[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 120 Referred in Senate (RFS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 120


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 5, 1996

      Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


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

Whereas August 24, 1996, marks the fifth 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, the 
        Central European Initiative, 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;
Whereas the United States recognized Ukraine as an independent State on December 
        25, 1991;
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 on June 28, 1996, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted a new constitution 
        for Ukraine;
Whereas Ukraine's economic and social stability depend on its ability to build a 
        stable market-based economy and a legal system based on the rule of law, 
        attract foreign investment, improve tax and revenue collection, and 
        build its export sectors;
Whereas Ukraine was the first of the independent states of the former Soviet 
        Union to have appointed a civilian to the office of Minister of Defense, 
        an historic precedent in support of civilian control and oversight of 
        the armed forces of Ukraine;
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 all nuclear weapons were removed from Ukraine by June 1, 1996, and 
        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;
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 acted in defense of its sovereignty and that of other newly 
        independent states by opposing the emergence of any political or 
        military organization which has the potential to promote the 
        reintegration of the states of the former Soviet Union: 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 5 years of independence and that it is to 
        be congratulated for the successful conduct of free and fair 
        elections for the presidency and parliament and for the 
        adoption of a new constitution;
            (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 focus 
        their efforts on passing legislation needed to implement the 
        new democratic constitution;
            (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 make its first 
        priority the dismantling of the remaining socialist sectors of 
        its economy, particularly by speedily privatizing medium and 
        large state-owned enterprises, privatizing state and collective 
        farms and ending their monopolistic control of the agro-
        industrial sector, and fostering a competitive market-based 
        energy sector;
            (6) the Government of Ukraine should make the necessary 
        institutional and legal reforms to create a stable tax regime, 
        foster market-based competition, protect the right to private 
        property, and make other changes that build a positive climate 
        for foreign investment;
            (7) the Government of Ukraine should make it a priority to 
        build the institutional capacity and legal framework needed to 
        fight crime and corruption effectively in a democratic 
        environment;
            (8) the Government of Ukraine should continue its 
        cooperative efforts with the ``G-7'' group of States to safely 
        and expeditiously shut down the nuclear reactors at Chernobyl, 
        Ukraine;
            (9) the President of the United States should support 
        continued United States assistance to Ukraine for its political 
        and economic reforms, for efforts associated with 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, and in this regard United 
        States assistance to the Ukraine should leverage private-sector 
        involvement as much as possible;
            (10) the President of the United States should urge 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, offer Ukraine its promised 
        highest possible cooperation, fully and finally recognizing 
        Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and refraining 
        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 political or military organization which would have the 
        potential to promote the reintegration of the states of the 
        former Soviet Union;
            (12) the President of the United States should ensure that 
        Ukraine's national security interests are fully considered in 
        any review of European security arrangements and 
        understandings;
            (13) 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;
            (14) 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
            (15) 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.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 4, 1996.

            Attest:

                                                ROBIN H. CARLE,

                                                                 Clerk.