[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 115 (Monday, August 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6585-S6586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Whitehouse, and 
        Mrs. Shaheen):
  S.J. Res. 37. A joint resolution calling upon the President to issue 
a proclamation recognizing the 35th anniversary of the Helsinki Final 
Act; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, as Chairman of the Commission on Security 
and Cooperation in Europe, I am pleased today to introduce, together 
with fellow Senate Commissioners Brownback, Whitehouse and Shaheen, a 
resolution marking the historic Helsinki Final Act, signed by President 
Ford and the leaders of thirty-four other nations on August 1, 1975. 
The Final Act provides a comprehensive framework for advancing security 
in all its aspects through the military security, economic and human 
dimensions.
  For more than three decades, the Final Act and the process it set in 
motion, have served as an important vehicles for advancing U.S. 
interests in the expansive OSCE region and beyond. In a very real 
sense, the Helsinki process was a catalyst that helped usher historic 
changes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In his Berlin speech as 
candidate, President Obama emphasized that we are heirs to a struggle 
for freedom--a struggle in which freedom eventually prevailed in 
bringing down the walls of a divided city, country and continent. The 
years following the fall of the Berlin Wall have witnessed stunning 
successes as well as serious setbacks, notably the genocidal war that 
raged through the Balkans, including the massacre at Srebrenica.
  The principles reflected in the Final Act have withstood the test of 
time and proven their enduring value as we seek to address lingering 
and new challenges. A survey of developments in the OSCE, now 
comprising 56 participating States, is a reminder of the scale of work 
that remains: from simmering tensions throughout the Caucasus region 
and so-called frozen conflicts elsewhere to violations of fundamental 
freedoms. There are a number of troubling trends in the human 
dimension: from the harassment, persecution and physical attacks on 
journalists and human rights defenders to the adoption of restrictive 
laws aimed at reigning in freedom of religion and other fundamental 
freedoms, including freedom of expression and assembly. Other 
longstanding concerns include the plight of national minorities and 
Roma as well as other manifestations of discrimination and intolerance, 
particularly anti-Semitism.
  The OSCE is uniquely positioned to contribute to efforts to address 
these and other issues in the military security, economic and human 
dimensions. Indeed, a large body of common commitments has been agreed 
to over the years, beginning with the Helsinki Final Act. The challenge 
remains to translate these words on paper into meaningful action. As 
parliamentarians, we have a unique role to play in advancing the aims 
of the Helsinki Final Act and security in all of its aspects, including 
efforts to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law. This 
was evident at the just concluded OSCE Parliamentary Assembly meeting 
in Norway, where many human rights and other concerns were voiced by 
the U.S. delegation and others. Among several initiatives we undertook 
at the Oslo meeting was a resolution on investigative journalists I 
introduced as a follow up to a recent Helsinki Commission hearing on 
``Threats to Free Media in the OSCE Region.''
  As one who has been active in the Helsinki Process for many years and 
as Commission chairman, I want to underscore the vital role played by 
NGOs in advancing the aims of the Helsinki Accords. For over three 
decades the Helsinki Commission has worked closely with NGOs focused on 
a wide-range of human rights concerns.
  In closing, I recall the remarks by Soviet human rights defender Dr. 
Andrei Sakharov made while he and his wife were living in internal 
banishment in the early 1980's as punishment for standing up to the 
authorities in defense of fundamental freedoms: ``The Helsinki Accords, 
like detente as a whole, have meaning only if they are observed fully 
and by all parties. No country should evade a discussion on its own 
domestic problems. . . . Nor should a country ignore violations in 
other participating states. The whole point of the Helsinki Accords is 
mutual monitoring, not mutual evasion of difficult problems.'' At the 
Helsinki Commission we take seriously our mandate to uphold the 
principles enshrined in the Final Act, especially respect for human 
rights and fundamental freedoms. Thirty-five years after its signing, 
the Helsinki Final Act remains an enduring charter for European 
security in all its aspects.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the joint 
resolution be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the joint resolution was 
ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

                             S. J. Res. 37

       Whereas August 1, 2010, is the 35th anniversary of the 
     Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in 
     Europe (CSCE), renamed the Organization for Security and 
     Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in January 1995 (hereafter in 
     this resolution referred to as the ``Helsinki Final Act'');
       Whereas the Helsinki Final Act provides a comprehensive 
     concept of security encompassing the military security, 
     economic and human dimensions rooted in the ``Declaration on 
     Principles Guiding Relations between Participating States'';
       Whereas the Helsinki Final Act was the first international 
     agreement to accord human rights the status of a fundamental 
     principle regulating international relations;
       Whereas, during the Communist era, members of 
     nongovernmental organizations, such as the Helsinki 
     Monitoring Groups in Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Georgia, and 
     Armenia and similar groups in Czechoslovakia and Poland, 
     sacrificed their personal freedom and even their lives in 
     their courageous and vocal support for the principles 
     enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act;
       Whereas Congress contributed to advancing the aims of the 
     Helsinki Final Act by creating the Commission on Security and 
     Cooperation in Europe to monitor and encourage compliance 
     with provisions of the Helsinki Final Act;
       Whereas, in the 1990 Charter of Paris for a New Europe, the 
     participating States in the OSCE (hereafter in this 
     resolution referred to as the ``participating States'') 
     declared that ``[h]uman rights and fundamental freedoms are 
     the birthright of all human beings, are inalienable and are 
     guaranteed by law'' and that ``[t]heir protection and 
     promotion is the first responsibility of government'';
       Whereas, in the 1990 Charter of Paris for a New Europe, the 
     participating States committed themselves ``to build, 
     consolidate, and strengthen democracy as the only system of 
     government of our nations'';
       Whereas, in the 1990 Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of 
     the Conference on the Human Dimension, the participating 
     States committed ``to build democratic societies based on 
     free elections'' and recognized ``that vigorous democracy 
     depends on the existence as an integral part of national life 
     of democratic values and practices as well as an

