[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 64 (Thursday, April 6, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5396-S5397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              RUSSIA TODAY

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, I call the Senate's attention to an 
important historic landmark. It is the 10th anniversary of Mikhail 
Gorbachev's accession to power in Moscow, an event which set in motion 
a mostly non-violent process of change that brought down the Iron 
Curtain and Soviet domination of Eastern Europe in 1989, followed two 
years later by the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself--arguably the 
most important developments in the second half of the 20th century.
  Unfortunately, the momentous upheaval of 1989-91 did unleash some 
violence--most notable and tragically in the former Yugoslavia, and 
also in the Caucasus, between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in Georgia, and, 
most recently, in Chechnya. We should not ignore the tragedy or the 
dangers to European security posed by the fighting in the former 
Yugoslavia and in the Caucasus, but we should not lose sight of how 
much safer we are now than during the Cold War's global confrontation 
with the Soviet Union and the nuclear balance of terror with its 
doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction.
  Now, 10 years after Gorbachev's rise to power, Russia appears to be 
at another historic crossroad. One path leads toward democratization 
and integration into the global market economy; another points back 
toward authoritarianism and a sullen, isolated militarism. Russia's 
future lies first and foremost in the hands of its own people and their 
leaders. We should have no illusions about our ability to control 
events there. But we do have some influence. The outcome in Russia is 
still very important to the United States.
  Russia will play a major role in determining the future security 
environment in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Russia is a key 
player in implementing the START I and II strategic force reduction 
treaties and in preventing nuclear proliferation. The U.S. budget 
deficit, the peace dividend, defense conversion, the future of NATO, 
and the United States role in the world will all be strongly affected 
by developments in Russia. Also, although Russia's economy is now 
severely distressed, it is potentially an important market and trading 
partner. Russia is the only country in the world that has more 
bountiful natural resources than the United States, including vast oil 
and gas reserves. It has a large, well-educated labor force and a huge 
scientific establishment. Furthermore, many of Russia's needs--food and 
food processing, oil and gas extraction, computers, communications, and 
transportation--are in areas in which the United States is highly 
competitive. Thus, although the former Soviet military threat is 
greatly diminished, we ought not turn our backs on Russia now.
  Moscow's clumsy but brutal use of military force to regain control of 
the secessionist republic of Chechnya has triggered a new political 
crisis for the regime of President Boris Yeltsin, whose support in 
Russian public opinion polls has fallen below 10 percent. Many 
observers fear that if Chechnya becomes a protracted guerrilla war, it 
will drag down both Yeltsin and the prospects for reform. It may be too 
early to write Yeltsin's political obituary. He has made some 
remarkable recoveries in the past. But we also cannot ignore the 
possibility that the post-Yeltsin transition has already begun. In any 
case, these developments call attention to the importance of the other 
major locus of political power in Russia--the parliament.
  The Yeltsin Constitution of December 1993 created a very powerful 
presidency, but there is also a separation of powers between the 
executive and legislative branches that resembles our own system in 
many ways. The constitutional checks and balances on presidential power 
in Russia are more limited than in the United States, but the 
parliament does have real authority. Historically, the threat of 
authoritarianism and totalitarianism comes from excessive and 
ultimately unlimited executive power. This has certainly been Russia's 
experience. Whether or not Yeltsin regains his democratic equilibrium, 
and regardless of who succeeds him or when, in the long run, the best 
institutional protection against a turn toward authoritarianism in 
Russia is a healthy, independent, and democratically elected 
legislature. Congress may be able to help the one year-old Russian 
parliament become more effective and democratic.
  The new Russian Federal Assembly is a bicameral legislature. The 
lower (and more powerful) chamber, the State Duma, has 450 seats, half 
chosen from single-member
 constituencies and half from national party lists based on 
proportional representation. The upper chamber, the Federation Council, 
nominally has 178 seats, two from each [[Page S5397]] of the 89 regions 
and republics of the Russian Federation. Many of its Deputies are 
regional leaders. It does not meet on a continuous, full-time basis and 
is more like the French or German upper chamber than the U.S. Senate. 
Deputies in both chambers serve 4-year terms. The first Federal 
Assembly, however, was elected in December 1993 for only a 2-year term, 
with new elections due this December.

