[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 121 (Tuesday, October 3, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H8724-H8726]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RUSSIAN ANTI-SHIP MISSILE NONPROLIFERATION ACT OF 2000

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 4022) regarding the sale and transfer of Moskit anti-
ship missiles by the Russian Federation.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4022

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Russian Anti-Ship Missile 
     Nonproliferation Act of 2000''.

     SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this Act is to prohibit the forgiveness or 
     rescheduling of any bilateral debt owed by the Russian 
     Federation to the United States until the Russian Federation 
     has terminated all sales and transfers of Moskit anti-ship 
     missiles that endanger United States national security.

     SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

       The Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) In February 2000, the first of two Russian-built 
     Sovremenny-class destroyers sold to the People's Republic of 
     China arrived in the Taiwan Strait, manned by a mixed Russian 
     and Chinese naval crew. Currently, the Russian and Chinese 
     Governments are discussing the sale of 2 additional 
     Sovremenny destroyers.
       (2) Within weeks after the arrival of the destroyers, the 
     Russians are scheduled to transfer the first of several of 
     the ship's most lethal weapon, the radar-guided Moskit (also 
     known as Sunburn) anti-ship missile, which can carry either 
     conventional or nuclear warheads.

[[Page H8725]]

       (3) The supersonic Moskit missile, which can be mounted on 
     a naval or mobile land platform, was designed specifically to 
     destroy American aircraft carriers and other warships 
     equipped with advanced Aegis radar and battle management 
     systems. The United States Navy considers the missile to be 
     extremely difficult to defend against.
       (4) The Moskit missile has an over-the-horizon range of 65 
     miles and can deliver a 200-kiloton warhead in under 2 
     minutes. One conventional Moskit missile can sink a warship 
     or disable an aircraft carrier, causing the deaths of 
     hundreds of American military personnel.
       (5) The Russian Federation is helping the air force of the 
     People's Liberation Army to assemble Sukhoi Su-27 fighter 
     aircraft, which are capable of carrying an air-launched 
     version of the Moskit missile, which has a longer range than 
     the sea-launched version. The Russian Federation is 
     reportedly discussing the sale of air-launched Moskit 
     missiles to the People's Republic of China.
       (6) Land-, sea-, or air-launched Moskit missiles raise the 
     potential for American casualties and could affect the 
     outcome in any future conflict in the Taiwan Strait or South 
     China Sea. The transfer of the missile by China to Iran or 
     other belligerent nations in the Persian Gulf region would 
     increase the potential for conflict and for American 
     casualties. A Moskit missile mounted on a mobile land 
     platform would be difficult to locate and could wreak havoc 
     on the coastline of the Straits of Hormuz.

     SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF DEBT FORGIVENESS.

       (a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, the President shall not reschedule or forgive any 
     outstanding bilateral debt owed to the United States by the 
     Russian Federation, until the President certifies to the 
     Congress that the Russian Federation has terminated all 
     transfers of Moskit anti-ship missiles that endanger United 
     States national security, particularly transfers to the 
     People's Republic of China.
       (b) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of 
     subsection (a) if the President determines and certifies to 
     the Committee on International Relations of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
     Senate that such waiver is vital to the national security 
     interest of the United States.

     SEC. 5. REPORTS ON THE TRANSFER BY RUSSIA OF MOSKIT MISSILES.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act and every 6 months thereafter, 
     until the certification under section 4, the President shall 
     submit to the Committee on International relations of the 
     House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate a report identifying the status of 
     any contract and the date of the transfer of any version of 
     the Moskit missile, particularly transfers to the People's 
     Republic of China, occurring on or after February 1, 2000.
       (b) Submission in Classified Form.--Reports submitted under 
     subsection (a), or appropriate parts thereof, may be 
     submitted in classified form.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Rohrabacher) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).
  (Mr. ROHRABACHER asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, in February 2000, just the beginning of this year, a 
Russian-built Sovremenny class destroyer sailed through the Taiwan 
Strait with a mixed Russian and Communist Chinese crew, and the ship 
sailed to its new home in southeast China.
  The ship's most lethal weapon was the supersonic SSN-22 Moskit 
missile, also known as the Sunburn missile, which was developed by 
Russia during the Cold War to destroy U.S. aircraft carriers and Aegis 
class warships.
  On his recent visit to Beijing, leaders of the Chinese People's 
Liberation Armed Forces told Admiral Dennis Blair, Chief of U.S. 
Pacific Command, that if U.S. aircraft carriers once again sailed close 
to the Taiwan Strait, just as they did during the cross-Strait tensions 
of 1996, that the People's Liberation Army would fight a battle ``at 
any cost.''

