[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 21, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5007-S5009]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Helsinki Commission

  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I take this time to talk about the work 
of the U.S. Helsinki Commission in a recent opportunity we had to 
participate in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
  I am joined on the floor by Senator Wicker, who is the Republican 
chair of the Helsinki Commission. The two of us have worked together in 
a nonpartisan, bipartisan manner in regards to the work of the Helsinki 
Commission. I just want to spend a few minutes, and then I am going to 
yield the floor and allow Senator Wicker to give his comments.
  The OSCE, as the chair is fully aware as a member of the Commission, 
represents the U.S. participation in the Organization for Security and 
Co-operation in Europe--57 states, which includes all of Europe, all of 
the former Republics of the Soviet Union, and Canada and the United 
States.
  The Commission works on the principle of three buckets: one for 
political affairs and security, another for economic and environmental 
progress, and the third on democracy and human rights. But it 
recognizes--and I think this has been the hallmark of the Helsinki 
Commission--that you can't have advancements on political affairs or 
security or economic or environmental progress unless you make progress 
on democracy and human rights, that they are interwoven. In the 
Helsinki Commission, the OSCE is best known for its advancements for 
basic human rights.
  So I think of the initiatives that we have had in the Helsinki 
Commission for dealing with trafficking in humans and the legislation 
that came out of that and how we led the global response to dealing 
with trafficking. I think about the efforts we made in regards to 
tolerance, dealing with anti-Semitism, racism, and intolerance and how 
we have made progress throughout the entire OSCE region. I think about 
the issues we did in regards to sanctions against human rights 
violators so they cannot use our banking system or visit our country, 
the Magnitsky-type sanctions. All of that came out of the work of the 
Helsinki Commission.
  So one of the major arms of our work is the OSCE Parliamentary 
Assembly, which is the group of parliamentarians who meet every year 
and have meetings throughout the year to exchange views and to carry 
out the principles of the Helsinki Final Act.
  For the last year and a half, we have been compromised because we 
haven't had an opportunity to meet in person, and it required us to 
meet by internet, and we have, but we had a unique opportunity during 
the last recess period to actually travel and meet with the 
parliamentarians. We had an OSCE Parliamentary Assembly annual meeting 
in Vienna. And we had a chance to do this in a hybrid manner. So we 
were able to travel 12-strong from the U.S. Congress to be at that 
meeting, and we were joined by five others here in the United States, 
including our Presiding Officer, to participate in the Parliamentary 
Assembly, and we were able to advance a lot of very important issues.
  But I must tell you, we were noticed at this meeting. The U.S. 
presence was critically important in dealing with some very timely 
issues. I know that Senator Wicker will talk about this. He is one of 
the great leaders of the Parliamentary Assembly. He is Vice President 
of the Parliamentary Assembly. We are very proud of the leadership 
position that he holds.
  By the way, his election was in Vienna to be the Vice President of 
the Parliamentary Assembly. We had multiple candidates and several 
elected to Vice Presidents, but Senator Wicker led the ballot with the 
largest number of votes, which I think speaks to his well-thought-of 
respect among the OSCE parliamentarians.
  We wanted to make sure that this was a substantive meeting. Quite 
frankly, the leadership of the Parliamentary Assembly said: Let's just 
get in there and get it over with and not bring up anything 
controversial. But that is not the way we operate. We have to take up 
current issues.
  So we took up the issue of tolerance. I was happy to sponsor a 
resolution that ultimately passed by unanimous vote that speaks to 
anti-Semitism, racism, intolerance, and the growth of hate in the OSCE 
region. But we also made sure that we considered the recent elections 
in Belarus and how unfair those elections were and how Mr. Lukashenko 
has been acting in a way that is so contrary to the human rights of the 
people who live there, and the election results there do not reflect 
the will of the people.
  We also had a chance to make sure we took up the issues concerning 
Ukraine. Once again, there was a lot of controversy on why you should 
bring that up during this meeting. We did. We supported that to make it 
clear that Russia's aggression and its occupation of Crimea and its 
interference in eastern Ukraine will never be recognized as legitimate 
by the United States or, by that matter, the Parliamentary Assembly, 
because we responded in all of those areas.
  I am pleased to tell you that we supported Margareta Cederfelt, who 
is going to be the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in 
Sweden, and we look forward to her visit here in the United States.
  Richard Hudson, Representative Hudson, will be the chair of the first 
committee. So we are going to have active participation in the 
Parliamentary Assembly.
  We had the chance to visit some other countries. But if I might, I 
think I am going to yield the floor and give my good friend and the 
leader of our congressional delegation trip an opportunity to expand on 
some of the things we were able to do in the OSCE Parliamentary 
Assembly.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  Mr. WICKER. Madam President, I thank my colleague from Maryland, who 
has been such a leader in the area of human rights and international 
recognition of the challenges that our world faces today. I do 
appreciate his leadership and his partnership. We have worked shoulder 
to shoulder on so many issues.
  Yes, I proudly rise with him this afternoon to talk about a very 
valuable series of meetings that our 12-member delegation had in 4 
countries in Europe in recent days. This was Republicans and Democrats 
from the House and Senate, a truly bipartisan and bicameral 
delegation--a very large delegation--which I think my colleague will 
agree made a strong statement on behalf of the United States of America 
and on behalf of the U.S. House and Senate about the way we view 
European engagement and our partnership and friendship with the 50-plus 
member countries of the OSCE and their Parliamentary Assembly.
  We visited Vienna, Austria, for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
  As Senator Cardin mentioned, we met with great success. Yes, I was 
reelected to the position of vice president, and I appreciate the 
support of Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate in helping 
me get those votes to receive another 3-year term there.

