[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 39 (Monday, April 7, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2799-S2800]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--TREATY DOCUMENT NO. 105-5

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous 
consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following 
treaty transmitted to the Senate on April 7, 1997, by the President of 
the United States: The Flank Document Agreement to the CFE Treaty, 
Treaty Document No. 105-5.
  I further ask unanimous consent that the treaty be considered as 
having been read for the first time; that it be referred, with 
accompanying papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered 
to be printed; and that the President's message be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The message of the President is as follows:

To the Senate of the United States:
  I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate, the 
Document Agreed Among the States Parties to the Treaty on Conventional 
Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) of November 19, 1990, which was adopted at 
Vienna on May 31, 1996 (``the Flank Document''). The Flank Document is 
Annex A of the Final Document of the first CFE Review Conference.
  I transmit also, for the information of the Senate, the report of the 
Department of State on the Flank Document, together with a section-by-
section analysis of the Flank Document and three documents associated 
with it that are relevant to the Senate's consideration: the 
Understanding on Details of the Flank Document of 31 May 1996 in Order 
to Facilitate its Implementation; the Exchange of Letters between the 
U.S. Chief Delegate to the CFE Joint Consultative Group and the Head of 
the Delegation of the Russian Federation to the Joint Consultative 
Group, dated 25 July 1996; and the Extension of Provisional Application 
of the Document until May 15, 1997. I take this step as a matter of 
accommodation to the desires of the Senate and without prejudice to the 
allocation of rights and duties under the Constitution.
  In transmitting the original CFE Treaty to the Senate in 1991, 
President Bush said that the CFE Treaty was ``the most ambitious arms 
control agreement ever concluded.'' This landmark treaty has been a 
source of stability, predictability, and confidence during a period of 
historic change in Europe. In the years since the CFE Treaty was 
signed, the Soviet Union has dissolved, the Warsaw Pact has 
disappeared, and the North Atlantic Alliance has been transformed. The 
Treaty has not been unaffected by these changes--for example, there are 
30 CFE States Parties now, not 22--but the dedication of all Treaty 
partners to achieving its full promise is undiminished.
  The CFE Treaty has resulted in the verified reduction of more than 
50,000 pieces of heavy military equipment, including tanks, armored 
combat vehicles, artillery pieces, combat aircraft, and attack 
helicopters. By the end of 1996, CFE states had accepted and conducted 
more than 2,700 intrusive, on-site inspections. Contacts between the 
military organizations charged with implementing CFE are cooperative 
and extensive. The CFE Treaty has helped to transform a world of two 
armed camps into a Europe where dividing lines no longer hold.
  The Flank Document is part of that process. It is the culmination of 
over 2 years of negotiations and months of intensive discussions with 
the Russian Federation, Ukraine, our NATO Allies, and our other CFE 
Treaty partners. The Flank Document resolves in a cooperative way the 
most difficult problem that arose during the Treaty's first 5 years of 
implementation: Russian and Ukrainian concerns about the impact of the 
Treaty's equipment limits in the flank zone on their security and 
military flexibility. The other Treaty states--including all NATO 
Allies--agreed that some of those concerns were reasonable and ought to 
be addressed.
  The Flank Document is the result of a painstaking multilateral 
diplomatic effort that had as its main goal the preservation of the 
integrity of the CFE Treaty and achievement of the goals of its 
mandate. It is a crucial step in adaptation of the CFE Treaty to the 
dramatic political changes that have occurred in Europe since the 
Treaty was signed. The Flank Document confirms the importance of 
subregional constraints on heavy military equipment. More specifically, 
it revalidates the idea, unique to CFE, of limits on the amount of 
equipment particular nations in the Treaty area can locate on certain 
portions of their own national territory. Timely entry into force of 
the Flank Document will ensure that these key principles are not a 
matter of debate in the negotiations we have just begun in Vienna to 
adapt the CFE Treaty to new political realities, including the prospect 
of the enlarged NATO.
  I believe that entry into force of the CFE Flank Document is in the 
best interests of the United States and will

[[Page S2800]]

contribute to our broader efforts to establish a new European security 
order based on cooperation and shared goals. By maintaining the 
integrity of the CFE flank regime, we take a key step toward our goal 
of ensuring that the CFE Treaty continues to play a key role in 
enhancing military stability into the 21st century. Therefore, I urge 
the Senate to give early and favorable consideration to the Flank 
Document and to give advice and consent prior to May 15, 1997.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, April 7, 1997.

                          ____________________