                              {time}  2045

  The Moskit missiles now allow the Communist Chinese Navy to make such 
threats against the U.S. Navy's most powerful platforms, and they allow 
the Communist Chinese to endanger the lives of thousands of American 
service personnel. The Moskit missiles, which can be mounted on ships 
or on land-based mobile platforms, can carry either conventional or 
nuclear warheads. A new version is being developed to be fired from jet 
fighters. It is the most dangerous antiship missile, the Russians and 
now the Communist Chinese have in their fleet.
  Our Navy admittedly has limited ability to defend itself against this 
20 kilo-ton nuclear-capable weapon, a payload, I might add, that 
surpasses the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima during World War II, 
and they can hit an American target at a range of up to 65 nautical 
miles.
  Each destroyer that the Russians are transferring to the Communist 
Chinese carries 8 Moskit missiles. This arsenal could destroy an entire 
U.S. aircraft carrier battle group, killing thousands of American 
service personnel.
  China is scheduled to receive at least three more of these Sovremenny 
destroyers at the end of 2001. The next delivery is scheduled during 
the end of this year. Each ship will have a component of at least 18 of 
these deadly missiles.
  H.R. 4022 seeks to deter the Russians from transferring these 
missiles to the Communist Chinese or any other nation or organization 
that would endanger U.S. naval vessels. The resolution prohibits the 
rescheduling of any outstanding bilateral debt owed to the United 
States by Russia, until the President of the United States certifies 
that the Russian Federation has terminated all transfers of these 
deadly antiship missiles that would endanger not only U.S. national 
security but the lives of thousands upon thousands of our naval 
personnel.
  Mr. Speaker, the resolution does not affect U.S. support for reform 
and humanitarian aid to Russia. It does not affect U.S. assistance to 
the Nunn-Lugar program. In fact, it gives Russian leaders the choice of 
whether they prefer selling these deadly weapon systems to the 
potential enemies of the United States, or whether they instead would 
prefer us to have bilateral debt restructuring and forgiveness, 
something that would help them out.
  This choice makes sense, and it makes sense for us to offer the 
Russian leadership this choice. Thousands of lives of our brave men and 
women in uniform who are serving in the Asia-Pacific Theater depend on 
our vote. And why should we be restructuring Russia's debt, giving them 
the benefit of not having to pay the money that they owe, if they are 
going to use that economic largesse on our part to provide deadly 
weapons that are aimed at one purpose, and one purpose only, the 
destruction of U.S. naval vessels and the killing of naval personnel, 
of U.S. naval personnel. I urge my colleagues to support this 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation. Russian sales of 
Moskit antiship missiles to the PRC pose a great threat to the security 
of Taiwan and to our country. These missiles arrived in China at a time 
when the mainland has enormously increased the number of other types of 
missiles on China's coast facing Taiwan.
  Taiwan is a vibrant democracy and a key economic player in the Asia-
Pacific region, and it is unacceptable that the PRC continues to boast 
to the world about its missile threat to Taiwan and, by extension, of 
the United States.
  When this legislation was first marked up in our committee, we 
expressed concerns that the bill did not give the President sufficient 
flexibility to balance the national security implications of this 
complicated situation.
  On one hand, China's possession of these missiles poses a danger to 
our Navy and the Taiwan Straits. On the other hand, Russia may need to 
seek a comprehensive multilateral agreement to deal with its debt 
burden in the future, without which it may face the prospect of default 
to key western governments. A Russian default could even force the 
Russians to sell more missiles to China and to other countries which 
obviously are of a concern to the United States.
  We must balance, Mr. Speaker, the national security implications 
posed by Russia's missile sales to China with those posed by a further 
destabilized economic situation in Russia.
  For this reason, the committee agreed to an amendment giving the 
President the national security interest waiver. This waiver allows the 
President the flexibility to protect adequately U.S. national security 
interests in this situation.
  Mr. Speaker, it is hoped that the President will not need to use this

[[Page H8726]]

waiver. Russia should take a careful look at the strong support for 
this legislation in this House and decide the continued sales of Moskit 
missiles to China are not in Russia's interests.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no other requests for time, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4022, 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.

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