[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 121 (Monday, September 14, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H7657-H7658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    MAKING AVAILABLE TO THE UKRAINIAN MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES THE USIA 
                TELEVISION PROGRAM ``WINDOW ON AMERICA''

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4083) to make available to the Ukrainian Museum and Archives 
the USIA television program ``Window on America'', as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4083

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. AVAILABILITY OF USIA TELEVISION PROGRAM ``WINDOW 
                   ON AMERICA''.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 208 of the Foreign 
     Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 (22 
     U.S.C. 1461-1a) and the second sentence of section 501 of the 
     United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 
     1948 (22 U.S.C. 1461), the Director of the United States 
     Information Agency is authorized to make available, upon 
     request, to the Ukrainian Museum and Archives in Cleveland, 
     Ohio and the Slavics Collection, Indiana University Libraries 
     in Bloomington, Indiana, copies of the television program 
     ``Window on America'' produced by the WORLDNET Television 
     Service of the United States Information Agency.
       (b) Limitation.--The Ukrainian Museum and Archives and the 
     Slavics Collection are prohibited from broadcasting any 
     materials made available pursuant to this Act.
       (c) Reimbursement.--The Ukrainian Museum and Archives and 
     the Slavics Collection shall reimburse the Director of the 
     United States Information Agency for any expenses involved in 
     making such copies available. Any reimbursement to the 
     Director pursuant to this subsection shall be credited to the 
     applicable appropriation of the United States Information 
     Agency.
       (d) Termination.--Subsection (a) shall cease to have effect 
     5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter).


                             General Leave

  Mr. BEREUTER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on H.R. 4083, the measure under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Nebraska?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. BEREUTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. BEREUTER. Madam Speaker, this bill is sponsored by the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) and cosponsored by the gentleman from Indiana 
(Mr. Hamilton).
  This bill waives section 501 of the Smith-Mundt Act, which prohibits 
the

[[Page H7658]]

domestic dissemination of U.S. Information Agency produced materials to 
allow USIA to provide the TV program ``Window on America'' to the 
Ukrainian Museum and Archives and to the Slavics Collection at the 
Indiana University Library in Bloomington, Indiana. The Ukrainian 
language program cannot be broadcast in the U.S. but is available to 
these institutions for historical and research purposes. The waiver of 
section 501 expires 5 years after the date of enactment.
  This bipartisan bill was drafted in close consultation with the U.S. 
Information Agency, USIA, and they provided expert advice that assisted 
the Congress in advancing this legislation. I appreciate the agency's 
attention to the important details of the Smith-Mundt waiver, and I ask 
my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Let me first commend the sponsors of this bill, our colleagues, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. 
Hamilton), for their leadership in offering this very worthy piece of 
legislation.
  H.R. 4083 would authorize the United States Information Agency to 
make available to the Ukrainian Museum and Archives in Cleveland and 
the Slavics Collection at Indiana University copies of a video program, 
``Window on America'', that has been broadcast by satellite into the 
Ukraine.
  Without specific authorization by the Congress, Madam Speaker, the 
Smith-Mundt Act would normally prohibit USIA from providing domestic 
institutions those materials that are produced for overseas audiences. 
This bill ensures that the program will not be rebroadcast and that 
USIA will be fully reimbursed for the expenses of making this program 
available.
  The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) worked closely with USIA in 
crafting this bill, and our colleague, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. 
Hamilton), has seen to it that the University of Indiana will benefit 
from its provisions. The administration has no objections to this 
legislation, and I strongly urge support of this bill.
  Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Kucinich).
  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4083, to make 
``Windows on America'' programming available to the Ukrainian Museum in 
Cleveland, Ohio, and to the Slavics Collection at the University of 
Indiana.
  First, I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
LaTourette), my principal cosponsor of this legislation. I would also 
like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) the 
subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) the 
full committee chairman, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hamilton) the 
ranking Democrat, and the Ukrainian Caucus in the House, chaired by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fox). This is a bipartisan bill that 
would benefit thousands of Ukrainian Americans.
  The Ukraine is one of Europe's oldest cultures and one of its newest 
democracies. In this century, the country has been wracked by world 
wars, major famines and some of the worst political repression the 
world has ever seen. During the Soviet era, Joseph Stalin and his 
successors waged war on Ukrainian culture, destroying churches and 
valuable artifacts, burning books and other literary treasures. Nearly 
50 years ago, a group of displaced Ukrainian scholars living in 
Cleveland, Ohio, began a museum and archives in the Tremont area, the 
place where the neighborhoods meet the industrial valley and home to 
many immigrant communities; also, by the way, home to the community 
where I first began my political career over 30 years ago. Their 
mission was to preserve valuable items of Ukrainian culture during an 
Orwellian era when these items were being deliberately destroyed in 
Ukraine itself.
  Tapping into a network of similar scholars, displaced diplomats and 
ordinary citizens, the Ukrainian Museum-Archives compiled a world-class 
collection of Ukrainiana. With the advent of Ukrainian independence 
seven years ago, scholars from Ukraine finally got a chance to see for 
themselves the size and quality of the collection. They confirmed that 
many of the items preserved in the Cleveland collection cannot be found 
anywhere else, even in Kiev or our own Library of Congress. As 
awareness of Ukraine as a geopolitical factor grows, so does interest 
in Ukrainian culture and history. The Ukrainian Museum-Archives is now 
working with the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, Ohio State 
University's Department of Slavic and Eastern European Languages and 
Literature and other institutions to make this unique collection 
accessible to scholars in this country, in Ukraine and throughout the 
world.
  That is why I am pleased to be the sponsor along with the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) of this bill to make available to the 
Ukrainian Museum-Archives videotapes of the U.S. Information Agency's 
television program ``Window on America.'' For more than 5 years now, 
this pioneering program has been beamed by satellite to Ukraine to a 
weekly television audience of 10 to 15 million people. The videotapes 
of these programs constitute an invaluable chronicle of U.S.-Ukrainian 
relations during the critical first years of Ukraine's independence and 
a welcome addition to the collection at the Ukrainian Museum-Archives 
in Cleveland.
  Ukraine, like other countries that have been victimized by Soviet 
repression, has had to endure economic difficulties as it moves from a 
communist style command economy to one that relies on free enterprise 
and free markets. In that process we have learned that Ukraine's 
problems are spiritual as well as economic and political. By exploring 
their own past and reclaiming their cultural heritage, Ukraine is 
taking an important step towards true independence and economic 
viability. The Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland and similar 
institutions elsewhere will play a small but important role in that 
process. I am pleased along with the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
LaTourette) to be able to help.
  It is an honor to be here to say, ``Slava Ukraini.''
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4083, a bill to 
provide copies of the television program ``Window on America'' a 
Ukrainian language program produced by the U.S. Information Agency to 
the Ukrainian Museum and the Indiana University Libraries.
  This bill waives section 501 of the Smith-Mundt Act, which prohibits 
the domestic dissemination of U.S. Information Agency produced 
materials. A waiver of this prohibition, will allow these two 
institutions to maintain a current history research capacity on events 
in the Ukraine.
  This Ukrainian language program cannot be broadcast in the U.S., but 
is available to these institutions for historical and research 
purposes. This waiver is in place for five years. After that period the 
International Relations Committee and the Museum and Libraries at 
Indiana University will revisit the interest in extending the waiver.
  I appreciate the assistance the U.S. Information Agency provided in 
drafting this bill to accommodate the concerns of the Committee.
  Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4083, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________