[[Page S5008]]

  Richard Hudson, our colleague from the House of Representatives, has 
been very active as chairman of Committee No. 1 in the Parliamentary 
Assembly. He is highly regarded. He was reelected without opposition. 
So there are two bits of success there.
  And then the great piece of work, actually, was with regard to 
Senator Cardin's initiative on the rising hate and intolerance that we 
are seeing all around the world, particularly among member countries of 
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Senator 
Cardin actually took the lead in challenging the leadership of the 
Parliamentary Assembly in saying that issues should be discussed.
  Even though they weren't in an immediate, like, 3-week crisis mode, 
they deserved to be brought forward. And Senator Cardin was able to get 
his resolution considered and passed overwhelmingly, and we made a 
strong statement on behalf of countering the rising hate and 
intolerance and countering the use of these things to buttress 
authoritarianism and to stoke conflict around the world.
  We also passed a very important resolution about the tragedy, the 
outrage that has gone on in Belarus. I can tell you, the opposition 
party leader from Belarus was in this Capitol building just yesterday 
talking about the importance of support from places like the United 
States Congress.
  I can tell you, Madam President, that Senator Shaheen and I are about 
to send a letter to our colleagues asking any and all of us to join a 
Freedom Caucus for the Belarusian people, the Belarus Freedom Caucus. 
We asked the opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, to tell us 
whether that would be helpful. She said the formation of this caucus to 
support the freedom movement in Belarus would be a strong signal. It 
would be well received and effective on behalf of the opposition 
leadership there in Belarus.
  Then, again, we reiterated our opposition to what Russia has done in 
Ukraine and particularly to the recent Russian military buildup and 
ongoing aggression in Ukraine. We did a lot there with the 
Parliamentary Assembly.
  We went on to Estonia, met with leadership there--a former President, 
the current Prime Minister, other leaders. And, also, we had a chance 
to travel to the very easternmost part of Estonia and actually travel 
on the Narva River and look right across to Russia and the security 
guards there, understanding what our Estonian allies are up against 
with Putin's Russia staring right across the river at their freedom and 
democracy.
  From there, we joined the Three Seas conference in Sofia, Bulgaria. I 
can tell you, this is a group of Eastern European former Soviet Bloc 
countries that are striving to be in charge of their own infrastructure 
and rely less on the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. I think the fact 
that 12 Americans showed up, participated, met with Heads of state at 
that conference made a very strong statement of American support for 
freedom and for looking westwardly in trying to get their problems 
solved and their infrastructure needs met.
  We also had a very meaningful visit to Norway, where we saw some 
American-Norwegian defense initiatives. I am very proud of the 
partnership that this Helsinki Commission--our organ of the American 
OSCE PA--and the way that we joined together to express our support for 
freedom, for democracy, for the rule of law, for opposing corruption, 
both at the petty local level and also at the larger State-sponsored 
level.
  One other thing before I yield back and let my friend close. 
Particularly in Bulgaria, but also all during our trip, we were met 
with hearty thanks for the United States leadership in the global 
Magnitsky Act. This began as an initiative with Senator Cardin, Senator 
Lieberman, Senator McCain, and me several years ago directed--during 
the Obama administration--directed toward individual Russians who had 
violated human rights and individual liberty in a very outrageous and 
gross way, allowing us to sanction individuals rather than causing harm 
to the people of Russia in that case. That has been expanded now to the 
global level and other countries are adopting this.
  But I can tell you, when we arrived in Bulgaria, we were met with 
great thanks from people who are trying to combat lawlessness and 
corruption at the top level of government.
  I just have to say, of course, Ben Cardin has been the premier leader 
in this worldwide effort. It was gratifying to know and to learn 
firsthand on the ground there in Sofia, Bulgaria, that an initiative 
that began right here in this U.S. Senate years ago, and continues to 
this day, is having a beneficial effect on the people all across Europe 
and particularly in some of the countries that we visited.
  I yield back to the Senator from Maryland
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, let me again thank Senator Wicker. Thank 
you for your leadership on so many issues.
  But on this congressional delegation, for those who are not familiar, 
it is not easy to put together the type of opportunities to advance 
American values. And Senator Wicker took the responsibility as the 
leader of our delegation to make sure that we had the opportunities to 
advance American values. I thank him for all the effort he put into it. 
It was certainly extremely successful.
  I just want to emphasize a few things before closing.
  One, in Vienna, we did have an opportunity to meet with Rafael 
Grossi, who is the Director General of the IAEA. That is the 
International Atomic Energy Agency, which has the responsibility of 
monitoring the nuclear programs throughout the world. Obviously, it has 
played a bigger role in regard to the program in Iran, and it was 
monitoring exactly what was happening in Iran under the JCPOA. They now 
don't have the same access, and we had a chance to talk with the 
Director General as to the challenges with the Iranian program. And I 
think it was helpful for all of us to understand exactly the role that 
the IAEA can play in regard to getting us information about what is 
happening on the ground in Iran.
  Senator Wicker talked about our visit to Estonia, a strong ally 
partner, NATO partner. We showed our support by going to Narva, which 
is on the Russian border. It is a town that has a majority of Russian-
speaking Estonians. It is an interesting community. But we could see 
across the river, very clearly, the Russian patrol boats. We know and 
heard firsthand of the concern of the Estonians. They saw what happened 
in Ukraine and they worry that same thing could happen in Estonia with 
Russian aggression.
  I must tell you, our presence to reinforce the NATO commitment, I 
think, was an extremely important message that we gave to the Estonian 
people.
  Mr. WICKER. Would the gentleman yield on that point?
  Mr. CARDIN. I would be glad to yield.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. WICKER. If I might add, people in Narva, Estonia, and people in 
the city across the river have access to each other across a bridge 
there. And it is clear to the people on the Russian side that their 
cousins and friends in Narva, Estonia, live a better life and have a 
better standard of living in this free country, this NATO ally called 
Estonia, than the Russian cousins and friends have on the other side.
  I just thought I would add that to the discourse before Senator 
Cardin moves on to discussing Norway and Bulgaria.
  Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, let me move onto Bulgaria very briefly. 
Senator Wicker did cover Bulgaria.
  The Three Seas Initiative, I wasn't that familiar with it before 
traveling to Bulgaria. It is an initiative by 12 States that are 
basically part of the Eastern European Coalition, states that are 
developing democratic institutions and democratic economies after the 
fall of the Soviet Union. They need to build up their resilience as a 
collective entity in energy, transportation, and digital 
infrastructure.
  The Three Seas Initiative is to attract investment to connect the 12 
countries together on infrastructure needs. It is for many reasons. It 
is for its own economic strength and growth, but also for resiliency 
against the efforts of China on its Belt and Road Initiative, which is 
trying to infiltrate

