[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 125 (Thursday, September 23, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H8562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION HAVE TURNED BLIND EYE TO RUSSIAN CORRUPTION

  (Mr. ROYCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, over the last 7 years, the IMF, with the 
backing of the Clinton administration, has loaned the Russian 
Government $20 billion. All the while, the administration assured 
Congress and the American people that they were working with Russia to 
facilitate reforms. Yet as details of the vast money laundering out of 
Russia unraveled this month, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott 
said, quote, ``calm down, world. We have been aware from the beginning 
that crime and corruption are a huge problem in Russia and a huge 
obstacle to Russian reform.''
  Indeed, in 1995, the CIA met with Vice President Gore to present 
evidence on the personal corruption of Prime Minister Victor 
Chernomyrdin with whom Vice President Gore led a joint American-Russian 
commission. According to the New York Times, Mr. Gore rejected that 
report.
  It is time that the Clinton-Gore administration tell Congress and the 
American people what else they have rejected and why they have turned a 
blind eye for so long.

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