[[Page S6586]]

     extensive range of democratic institutions'', including 
     nongovernmental organizations and independent media;
       Whereas, in the 1991 Document of the Moscow Meeting of the 
     Conference on the Human Dimension, the participating States 
     ``categorically and irrevocably declare[d] that the 
     commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension of 
     the CSCE are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all 
     participating States and do not belong exclusively to the 
     internal affairs of the State concerned'';
       Whereas the OSCE and the participating States have 
     undertaken a series of measures aimed at combating anti-
     Semitism, racism, xenophobia, and discrimination including 
     through the convening of related high-level conferences and 
     the appointment of Personal Representatives of the Chairman-
     in-Office;
       Whereas the 1999 Istanbul OSCE Charter for European 
     Security and the Istanbul Summit Declaration note the 
     particular challenges of ending violence against women and 
     children as well as sexual exploitation and all forms of 
     trafficking in human beings, and commit the participating 
     States to strengthen efforts to combat corruption, eradicate 
     torture, and end discrimination against Roma;
       Whereas the OSCE maintains important relations with 
     countries beyond the OSCE region, including the Mediterranean 
     Partners for Cooperation countries of Algeria, Egypt, Israel, 
     Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia, and, since the early 1990s, the 
     Asian Partners for Co-operation countries of Afghanistan, 
     Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and 
     Thailand;
       Whereas OSCE institutions, such as the OSCE Parliamentary 
     Assembly, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human 
     Rights, the High Commissioner on National Minorities, and the 
     OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media are important 
     instruments for advancing democracy, human rights, and the 
     rule of law as well as preventing conflicts;
       Whereas field missions deployed by the OSCE in several 
     participating States have contributed directly to regional 
     security and cooperation in particular by deterring the spill 
     over effects of conflict, assisting with post-conflict 
     recovery, providing expertise on democracy-building, and 
     monitoring closely the situation of vulnerable or threatened 
     communities of people;
       Whereas the main challenge facing the participating States 
     remains the implementation of the principles and provisions 
     contained in the Helsinki Final Act and other OSCE documents 
     adopted on the basis of consensus;
       Whereas the participating States have recognized that 
     economic liberty, social justice, and environmental 
     responsibility are indispensable to prosperity;
       Whereas the participating States have committed themselves 
     to promoting economic reforms through enhanced transparency 
     for economic activity, with the aim of advancing the 
     principles of market economies;
       Whereas the participating States have stressed the 
     importance of respect for the rule of law and vigorous 
     efforts to fight organized crime and corruption, which 
     constitute a great threat to economic reform and prosperity;
       Whereas OSCE has expanded the scope and substance of its 
     efforts, undertaking a variety of preventive diplomacy 
     initiatives designed to prevent, manage, and resolve conflict 
     within and among the participating States;
       Whereas the politico-military aspects of security remain 
     vital to the interests of the participating States and 
     constitute a core element of OSCE's concept of comprehensive 
     security;
       Whereas the OSCE has played an active role in civilian 
     police-related activities, including training, as an integral 
     part of OSCE's efforts in conflict prevention, crisis 
     management, and post-conflict rehabilitation; and
       Whereas the participating States bear primary 
     responsibility for raising awareness of violations of 
     commitments contained in the Helsinki Final Act and other 
     OSCE documents: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress 
     calls upon the President--
       (1) to issue a proclamation--
       (A) recognizing the 35th anniversary of the signing of the 
     Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in 
     Europe;
       (B) reasserting the commitment of the United States to full 
     implementation of the Helsinki Final Act;
       (C) urging all participating States to abide by their 
     commitments under the Helsinki Final Act and subsequent OSCE 
     documents adopted by consensus; and
       (D) encouraging the people of the United States to join the 
     President and Congress in observance of this anniversary with 
     appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities; and
       (2) to convey to all signatories of the Helsinki Final Act 
     that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, 
     democratic principles, economic liberty, and the 
     implementation of related commitments continue to be vital 
     elements in promoting a new era of democracy, peace, and 
     unity in the region covered by the Organization for Security 
     and Cooperation in Europe.

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