[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 124 (Friday, July 28, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1537-E1538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             THE FOURTH ANNUAL OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

                                 ______


                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 27, 1995
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, I was privileged to serve as a member of the 
U.S. delegation to the recently concluded 4th annual meeting of the 
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, held in Ottawa from July 4-8. Our 
delegation was co-chaired by Helsinki Commission ranking member, Steny 
H. Hoyer and Representative Michael P. Forbes, and included our 
colleagues, Louise M. Slaughter, Robert G. Torricelli, Ronald D. 
Coleman and Thomas C. Sawyer.
  The Parliamentary Assembly, created as a result of a United States 
initiative during the Bush administration, is designed to help 
integrate newly independent countries and emerging democracies in 
Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union into western-
style organizations. Through the Assembly, those responsible for 
crafting the laws which implement civic and economic reforms in the new 
democracies have the opportunity to share their experiences with, and 
gain advice from, parliamentarians from established democracies. 
Participation by parliamentarians from the reforming countries was 
strong in Ottawa. Forty-seven of OSCE's 52 fully participating States 
were represented in Ottawa, as 

[[Page E 1538]]
well as observers from Macedonia and Japan. Due to the continuing siege 
of Sarajevo, parliamentarians from Bosnia-Herzegovina were unable to 
attend. Their Ambassador to the OSCE was present, however, and at his 
request, I was pleased to make a statement on behalf of the people of 
Bosnia during the closing plenary session.
   Mr. Speaker, in his statement to the Assembly during the closing 
plenary session Mr. Hoyer reminded us that August 1, 1995 marks the 
20th anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki Final Act. In that 
speech Mr. Hoyer recalled the words of President Gerald Ford upon the 
signing of the historic accord--``This document will not be measured by 
the promises made in the Helsinki Final Act, but by the promises 
kept.''
  The tragic overrunning of Srebrenica and Zepa by the Bosnian Serbs, 
and the creation of thousands of more victims of war crimes perpetrated 
by the Serb aggressors is a searing reminder to all of us that there 
are promises to be kept. I agree wholeheartedly with my friend and 
colleague Steny Hoyer that we can, and must, do more. I commend to you 
his remarks:
Statement of U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer, 4th Annual Session of the 
                      OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,

                                                     July 8, 1995.
       President Swaelen, Officers of the Assembly, fellow 
     delegates: In twenty-three days, on August 1, 1995, we will 
     celebrate the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki 
     Final Act. That date also holds significant personal interest 
     for me because, ten years ago, as a new member of the U.S. 
     Helsinki Commission, I attended my first OSCE meeting--a 
     Conference on the Human Dimension--here in Ottawa.
       When President Gerald Ford signed the historic accord in 
     Helsinki on behalf of the United States he said, ``This 
     document will not be measured by the promises made in the 
     Helsinki Final Act, but by the promises kept.''
       Many signatory states viewed the words of the act dealing 
     with human rights and the obligations that each state had 
     toward its own citizens, as well as those of other states, as 
     essentially meaningless window dressing. Their objective was 
     to secure a framework in which their international political 
     position, and the then existing map of Europe would be 
     adjudged a fait accompli.
       Ten years ago, when I came to the Helsinki meeting in 
     Ottawa, I was told by my Soviet counterparts that the 
     discussion of the rights of Soviet citizens was 
     inappropriate, and an interference with their internal 
     affairs. My delegation rejected that rationale. Words, we 
     strongly maintained, were not enough. Words are not enough 
     today.
       The relevance of this organization or any international 
     organization must be judged not solely on the merits of its 
     principles, but on the strength of its commitment to those 
     principles and on its unwillingness to witness or permit 
     violation of those principles by signatory states.
       The Helsinki Final Act, like the United Nations Charter, 
     was an attempt to avoid the egregious mistakes of the past 
     which had allowed so much human suffering and carnage. A 
     history which witnessed too often the rationalization of 
     inaction.
       President George Bush, in assessing the end of the cold war 
     and the fall of the Berlin Wall, called for a ``New World 
     Order'' in which the international community would act in 
     order to assure a global political environment dependent upon 
     right not might.
       Today we are confronted within the Helsinki sphere by the 
     actions of those adjudged by my government, as well as by 
     many of yours, to be war criminals. Actions which have 
     repeated genocide on the European continent, and created the 
     largest number of refugees on that continent since the second 
     world war.
       We have in past meetings condemned these atrocities. As 
     parliamentarians we have urged that such actions be stopped. 
     And many of our members have committed people and resources 
     to relieve the suffering and stop the criminal behavior. But 
     we have not yet succeeded. And we must, therefore, do more.
       I believe this organization can be an important instrument 
     in realizing a world order based upon law and the principles 
     of the final Act. I, and the members of my delegation, pledge 
     to you our every effort to ensure the full participation of 
     the United States Congress as a partner in the vital quest to 
     ensure that history's judgement of the Parliamentary 
     Assembly, and the OSCE, is that our words of principle were 
     supported by our decisive and effective actions.
       It is said in America that many can ``talk the talk,'' but 
     only a few are prepared to ``walk the walk.'' The tyrants and 
     terrorists of our world are not dissuaded or intimidated by 
     talk. But they can and must be confronted and confounded by 
     our walk. I believe together we can see the realization of a 
     new world order.
     

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