[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 60 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 60

 Expressing the sense of Congress that the continued participation of 
the Russian Federation in meetings of the Group of Eight countries must 
be conditioned on the Russian Federation's voluntary acceptance of and 
           adherence to the norms and standards of democracy.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 17, 2001

 Mr. Helms (for himself, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. Lott, and Mr. Allen) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of Congress that the continued participation of 
the Russian Federation in meetings of the Group of Eight countries must 
be conditioned on the Russian Federation's voluntary acceptance of and 
           adherence to the norms and standards of democracy.

Whereas the Group of Seven (G-7) was established as a forum of the heads of 
        state or heads of government of the world's largest, industrialized 
        democracies to meet annually in a summit meeting;
Whereas those countries which are members of the Group of Seven are pluralistic 
        societies, with democratic political institutions and practices 
        committed to the promotion of universally recognized standards of human 
        rights, individual liberties, and rule of law;
Whereas, in 1991 and subsequent years, the G-7 invited the Russian Federation to 
        a postsummit dialogue, and in 1998 the G-7 formally invited the Russian 
        Federation to participate in an annual gathering that thereafter became 
        known as the Group of Eight (G-8);
Whereas the invitation to then President Yeltsin of the Russian Federation to 
        participate in these annual summits was to reinforce his commitment to 
        democratization and economic liberalization, recognizing the fact that 
        the Russian Federation's economy was not of the size and character of 
        those of the G-7 economies and that its government's commitment to 
        democratic principles was uncertain;
Whereas free news media are fundamental to the functioning of a democratic 
        society and essential for the protection of individual liberties and 
        such freedoms can exist only in an environment that is free of state 
        control of the news media, that is free of any form of state censorship 
        or official coercion of any kind, and that is protected and guaranteed 
        by the rule of law;
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has undertaken a series of 
        actions hostile and destructive toward independently operated media 
        enterprises and journalists, particularly those news outlets and 
        journalists that have been critical of government policies and 
        government actions;
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation continues its indiscriminate 
        war against the people of Chechnya, a war in which Russian forces have 
        caused the deaths of countless thousands of innocent civilians, caused 
        the displacement of well over 400,000 innocent individuals, forcibly 
        relocated refugee populations, and have committed widespread atrocities, 
        including summary executions, torture, and rape;
Whereas the Department of State's Annual Report on International Religious 
        Freedom 2000 concluded that the Government of the Russian Federation 
        ``does not always respect [its Constitution's] provision for equality of 
        religions, and some local authorities imposed restrictions on some 
        religious minority groups'';
Whereas the continued participation of the Government of the Russian Federation 
        in the Group of Eight must be conditioned on the former's acceptance of 
        and adherence to the norms and standards of democracy; and
Whereas the next summit meeting of the G-8 countries will take place from July 
        20 to July 23, 2002 in Genoa, Italy: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the President should use the Genoa summit meeting of 
        the G-8 to condition future G-8 meetings upon a clear and 
        unambiguous demonstration of commitment by the Government of 
        the Russian Federation to adhere to the norms and standards of 
        democracy and fundamental human rights, and that this must 
        include--
                    (A) an immediate end to Russian military operations 
                in Chechnya and the initiation of genuine negotiations 
                for a just and peaceful resolution of the conflict in 
                that region with the democratically elected Government 
                of Chechnya led by Aslan Maskhadov;
                    (B) granting international missions immediate and 
                full and unimpeded access into Chechnya and surrounding 
                regions so that they can provide humanitarian 
                assistance and investigate alleged atrocities and war 
                crimes;
                    (C) respect for the existence of a free, 
                unfettered, and independent media and the free exchange 
                of ideas and views, including the freedom of 
                journalists to publish opinions and news reports 
                without fear of censorship or punishment, the right of 
                people to receive news without government interference 
                and harassment, and opportunities for private ownership 
                of media enterprises;
                    (D) freedom of all religious groups to practice 
                their faith in the Russian Federation, without 
                government interference on the rights and the peaceful 
                activities of such religious organizations; and
                    (E) equal treatment and respect for the human 
                rights of all citizens of the Russian Federation;
            (2) the President and the Secretary of State should take 
        all necessary steps to suspend the participation of the Russian 
        Federation in meetings of the G-8 countries after the Genoa 
        summit meeting should the Government of the Russian Federation 
        fail to adhere to the norms and standards described in 
        paragraph (1); and
            (3) the President and Secretary of State are requested to 
        convey to appropriate officials of the Government of the 
        Russian Federation, including the President, the Prime 
        Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and appropriate 
        officials of the G-7 countries this expression of the views of 
        Congress.
                                 <all>