[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E517-E518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   A FREE PRESS IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE FUTURE FREEDOM IN RUSSIA--HOUSE 
                        CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 67

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 23, 1999

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing House Concurrent 
Resolution 67, which expresses the sense of the Congress that freedom 
of the news media and freedom of expression are vital to the 
development and consolidation of democracy in Russia and that the 
United States should actively support such freedoms. Joining me in 
introducing this legislation are the gentleman from New York, Mr. 
Gilman, the chairman of the Committee on International Relations; the 
gentleman from Connecticut, Mr. Gejdenson, the ranking Democratic 
member of the Committee on International Relations; and the gentleman 
from Nebraska, Mr. Bereuter, who is a senior member of the Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, we are introducing this legislation today because this 
afternoon the Prime Minister of Russia. Yevgeny Primakov, arrives in 
the United States for meetings with Vice President Gore. I doubt, Mr. 
Speaker, that media freedom in Russia is a leading topic on the agenda 
for the meetings that are scheduled to take place over the next few 
days during Prime Minister Primakov's visit to our country. It is an 
issue, however, that ought to be very high on that agenda.
  This resolution expresses our unequivocal belief in the necessity of 
a free and vibrant news media in Russia. No other institution is as 
essential to the growth of a democratic society than a press unhindered 
by pressure from governmental authorities, one with the unquestioned 
ability to shed light upon the deeds and intentions of those with power 
and influence. Russia--a nation which has been fighting for the last 
decade to replace communist oppression with strongly-rooted 
institutions that respect individual freedoms--must ensure the 
independence of its media in order to maintain and continue the 
progress of the last ten years.
  The enormity of the Russian reform process is breathtaking, and few 
can doubt the success of governmental initiatives in drastically 
improving the human rights situation across this immense nation. I 
vividly recall my service in this House during the 1980's, when many of 
us, Republicans and Democrats alike, worked doggedly to oppose the 
repressive policies and practices of the Soviet regime. We focused 
attention of the persecution of Nobel

[[Page E518]]

