[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 138 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2198-E2199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    STAKES IN THE UKRAINIAN ELECTION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES A. LEACH

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2004

  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, history unfolds at an unpredictable pace. 
While we've been pre-occupied with ``Iraq and our own elections at 
home, dramatic events have shaken Ukraine for the past fortnight. They 
must not be overlooked or their implications misunderstood.
  Once again in the former Soviet empire, we are witnessing the courage 
of the human soul and the lengths to which oppressed people will go to 
seize freedom.
  In Ukraine, a country besieged in the last century by two of 
mankind's greatest `isms' of hate--fascism and communism--a populace 
has risen against another kind of `ism'--corruptionism. We are now 
witness to the power of the individual standing up against forces of 
injustice and oppression. We are also witness to the continuing saga of 
a people aspiring to shape its own destiny, clear of the shadows cast 
for centuries by powerful neighbors.
  At issue is the question of freedom and its transforming effects. 
Democracy implies more than elections. It implies integrity of process, 
and when that integrity is lacking, the charade of stolen elections can 
be more debilitating than unabashed authoritarian rule.
  There are geostrategic as well as philosophical dimensions to the 
Ukraine situation that need to be understood in the broad context of 
the region and its history.
  Geopolitically, Ukraine is a large expanse about the size of Texas, 
with a population of nearly 48 million people, stretching from the 
wheat fields along a line between Warsaw and Moscow to the palm trees 
of Yalta, on the Black Sea. The Ukraine was the breadbasket of the old 
Soviet Union; today, it is an economic and political hinge between the 
European Union and NATO on the one hand, and the Russian Federation and 
the Asian landmass, on the other. The western, Ukrainian-speaking half 
of the country looks to Warsaw and Berlin, Paris and Washington; 
eastern Ukraine, with its Russian-speaking population, looks more to 
Moscow. Language creates cultural divisions, but the forces of 
political cohesion are strong. Both population groups are committed to 
independence and undiluted Ukrainian sovereignty.
  So, in addition to democracy, at issue is Russian imperialism. 
Instability in Ukraine can only strengthen the hand of an increasingly 
authoritarian Kremlin. By contrast, a genuinely free election in 
Ukraine would not only enhance national solidarity but encourage 
democratic forces in the rest of the former Soviet Union, not least 
within Russia itself.

  Those committed to democracy anywhere in the world should not 
hesitate to identify with aspirations of the Ukrainian people. Ukraine 
may be on the distant side of Europe from the United States, but our 
countries are bound by a common heritage and an inalienable urge for 
freedom. As Taras Shevchenko, the 19th century Ukrainian poet, wrote: 
``It makes no difference to me / If I shall live or not in Ukraine / Or 
whether any one shall think / Of me mid' foreign snow and rain / It 
makes no difference to me . . . It makes great difference to me / That 
evil folk and wicked men / Attack our Ukraine, once so free / And rob 
and plunder at will / That makes great difference to me.''
  So far courageous Ukrainians have succeeded in halting a fraudulent 
election. Sensing political winds blowing from a new direction, the 
once docile supreme court has, startlingly, done an honest job, erasing 
an injustice and calling for a new election. But the outcome is still 
in doubt. There is plenty of opportunity before the court-ordered 
runoff for status quo authorities to attempt, once more, to subvert the 
democratic process. There can be little doubt they will try to do so. 
For the KGB alumni who dominate the Kremlin, Ukrainian democracy is 
more than an embarrassment. It is a threat to their power and wealth 
and, for some, to their dream of restoring the Russian empire.
  No one wishes to poison relations with Russia, but free elections are 
not an issue on which the United States should or, indeed, can 
compromise without sullying its principles. Nor need we respect the 
threat of those who are so fearful of losing power that they hint of 
promoting a division of Ukraine into western and eastern parts. 
Separatism mis-serves the Ukrainian people. It is a trend that Russia, 
grappling with Chechnya and other non-Russian regions, can only endorse 
at great risk.
  Differing with Russia may be politically awkward, but once the flame 
of freedom is ignited, the U.S. and other western democracies have no 
ethical choice except to stand up in support of the people of Ukraine. 
The march to freedom in Poland, Czechoslovakia and other former 
communist-bloc countries has shown that the risk of an outbreak of 
destabilizing violence is far greater in situations where the

[[Page E2199]]

popular will is suppressed than in those where it is allowed to find 
full expression.
  The Ukrainian election set for December 26 is one of the seminal 
events of this new century. As members of the American people's House, 
we are obligated to express our support for the aspirations of 
Ukrainians.

                          ____________________