        coordinating international assistance for Ukraine;
Whereas the independent State of Ukraine is a member State of the Council of 
        Europe, the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the 
        North Atlantic Cooperation Council of the North Atlantic Alliance, is a 
        participant in the Partnership for Peace program of the North Atlantic 
        Alliance, and has entered into a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement 
        with the European Union and has been accepted for membership in the 
        Central European Initiative in 1996;
Whereas the United States recognized Ukraine as an independent State on December 
        25, 1991, and established diplomatic relations with Ukraine on January 
        2, 1992;
Whereas Ukraine is a major European nation, having the second largest territory 
        and sixth largest population of all the States of Europe;
Whereas Ukraine has an important geopolitical and economic role to play within 
        Central and Eastern Europe and a strong, stable, and secure Ukraine 
        serves the interests of peace and stability in all of Europe, which is 
        also an important national security interest of the United States;
Whereas Ukraine conducted its first presidential and parliamentary elections as 
        an independent State in 1994, carrying such elections out in a free and 
        fair manner and moving further away from the former communist model of 
        one-party, centralized, totalitarian rule;
Whereas Ukraine's presidential elections of July 1994 resulted in the first 
        peaceful transfer of executive power in any of the independent States of 
        the former Soviet Union;
Whereas in June 1995, through peaceful cooperation and compromise, the President 
        and Parliament of Ukraine reached a political accord meant to better 
        define the balance of powers between the executive and legislative 
        branches of government, pending the adoption of a new constitution for 
        Ukraine;
Whereas Ukraine is the first of the independent states of the former Soviet 
        Union to appoint a civilian to the office of Minister of Defense;
Whereas Ukraine is pursuing political and economic reforms intended to ensure 
        its future strength, stability, and security and to ensure that it will 
        assume its rightful place among the international community of 
        democratic States and in European and trans-Atlantic institutions;
Whereas through the agreement by the Government of Ukraine to the establishment 
        of a mission from the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe 
        in the region of Crimea, Ukraine has shown its interest in avoiding the 
        use of force in resolving ethnic and regional disputes within Ukraine;
Whereas Ukraine has taken very positive steps in supporting efforts to stem 
        proliferation of nuclear weapons by ratifying the START-I Treaty on 
        nuclear disarmament and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear 
        Weapons, thereby relinquishing nuclear weapons it possessed after the 
        dissolution of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics;
Whereas in December 1994, the Presidents of the United States and the Russian 
        Federation and the Prime Minister of Great Britain signed a Memorandum 
        on National Security Assurances for Ukraine as depository States under 
        the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons;
Whereas the Secretary of Defense of the United States and the Minister of 
        Defense of Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation 
        in the field of defense and military relations on July 27, 1993;
Whereas Ukraine has sought to promote constructive cooperation with its 
        neighbors through humanitarian assistance and through mediation of 
        disputes;
Whereas Ukraine has provided Ukrainian troops as part of the international 
        peacekeeping force meant to prevent the spread of conflict in the states 
        of the former Yugoslavia; and
Whereas Ukraine has played a vital role in preventing the emergence of a 
        coercive military bloc on the territory of the former Soviet Union by 
        representing the interests of the smaller states that are members of the 
        organization known as the Commonwealth of Independent States: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) Ukraine has made significant progress in political 
        reform in its first 4 years of independence and that it is to 
        be congratulated for the successful conduct of free and fair 
        elections for the presidency and parliament;
            (2) the territorial integrity of Ukraine in its existing 
        borders is an important element of European peace and 
        stability;
            (3) the President and Parliament of Ukraine should continue 
        their strong efforts to agree upon and submit to the Ukranian 
        people for their approval a new democratic constitution 
        providing for a proper balance of power between the branches of 
government;
            (4) the Government of Ukraine should continue its efforts 
        to ensure the rights of all citizens of Ukraine regardless of 
        their ethnic or religious background;
            (5) the Government of Ukraine should continue and 
        accelerate its efforts to transform its economy, abandoning the 
        failed economic policies of the former communist regime and 
        ensuring that programs meant to ensure the success of economic 
        reform receive strong support at all levels of government;
            (6) the Government of Ukraine should, in particular, 
        proceed with the privatization of state-owned enterprises in a 
        very expeditious manner;
            (7) the Government of Ukraine should, in particular, place 
        a high priority on the adoption of those laws necessary to 
        ensure the continued growth of an economy based on market 
        mechanisms, private enterprise, and the right to private 
        property;
            (8) the Government of Ukraine should continue its efforts 
        to arrive at an agreement with the ``G-7'' group of States 
        whereby the nuclear reactors at Chernobyl, Ukraine, might be 
        shut down in a safe and expeditious manner;
            (9) the President of the United States should support 
        continued United States assistance to Ukraine for its political 
        and economic reforms, for the safe and secure dismantlement of 
        its weapons of mass destruction, and for the increased safety 
        of operation of its civilian nuclear reactors, and assistance 
        for the establishment of rule of law, for criminal justice and 
        law enforcement training, and for the promotion of trade and 
        investment;
            (10) the President of the United States should insist that 
        the Government of the Russian Federation, in line with the 
        assurances for the security of Ukraine made by the President of 
        the Russian Federation in the January 1994 Trilateral Statement 
        on Nuclear Disarmament in Ukraine, fully and finally recognize 
        Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and refrain 
        from any economic coercion of Ukraine;
            (11) the Government of Ukraine should continue to act in 
        defense of its sovereignty and that of the other independent 
        states of the former Soviet Union by opposing the emergence of 
        any collective military bloc on the territory of the former 
        Soviet Union whose primary purpose would be the re-creation of 
        that failed state or the reintegration into one political 
        entity of those nations once held captive by it;
            (12) the President of the United States should express the 
        support of the United States for Ukraine's insistence that it 
        be provided with appropriate rent or compensation for the use 
        of its bases, ports or other facilities on its territory under 
        appropriately negotiated and ratified agreements and treaties;
            (13) the President of the United States should ensure that 
        Ukraine's national security interests are fully considered in 
        any revision of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe 
        that may be agreed to by the signatories to that agreement;
            (14) the President of the United States should work to 
        ensure that Ukraine's interests as an integral part of Central 
        and Eastern Europe are fully considered in any review of 
        European security arrangements and understandings;
            (15) the President of the United States should support 
        continued United States security assistance for Ukraine, 
        including assistance for training of military officers, 
        military exercises as part of the North Atlantic Alliance's 
        Partnership for Peace program, and appropriate military 
        equipment to assist Ukraine in maintaining its defensive 
        capabilities as it reduces its military force levels;
            (16) the President of the United States should ensure the 
        United States Government's continued efforts to assist Ukraine 
        in its accession to the World Trade Organization; and should 
        ensure, in particular, that the potential for aerospace and 
        space cooperation and commerce between the United States and 
        Ukraine is fully and appropriately exploited; and
            (17) as a leader of the democratic nations of the world, 
        the United States should continue to support the people of 
        Ukraine in their struggle to bring peace, prosperity, and 
        democracy to Ukraine and to the other independent states of the 
        former Soviet Union.
                                 <all>