[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 98 (Tuesday, July 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8603-S8604]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    UNITED STATES-RUSSIAN RELATIONS

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, at the end of this week, Vice 
President Gore is scheduled to depart for Moscow to conduct meetings in 
preparation for a summit meeting between President Clinton and 
President Yeltsin in September. I believe this meeting and the future 
summit is really long overdue and extraordinarily important. I would 
like to take a few minutes to speak about the relationship between our 
country and the new Russia.
  United States-Russian relations today stand at a critical juncture. 
It has been almost a decade since the end of the cold war, and although 
we have made great strides in reestablishing the friendship that 
characterized relations between our two countries in the recent past, 
we have yet to establish the basis for the kind of partnership that is 
adequate to guide our two nations into the next century.
  The Russian Federation is nearly twice the size of the continental 
United States. It covers 11 time zones, with a population of close to 
150 million people. Lest we not forget, Russia is a country with a 
nuclear arsenal capable of annihilating the Earth many times over.
  Few countries on this Earth have undergone the sort of wrenching 
political, economic, and social transformation that Russia is now going 
through. While China has moved slowly and carefully to release 
centralized control over its economy, the Russian model has moved 
rapidly, in a macro way, to embrace both economic and social democracy.
  Today, Russia remains fragile. The United States has a huge stake in 
what happens now. Our goal must be to see that Russia remains a stable, 
modern state, democratic in its governance, abiding by its constitution 
and its laws, market-oriented and prosperous in its economic 
development, at peace with itself and with the rest of the world. A 
Russia that reflects these aspirations is likely to be part of the 
solution, rather than part of the problem, to world peace.
  Conversely, a Russia that erects barriers against what it sees as a 
hostile world, that believes the best defense is a good offense--such a 
Russia could be in the 21st century just as it was for much of the 20th 
century--one of the biggest problems the United States and the rest of 
the world will face.
  Russia may be down as a major power, but it is far from out. Although 
it is all too easy for some to look at Russia today and conclude that 
it is not a country that demands attention as a top U.S. foreign policy 
priority, that, in my mind, would be a grievous error in judgment. To 
place United States-Russian relations in a secondary category of 
concern is a surefire recipe for disaster. The United States has an 
enormous stake in the outcome of the present Russian struggle for 
democracy and free markets.
  I believe that it is in Russia's own interests to conduct a concerted 
effort against the antidemocratic forces and the ultra nationalistic 
ones, against crime and corruption and, yes, against old Soviet 
attitudes and habits. This is the course which the government of 
President Yeltsin has undertaken, and he has done it despite many 
impediments that still stand in the way.
  Too often we have been quick to point out the shortcomings and 
imperfections of the Yeltsin government and of Russia--and as recent 
questions regarding Russian assistance to the Iranian missile program 
indicate, there is some reason for deep concern.
  I am fully supportive of the President's decision last week to 
sanction nine Russian companies for cooperation with Iran. In my mind, 
Russia's assistance to Iran indicates just how far Russia has yet to 
travel if it wants to be a full partner with the United States in the 
international community. But I must also note that the cooperation that 
Russia now provides is a welcome reversal of its stance of a few years 
ago. I hope that this new level of cooperation is a major harbinger of 
things to come.
  Indeed, for those who care to look, there have been many positive 
developments in Russia over the past years--positive developments that 
include President Yeltsin's constitutionally based election and 
reelection in 1996, the defeat of hyperinflation, the end of the war in 
Chechnya in 1997, the signing of the NATO-Russia Founding Act, and 
successful Russian participation in joint peacemaking operations in 
Bosnia.
  Russia has also made enormous strides in integrating into global 
economic and regional economic institutions, including the World Bank, 
the International Monetary Fund, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the Council 
of Europe, the Paris Club, and more. Russia has strengthened its ties 
to the European Union and is active in the United Nations and 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
  That is not to say Russian reform has scored a knockout blow against 
crime and corruption, or that the Russian economy is home free. In 
fact, the current economic crisis and resulting political instability 
presents the new democracy with its greatest challenge to date.
  The package agreed to last week by Russia and the International 
Monetary Fund provides significant funding, we hope, to stabilize the 
Russian economy, and it contains major fiscal reform elements, 
including tax reform, some of which are going to be put in place, as 
well as far-reaching structural reforms to increase growth and free-
market competition. It represents an important pledge by Russia to 
continue the development of a free-market democracy, and it is an 
important vote by the international community in the importance of this 
new Russia.
  Russia may still be struggling, but it is my belief that it is on the 
cusp of a constructive interaction in the international community as a 
democracy. This must be encouraged. As one analyst wrote about World 
War II era Germany and Japan, ``There are no dangerous peoples; there 
are only dangerous situations, which are the result, not of laws of 
nature or history, or of national character or charter, but of 
political arrangements.''

