[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 571 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 571

  Expressing sympathy to the family and colleagues of Lev Yakovlevich 
Rokhlin, and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
 the President of the United States should urge the Russian Government 
 to promptly and thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding 
 the death of Lev Yakovlevich Rokhlin and to provide a full accounting 
    of the circumstances as soon as practicable, but not later than 
                             November 1999.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 1998

 Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Pickett, Mr. Bartlett of 
  Maryland, Mr. Watts of Oklahoma, Mr. Taylor of North Carolina, Mr. 
Thornberry, Ms. Granger, Mr. Pappas, and Mr. Cunningham) submitted the 
     following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing sympathy to the family and colleagues of Lev Yakovlevich 
Rokhlin, and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
 the President of the United States should urge the Russian Government 
 to promptly and thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding 
 the death of Lev Yakovlevich Rokhlin and to provide a full accounting 
    of the circumstances as soon as practicable, but not later than 
                             November 1999.

Whereas Lev Yakovlevich Rokhlin had a distinguished military career that 
        included command of a regime in Afghanistan, command of a division that 
        quelled a revolt in Azerbaijan, and command of the forces that captured 
        a Presidential palace in Grozny from separatists during the war in 
        Chechnya in 1995;
Whereas Lev Rokhlin retired from his distinguished military career as a two-star 
        general;
Whereas Lev Rokhlin was awarded the Hero of Russia Gold Star for his skill and 
        valor in service in Chechnya;
Whereas Lev Rokhlin refused to accept the Hero of Russia Gold Star from Pavel 
        Grachev, then Minister of Defense of Russia, because he believed that 
        Mr. Grachev was corrupt and that the award was unwarranted in the 
        context of a civil war;
Whereas Lev Rokhlin was elected in 1995 to the Russian Duma as a member of the 
        ``Russia Is Our Home'' party, the second largest party in the Duma;
Whereas Lev Rokhlin assumed the chairmanship of the defense committee of the 
        Duma and was the highest-ranking elected official in the Duma working on 
        defense issues;
Whereas during his tenure as chairman of the defense committee, Lev Rokhlin was 
        an outspoken critic of President Boris Yeltsin, stating that Yeltsin was 
        providing inadequate funding for the military and predicting that the 
        deterioration of the military would lead its members to become involved 
        in corrupt activity;
Whereas in July 1997, Lev Rokhlin established the Movement in Support of the 
        Army, Defense Industry, and Military Science to lobby for the welfare of 
        soldiers with families, for defense preparedness, and for adequate 
        funding of the defense industry;
Whereas in October 1997, Lev Rokhlin advocated the resignation of President 
        Yeltsin;
Whereas Lev Rokhlin was the first elected official of President Yeltsin's own 
        party to call for Yeltsin's impeachment;
Whereas attempts were made for 6 months to remove Lev Rokhlin from his committee 
        chairmanship;
Whereas on May 19, 1998, Lev Rokhlin was stripped of the chairmanship of the 
        defense committee, but maintained his position as a member of the Duma;
Whereas Lev Rokhlin became involved in an investigation of illegal arms sales 
        from Russia to Armenia and other Nations;
Whereas on July 3, 1998, Lev Rokhlin was shot in the head three times and 
        killed;
Whereas members of Lev Rokhlin's family have stated that Rokhlin's wife, Tamara 
        Pavlovna Rokhlina, was physically abused and was threatened with death 
        unless she accepted responsibility for Lev Rokhlin's murder;
Whereas Tamara Rokhlina was arrested for the murder of Lev Rokhlin and soon 
        after was seen in a physically battered condition by their daughter, 
        Yelena Rokhlina Abakumova;
Whereas the Interior Ministry issued a public statement that Tamara Rokhlina had 
        confessed to the murder of Lev Rokhlin;
Whereas Yelena Abakumova returned to her parents' home with a lawyer, examined 
        the physical evidence, and concluded that her mother could not possibly 
        have killed her father;
Whereas Lev Rokhlin's bodyguard, who was in the home the night of the murder, 
        claimed that he had heard no gunshots;
Whereas three recently dead bodies were found in the vicinity of the Rokhlin 
        household within days after the shooting;
Whereas the three bodies were cremated by the Moscow government authorities 
        before they could be identified;
Whereas many Russian citizens continue to challenge the notion that Lev Rokhlin 
        was murdered by his wife, and believe that the murder was ordered by Lev 
        Rokhlin's political opponents;
Whereas the United States has a significant interest in the transition of Russia 
        to a stable democratic system;
Whereas a key component of a stable democratic system is the rule of law and the 
        effectiveness of law enforcement; and
Whereas any inability of Russia to provide a full accounting of the 
        circumstances surrounding the death of Lev Rokhlin would raise serious 
        questions about the existence of a stable democratic system in Russia: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the House of Representatives expresses sympathy to the 
        family and colleagues of Lev Yakovlevich Rokhlin; and
            (2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
        the President of the United States should urge the Russian 
        Government--
                    (A) to promptly and thoroughly investigate the 
                circumstances surrounding the death of Lev Yakovlevich 
                Rokhlin; and
                    (B) to provide a full accounting of the 
                circumstances as soon as practicable, but not later 
                than November 1999.
                                 <all>