[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 18 (Thursday, February 17, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1685-S1686]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 14--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
THE CONTINUED PARTICIPATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN THE GROUP OF 8 
  NATIONS SHOULD BE CONDITIONED ON THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT VOLUNTARILY 
     ACCEPTING AND ADHERING TO THE NORMS AND STANDARDS OF DEMOCRACY

  Mr. McCAIN (for himself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Burns, Mr. Bayh, Mr. 
Chambliss, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Durbin) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 14

       Whereas the countries that comprise the Group of 7 nations 
     are pluralistic societies with democratic political 
     institutions and practices, committed to the observance of 
     universally recognized standards of human rights, respect for 
     individual liberties, and democratic principles;
       Whereas in 1991 and subsequent years, the leaders of the 
     Group of 7 nations, heads of the governments of the major 
     free market economies of the world who meet annually in a 
     summit meeting, invited then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin 
     to a post-summit dialogue;
       Whereas in 1998, the leaders of the Group of 7 nations 
     formally invited President Boris Yeltsin of Russia to 
     participate in an annual gathering that subsequently was 
     known as the Group of 8 nations, although the Group of 7 
     nations have continued to hold informal summit meetings and 
     ministerial meetings that do not include the Russian 
     Federation;
       Whereas the invitation to President Yeltsin to participate 
     in the annual summits was in recognition of his commitment to 
     democratization and economic liberalization, despite the fact 
     that the Russian economy remained weak and the commitment of 
     the Russian Government to democratic principles was 
     uncertain;
       Whereas under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, 
     the Russian Government has attempted to control the 
     activities of independent media enterprises, nongovernmental 
     organizations, religious organizations, and other pluralistic 
     elements of Russian society in an attempt to mute criticism 
     of the government;
       Whereas under the leadership of President Putin, the 
     Russian Government has suppressed the activities of 
     independent journalists, international observers, and human 
     rights monitoring organizations, and has blocked the renewal 
     of the mandate of the Organization for Security and Co-
     operation in Europe (OSCE) to operate inside Chechnya in an 
     attempt to block public scrutiny of the war in Chechnya;
       Whereas the suppression by the Russian Government of 
     independent media enterprises has resulted in widespread 
     government control and influence over the media in Russia, 
     stifling freedom of expression and individual liberties that 
     are essential to any functioning democracy;
       Whereas the arrest and prosecution of prominent Russian 
     business leaders who had supported the political opposition 
     to President Putin are examples of selective application of 
     the rule of law for political purposes;
       Whereas the courts of the United States, the United 
     Kingdom, Spain, and Greece have consistently ruled against 
     extradition warrants issued by the Russian Government after 
     finding that the cases presented by the Prosecutor General of 
     the Russian Federation have been inherently political in 
     nature;

[[Page S1686]]

       Whereas Russian military forces continue to commit brutal 
     atrocities against the civilian population in Chechnya and 
     have been implicated in abductions of Chechen civilians who 
     filed cases before the European Court of Human Rights;
       Whereas leaders of the Group of 7 nations have repeatedly 
     expressed that a military solution in Chechnya is not 
     possible;
       Whereas in the aftermath of the tragic siege of School No. 
     1 in Beslan, Russia that occurred during September 2004, 
     which was an act of terrorism abhorrent to all civilized 
     people, President Putin cited violence in the North Caucasus 
     as a pretext for consolidating centralized power and proposed 
     to abolish the popular election of regional governors in 
     favor of presidential appointment of such officials;
       Whereas the catastrophic consequences of the siege of 
     School No. 1 in Beslan and of the continued violence in 
     Chechnya demonstrate the need to search for political 
     solutions and to commence negotiations between the Government 
     of Russia and moderate Chechen separatists, giving moderates 
     credence over extremist elements;
       Whereas the Government of Russia initially supported the 
     undemocratic results of the November 21, 2004, runoff in the 
     Ukrainian presidential election, in spite of widespread 
     election fraud and mass demonstrations in support of a new, 
     legitimate election, which raised concerns among the Group of 
     7 nations that the commitment of the Government of Russia to 
     democratic standards is waning;
       Whereas a wide range of observers at think tanks and 
     nongovernmental organizations have expressed deep concern 
     that the Russian Federation is moving away from the political 
     and legal underpinnings of a market economy and have 
     identified the continuing war in Chechnya as a major threat 
     to stability and democracy in Russia; and
       Whereas the continued participation of the Russian 
     Federation in the Group of 8 nations, including the 
     opportunity for the Russian Government to host the Group of 8 
     nations in 2006 as planned, is a privilege that is premised 
     on the Government of Russia voluntarily accepting and 
     adhering to the norms and standards of democracy, including 
     governmental accountability, transparency, and the rule of 
     law: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the selective prosecution of political opponents and 
     the suppression of free media by the Russian Federation, and 
     the continued commission of widespread atrocities in the 
     conduct of the brutal war in Chechnya, do not reflect the 
     minimum standards of democratic governance and rule of law 
     that characterize every other member state in the Group of 8 
     nations;
       (2) the continued participation of the Russian Federation 
     in the Group of 8 nations, including the opportunity for the 
     Russian Government to host the Group of 8 nations summit in 
     2006 as planned, should be conditioned on the Russian 
     Government accepting and adhering to the norms and standards 
     of free, democratic societies as generally practiced by every 
     other member nation of the Group of 8 nations, including--
       (A) the rule of law, including protection from selective 
     prosecution and protection from arbitrary state-directed 
     violence;
       (B) a court system free of political influence and 
     manipulation;
       (C) a free and independent media;
       (D) a political system open to participation by all 
     citizens and which protects freedom of expression and 
     association; and
       (E) the protection of universally recognized human rights; 
     and
       (3) the President and the Secretary of State should work 
     with the other members of the Group of 7 nations to take all 
     necessary steps to suspend the participation of the Russian 
     Federation in the Group of 8 nations until the President, 
     after consultation with the other members of the Group of 7 
     nations, determines and reports to Congress that the Russian 
     Government is committed to respecting and upholding the 
     democratic principles described in paragraph (2).

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