Laureate Andrei Sakharov, of political dissidents locked up in Siberian 
gulags, and of my friend Natan Sharansky, then an imprisoned refusnik 
and now a senior minister in the government of Israeli.
  Fortunately, those days are behind us. But without the fundamental 
building blocks of a democratic society, the most notable of which 
involves freedom of the media and freedom of expression, such 
advancements may only be temporary. The means of informing the 
citizenry must not be obstructed. Tyranny knows no better friend than 
silence.
  While the Russian Constitution offers firm guarantees of freedom to 
the news media, such protections have not prevented numerous violations 
of this principle. The State Department's Country Reports on Human 
Rights Practices for 1998, which was released just last month, states 
that during 1998 ``federal, regional, and local governments continued 
to exert pressure on journalists by depriving them of access to 
information, using accreditation procedures to limit access, removing 
them from their jobs and bringing libel suits against them, and 
violating their human rights.'' Furthermore, the State Department 
estimates that ``between 250 and 300 lawsuits and other legal actions 
were brought by the Government against journalists and journalistic 
organizations during the year in response to unfavorable coverage of 
government policy or operations. . . . In the vast majority of such 
cases, the Government succeeded in either intimidating or punishing the 
journalist.'' Mr. Speaker, this is a dangerous and an ominous 
precedent, one that could be exploited in the future by autocratic 
leaders to trample on the liberties of the Russian people.
  The threats to the Russian media vary both in their nature and their 
severity. The State Department identifies an alarming range of specific 
cases, from the efforts of federal tax authorities to shut down Novaya 
Gazeta (a Russian daily ``known for its relative independence and 
aggressive reporting on corruption at high levels'') to the detention 
of well-known journalist Irina Chernova, who was allegedly blackmailed 
by Volgograd police officers. According to the report, the officers 
were ``threatening to release pictures and videotapes of her engaged in 
sex acts'' in response to critical articles about the department's 
performance. Mr. Speaker, I strongly encourage my colleagues to 
carefully examine the State Department's report in order to obtain a 
better understanding of the seriousness and scope of this problem.
  My concerns about this serious matter were piqued last week by the 
Russian Duma's passage of legislation to tighten state control of 
television and radio. If it becomes law, this bill would provide a 
government-appointed ``supreme council'' with unreasonable powers to 
regulate media content, and the council would have the authority to 
suspend or revoke a broadcaster's license. I ask my colleagues to join 
me in urging President Boris Yeltsin to veto this misguided and 
dangerous initiative.
  Mr. Speaker, one of this century's great statesman, President Dwight 
David Eisenhower, voiced the following words of reason forty-five years 
ago when he delivered the commencement address at Dartmouth College: 
``Don't join the book burners. Don't think you're going to conceal 
faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed.'' I sincerely 
hope that the leaders of Russia will honor this advice, and that they 
will recognize that the free exchange of ideas is the foundation of any 
stable democracy.
  It is important that we here in the Congress affirm our commitment to 
the principles of freedom of expression and freedom of the media. Our 
resolution does this in clear and unequivocal terms. I invite my 
colleagues to join in cosponsoring this important legislation, Mr. 
Speaker, and I ask that the text of the resolution be placed in the 
Record.***HD***H. Con. Res. 67
  Expressing the sense of the Congress that freedom of the news media 
and freedom of expression are vital to the development and 
consolidation of democracy in Russia and that the United States should 
actively support such freedoms.
  Whereas the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union 
has brought new and unique opportunities for democratic political 
change and the development of market-oriented economic reform in 
Russia, but the recent economic difficulties in that country have 
created turbulent and difficult conditions for the Russian people;
  Whereas one of the most important means of assuring the continuation 
of democratic government and the ultimate guarantee of individual 
freedom and respect for human rights is an open, independent and free 
news media;
  Whereas a free news media can exist only in an environment that is 
free of state control of the news media, that is free of any form of 
state censorship or official coercion of any kind, and that is 
protected and guaranteed by the rule of law;
  Whereas freedom of the news media and freedom of expression in Russia 
today are threatened by elements in the Government, the Duma and 
elsewhere throughout Russian society which are opposed to freedom of 
the press and freedom of expression;
  Whereas the State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights 
Practices for 1998 notes that ``federal, regional, and local 
governments continued to exert pressure on journalists by depriving 
them of access to information, using accreditation procedures to limit 
access, removing them from their jobs and bringing libel suits against 
them, and violating their human rights'';
  Whereas the Country Reports further notes that in the past year 
``between 250 and 300 lawsuits and other legal actions were brought by 
the Government against journalists and journalistic organizations 
during the year in response to unfavorable coverage of government 
policy or operations'' and ``in the vast majority of such cases, the 
Government succeeded in either intimidating or punishing the 
journalist; and
  Whereas the Duma recently adopted legislation establishing a 
``Supreme Council'' with a mandate to review the content of television 
and radio programs and authority to suspend and/or revoke a 
broadcaster's license: Now, therefore, be it
  Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
  (1) a free news media is vital to the development and consolidation 
of democracy and the development of a civil society in Russia:
  (2) freedom of the news media and freedom of expression must be 
safeguarded against those forces which would limit or suppress these 
fundamental human rights;
  (3) Russian Government leaders, including the President, the Prime 
Minister, and Members of the Russian Parliament, should fully support 
freedom of the news media and the right of free expression in Russia;
  (4) the United States should actively support freedom of expression 
and freedom of the news media through our programs of assistance to 
Russia;
  (5) when considering requests by the Russian government for loans or 
other economic assistance from the International Monetary Fund and 
other international financial institutions, the United States 
government should take into account the extent to which Russian 
government authorities support the full, free, and unfettered freedom 
of the news media and freedom of expression in deciding whether to 
support such requests; and
  (6) the President and the Secretary of State are requested to convey 
to appropriate Russian Government officials, including the President, 
the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, this 
expression of the views of the Congress.

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