[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 17, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7824-S7825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 60--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE CONGRESS 
THAT THE CONTINUED PARTICIPATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN MEETINGS 
  OF THE GROUP OF EIGHT COUNTRIES MUST BE CONDITIONED ON THE RUSSIAN 
   FEDERATION'S VOLUNTARY ACCEPTANCE AND ADHERENCE TO THE NORMS AND 
                         STANDARDS OF DEMOCRACY

  Mr. HELMS (for himself, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. Lott, and Mr. Allen) 
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 60

       Whereas the Group of Seven (G-7) was established as a forum 
     of the heads of state or heads of government of the world's 
     largest, industrialized democracies to meet annually in a 
     summit meeting;
       Whereas those countries which are members of the Group of 
     Seven are pluralistic societies, with democratic political 
     institutions and practices committed to the promotion of 
     universally recognized standards of human rights, individual 
     liberties, and rule of law;
       Whereas, in 1991 and subsequent years, the G-7 invited the 
     Russian Federation to a postsummit dialogue, and in 1998 the 
     G-7 formally invited the Russian Federation to participate in 
     an annual gathering that thereafter became known as the Group 
     of Eight (G-8);

[[Page S7825]]

       Whereas the invitation to then President Yeltsin of the 
     Russian Federation to participate in these annual summits was 
     to reinforce his commitment to democratization and economic 
     liberalization, recognizing the fact that the Russian 
     Federation's economy was not of the size and character of 
     those of the G-7 economies and that its government's 
     commitment to democratic principles was uncertain;
       Whereas free news media are fundamental to the functioning 
     of a democratic society and essential for the protection of 
     individual liberties and such freedoms 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 the Government of the Russian Federation has 
     undertaken a series of actions hostile and destructive toward 
     independently operated media enterprises and journalists, 
     particularly those news outlets and journalists that have 
     been critical of government policies and government actions;
       Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation continues 
     its indiscriminate war against the people of Chechnya, a war 
     in which Russian forces have caused the deaths of countless 
     thousands of innocent civilians, caused the displacement of 
     well over 400,000 innocent individuals, forcibly relocated 
     refugee populations, and have committed widespread 
     atrocities, including summary executions, torture, and rape;
       Whereas the Department of State's Annual Report on 
     International Religious Freedom 2000 concluded that the 
     Government of the Russian Federation ``does not always 
     respect [its Constitution's] provision for equality of 
     religions, and some local authorities imposed restrictions on 
     some religious minority groups'';
       Whereas the continued participation of the Government of 
     the Russian Federation in the Group of Eight must be 
     conditioned on the former's acceptance of and adherence to 
     the norms and standards of democracy; and
       Whereas the next summit meeting of the G-8 countries will 
     take place from July 20 to July 23, 2002 in Genoa, Italy: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the President should use the Genoa summit meeting of 
     the G-8 to condition future G-8 meetings upon a clear and 
     unambiguous demonstration of commitment by the Government of 
     the Russian Federation to adhere to the norms and standards 
     of democracy and fundamental human rights, and that this must 
     include--
       (A) an immediate end to Russian military operations in 
     Chechnya and the initiation of genuine negotiations for a 
     just and peaceful resolution of the conflict in that region 
     with the democratically elected Government of Chechnya led by 
     Aslan Maskhadov;
       (B) granting international missions immediate and full and 
     unimpeded access into Chechnya and surrounding regions so 
     that they can provide humanitarian assistance and investigate 
     alleged atrocities and war crimes;
       (C) respect for the existence of a free, unfettered, and 
     independent media and the free exchange of ideas and views, 
     including the freedom of journalists to publish opinions and 
     news reports without fear of censorship or punishment, the 
     right of people to receive news without government 
     interference and harassment, and opportunities for private 
     ownership of media enterprises;
       (D) freedom of all religious groups to practice their faith 
     in the Russian Federation, without government interference on 
     the rights and the peaceful activities of such religious 
     organizations; and
       (E) equal treatment and respect for the human rights of all 
     citizens of the Russian Federation;
       (2) the President and the Secretary of State should take 
     all necessary steps to suspend the participation of the 
     Russian Federation in meetings of the G-8 countries after the 
     Genoa summit meeting should the Government of the Russian 
     Federation fail to adhere to the norms and standards 
     described in paragraph (1); and
       (3) the President and Secretary of State are requested to 
     convey to appropriate officials of the Government of the 
     Russian Federation, including the President, the Prime 
     Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and 
     appropriate officials of the G-7 countries this expression of 
     the views of Congress.

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