  After the December 1993 election, it seemed that the Duma might be 
dominated by an anti-democratic coalition of hardline ultranationalists 
and communists. In its first year, however, the parliament avoided 
extreme confrontation with Yeltsin and, despite some missteps, 
supported some of the Government's key economic reform legislation. 
Surprisingly, the parliament approved Government budgets for 1994 and 
1995 that imposed relatively strict fiscal discipline and sharply 
restrained defense spending despite intense pressure from the military-
industrial complex. The parliament also enacted key parts of a new 
commercial code and laws protecting property rights.
  There is strong parliamentary opposition to the Government's actions 
in Chechnya. Many Deputies were angered by Yeltsin's failure to consult 
them in advance or seek parliamentary approval of a state of emergency. 
Both chambers voted their disapproval of the assault several times by 
lopsided majorities, calling for the cessation of hostilities and a 
political resolution of the conflict. Parliamentary opposition, 
however, has had minimal impact on Russian policy in Chechnya, in part 
because the Constitution gives predominant power to the president on 
national security issues.
  The Federal Assembly is a political training ground in which an 
important segment of the post-Yeltsin generation of politicians is 
learning democratic principles and skills that are not part of 
traditional Russian political culture, such as compromise and 
coalition-building, respect for the rule of law and representative 
government. Most Russian Deputies are overwhelmed by the enormity and 
urgency of their legislative responsibilities and the meagerness of 
their experience and resources. They know that they have a great deal 
to learn and the majority are not only willing but eager to benefit 
from foreign experience, including U.S. experience. Despite, or perhaps 
because of, the legacy of the cold war, many Russian Deputies view the 
U.S. Congress as an important and appropriate model. They are also 
stuck by similarities in the size and demographic diversity of our 
counties and our constitutional systems based on separation of powers, 
bicameralism, and federalism. Imperfect as our own institutions are, 
from a Russian perspective they are impressive examples of stability 
and continuity, functioning federalism, and peaceful resolution of 
competing political, economic, social, ethnic, and spiritual interests.
  There is already a significant level of mostly informal travel 
between Washington and Moscow by Members of Congress and Russian 
Deputies. This is healthy and should be expanded as much as possible. 
There are already overtures from the Russian side for committee-to-
committee consultations on issues of mutual interest. Staff 
consultations, exchanges, and training are another fruitful avenue. 
Frankly, on the American side the constraints are not so much financial 
but the commitment of time by busy Members. But I would urge my 
colleagues to think about the potential payoff on a modest investment 
of time in such endeavors. Russian Deputies are so eager to learn about 
U.S. legislative procedure and about the U.S. experience on a wide 
range of legislative issues. Here is an opportunity to influence 
positively and perhaps even help to shape the procedures, policies, and 
perspectives of the legislature of the world's other nuclear 
superpower. This should be done not in spite of the conflict in 
Chechnya, but all the more because of it. The Chechen crisis underlines 
the increased importance of the Russian parliament.
  The Congressional Research Service is already embarked on an 
ambitious program of technical assistance to the Russian Federal 
Assembly. Funded by the Agency for International Development, $3.5 
million over 3 years, beginning in May 1994, with congressional 
approval, the CRS program aims to:
  Help the Russian Federal Assembly create its own research and 
analysis capability independent of the executive branch.
  Enhance the automation and interconnectivity of both chambers of the 
Federal Assembly and the Parliamentary Library.
  Strengthen the collections and capabilities of the Russian 
Parliamentary Library.
  Provide training in Moscow and Washington for Russian parliamentary 
staff specializing in automation, research and policy analysis, and 
legislative drafting.
  Bring a leadership delegation from both chambers of the Federal 
Assembly to Washington to learn and observe first hand about 
development and oversight of legislative research and policy analysis.
  CRS has considerable experience in such activity, having been 
directed by Congress to provide similar parliamentary assistance 
through the Gift of Democracy, to Poland, program, which was 
subsequently expanded under the House of Representative Special Task 
Force on the Development of Parliamentary Institutions in Eastern 
Europe, to include assistance to the parliaments of Poland, Hungary, 
the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and 
Albania. There is a comparable AID-funded program in Ukraine.
  These programs have made significant contributions to the development 
of democratic parliamentary institutions in Central and Eastern Europe 
and now hope to do the same in Russia. At the same time, these programs 
provides CRS and the Congress with literally unique access to and 
insight into political developments in those countries. It is an 
activity from which all parties benefit in a variety of ways.
  The Russian parliamentary leadership delegation that has been invited 
by CRS to visit Capitol Hill in the first week of April 1995 is led by 
Mikhail Mityukov, First Deputy Chairman of the Duma and Valerian 
Viktorov, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, and includes the 
chairmen of five important committees from both chambers.
  On behalf of the Congress I would like to welcome these distinguished 
visitors in the spirit of interparliamentary cooperation and exchange.
  I would also encourage my colleagues to meet with their Russian 
counterparts to help them gain a deeper appreciation of our legislative 
experience as well as our shortcomings so that they may benefit both 
from our example and from mistakes as they build the foundation of 
their own legislature. At the same time, this will give Members an 
unusual opportunity to discuss legislative issues of mutual interest 
with senior Russian Deputies and to learn first-hand about developments 
in Russia as it struggles to redefine itself politically, economically, 
socially, and spiritually.
  This is not only a historic moment for Russia but also a historic 
opportunity for both our countries to redefine the relation between us. 
Cooperative interparliamentary relations can play a role in this 
redefinition.


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