[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4118 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4118

    To prohibit the rescheduling or forgiveness of any outstanding 
   bilateral debt owed to the United States by the Government of the 
 Russian Federation until the President certifies to the Congress that 
the Government of the Russian Federation has ceased all its operations 
at, removed all personnel from, and permanently closed the intelligence 
                       facility at Lourdes, Cuba.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 2000

 Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. DeLay, Mr. Burton 
  of Indiana, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. 
   Chabot, Mr. Burr of North Carolina, Mr. McCollum, Mr. Bartlett of 
  Maryland, and Mr. Jones of North Carolina) introduced the following 
  bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To prohibit the rescheduling or forgiveness of any outstanding 
   bilateral debt owed to the United States by the Government of the 
 Russian Federation until the President certifies to the Congress that 
the Government of the Russian Federation has ceased all its operations 
at, removed all personnel from, and permanently closed the intelligence 
                       facility at Lourdes, Cuba.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Russian-American Trust and 
Cooperation Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Government of the Russian Federation maintains an 
        agreement with the Government of Cuba which allows Russia to 
        operate an intelligence facility at Lourdes, Cuba.
            (2) The Secretary of Defense has formally expressed 
        concerns to the Congress regarding the espionage complex at 
        Lourdes, Cuba, and its use as a base for intelligence 
        activities directed against the United States.
            (3) The Secretary of Defense, referring to a 1998 Defense 
        Intelligence Agency assessment, has reported that the Russian 
        Federation leases the Lourdes facility for an estimated 
        $100,000,000 to $300,000,000 a year.
            (4) It has been reported that the Lourdes facility is the 
        largest such complex operated by the Russian Federation and its 
        intelligence service outside the region of the former Soviet 
        Union.
            (5) The Lourdes facility is reported to cover a 28 square-
        mile area with over 1,500 Russian engineers, technicians, and 
        military personnel working at the base.
            (6) Experts familiar with the Lourdes facility have 
        reportedly confirmed that the base has multiple groups of 
        tracking dishes and its own satellite system, with some groups 
        used to intercept telephone calls, faxes, and computer 
        communications, in general, and with other groups used to cover 
        targeted telephones and devices.
            (7) News sources have reported that the predecessor regime 
        to the Government of the Russian Federation had obtained 
        sensitive information about United States military operations 
        during Operation Desert Storm through the Lourdes facility.
            (8) Academic studies assessing the threat the Lourdes 
        espionage station poses to the United States cite official 
        United States sources affirming that the Lourdes facility is 
        being used to collect personal information about United States 
        citizens in the private and government sectors, and offers the 
        means to engage in cyberwarfare against the United States.
            (9) It has been reported that the operational significance 
        of the Lourdes facility has grown dramatically since February 
        7, 1996, when then Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, issued an 
        order demanding that the Russian intelligence community 
        increase its gathering of United States and other Western 
        economic and trade secrets.
            (10) It has been reported that the Government of the 
        Russian Federation is estimated to have spent in excess of 
        $3,000,000,000 in the operation and modernization of the 
        Lourdes facility.
            (11) Former United States Government officials have been 
        quoted confirming reports about the Russian Federation's 
        expansion and upgrade of the Lourdes facility.
            (12) It was reported in December 1999 that a high-ranking 
        Russian military delegation headed by Deputy Chief of the 
        General Staff Colonel-General Valentin Korabelnikov visited 
        Cuba to discuss the continuing Russian operation of the Lourdes 
        facility.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON BILATERAL DEBT RESCHEDULING AND FORGIVENESS FOR 
              THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President--
            (1) shall not reschedule or forgive any outstanding 
        bilateral debt owed to the United States by the Government of 
        the Russian Federation, and
            (2) shall instruct the United States representative to the 
        Paris Club of official creditors to use the voice and vote of 
        the United States to oppose rescheduling or forgiveness of any 
        outstanding bilateral debt owed by the Government of the 
        Russian Federation,
until the President certifies to the Congress that the Government of 
the Russian Federation has ceased all its operations at, removed all 
personnel from, and permanently closed the intelligence facility at 
Lourdes, Cuba.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON THE CLOSING OF THE INTELLIGENCE FACILITY AT LOURDES, 
              CUBA.

    Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and every 120 days thereafter until the President makes a certification 
under section 3, the President shall submit to the Committee on 
International Relations of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report (with a 
classified annex) detailing--
            (1) the actions taken by the Government of the Russian 
        Federation to terminate its presence and activities at the 
        intelligence facility at Lourdes, Cuba; and
            (2) the efforts by each appropriate Federal department or 
        agency to verify the actions described in paragraph (1).
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