[[Page S8604]]

  In Russia today, there is a growing ultranationalism which represents 
a major threat to its progress as a democracy, and we must be cognizant 
of that.
  It will take courage for Russia to look to the future positively, to 
abandon obsolete thinking, to reassess its national security needs and 
interests in light of new alliances. It will require a high level of 
determination and hard work by our country to work with Russia to 
develop these institutions, institutions which can encourage the growth 
of democracy and free markets and lead to a more stable and cooperative 
and prosperous new Russia.
  But if future generations are to be spared the danger, the expense, 
and the terror faced by my generation in dealing with Russia, if we are 
truly to reap the benefits of the end of the cold war, we cannot stand 
by and wait to see whether democracy and free markets will survive in 
Russia.
  In more concrete terms, I believe that the time is ripe for a full-
scale, high-level, new initiative towards Russia as we approach the 
21st century.
  The Vice President's trip and this September's summit, I hope, will 
contribute greatly toward this process, but the Senate bears a special 
responsibility for the conduct of our Nation's foreign policy. We must 
play a role, too.
  This initiative, I believe, should focus on ways in which the United 
States can work effectively with the new Russia to strengthen and 
encourage democratization; to support efforts by the IMF and the 
international community to assist Russia's economy to make the full 
transition to free markets; to examine and revise outdated legislation 
which has created roadblocks and bottlenecks in United States-Russian 
relations and which place United States firms doing business in Russia 
at a competitive disadvantage; to provide help in the fight against 
corruption and organized criminal enterprise in Russia; to expedite 
existing United States resources now available through OPIC, the 
Eximbank, and other financial institutions through the development of 
fast-track type programs which cut red tape for worthy business 
projects and investments; to encourage and expand existing academic, 
cultural, and other exchange programs, including those between the 
Congress and the Duma which aim to support Russia's reformers; and, 
finally, to work to fully integrate Russia as an equal partner in the 
international political, economic, and security institutions.
  We must understand how the right kind of foreign assistance can play 
a crucial role in assuring Russian economic growth and vitality. And we 
must understand how our assistance can help create the ability for 
Russia to consolidate its gains and provide the opportunity for Russia 
to work out its national identity and destiny in ways which will 
complement American interests.
  None of this will be easy and all of it will require sustained 
effort. To that end, the Vice President's trip this week is a first 
major step. And to that end also, I hope to be able to work with the 
chairman and ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee of this 
body to conduct hearings to examine the nature and future direction of 
United States policy toward Russia. From these hearings I hope we can 
develop legislation to address United States policy in the areas I have 
outlined above, and to strengthen United States-Russian ties in an 
appropriate way.
  I deeply believe that this relationship needs the most intensive 
concern and interaction at the present time. We must give Russia both 
time and opportunity to consolidate the reforms that constitute the 
good news of the past few years, to work with them to beat back the 
forces that threaten this progress, and to assist them to become a 
stable, prospering, democratic republic which can be a partner for 
world peace in the next century.
  I thank the Chair and I yield the floor.
  Mr. CRAIG addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  (The remarks of Mr. Craig pertaining to the introduction of S. 2337 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')

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