[[Page S5009]]

these countries and convert their way of economy to more of the Chinese 
system.
  The Three Seas Initiative is an effort to have their own independent 
way of attracting capital. The United States is participating in the 
Three Seas. We are not a member, but we are participating and providing 
resources for the fund that is being developed that would be leveraged 
for these type of investments.
  While we were in Bulgaria, we had a chance to have bilateral 
meetings. There were 12 Heads of state there. We had bilateral meetings 
with the President of Poland, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Romania. We had 
very constructive discussions about what is happening in their country.
  We raised Helsinki issues with all these countries. Senator Wicker 
already talked about how we were welcomed by the Bulgarian leadership 
in regards to the imposition of the Magnitsky sanctions. We are heroes. 
They feel like they have a second chance to try to develop the type of 
anti-corruption mechanisms that they desperately need.
  Our visit to Varna, which is on the Black Sea, was very educational 
to see how Russia is trying to dominate the Black Sea area and one of 
the reasons why they are so aggressive in Ukraine and the Crimea.
  I think that was extremely helpful for us to understand the security 
risks and how we have to work with our NATO partners to protect the 
Black Sea area, particularly from the potential aggression--not 
potential--from the aggression of Russia.
  Also in Bulgaria, we had a chance to visit a Roma village. It is not 
my first visit to a Roma village. I have visited over the years. It is 
a real tragic situation. The Roma population have been in Europe for 
centuries. They lived in communities for hundreds of years, yet they do 
not have property rights.
  They have lived in their homes, and yet they do not have the 
opportunity to have their homes registered. And at any time, the 
government can come in and take away their property without 
compensation.
  They rarely have reliable utilities.
  The village we visited did not have water systems, so they had to use 
outhouses, et cetera. They had limited availability of fresh water. 
Their utility service is not reliable. And they go to segregated 
schools. They don't have the same employment opportunities.
  So we, once again, will raise the rights of the Roma population as 
part of our commitment under the Helsinki Commission, and we are 
following up with the local officials to try to help in that regard.
  Then, lastly, on our way back, we visited Norway. I learned a lot 
because I did not know about the pre-positioning program. I know my 
friend Senator Wicker already knew about this from his Armed Services 
service, but it is where we pre-position equipment so that we can 
respond rapidly to a circumstance anywhere in the world. The Norway 
pre-positioning is actually used to help us in regard to the Middle 
East and our needs in the Middle East.
  So it was an extremely, extremely, I think, productive visit to these 
countries. I think we did carry out our commitment under the Helsinki 
Commission, and we advanced American values. I think we represented our 
country well, and we were very well noticed.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. WICKER. Madam President, one other thing that our colleagues 
might not understand about the OSCE is their role in election 
observation.
  As we were leaving Sofia on the morning of July 11, we crossed paths 
with some other representatives from the OSCE from European countries 
who were there to observe the parliamentary elections being held in 
Bulgaria that very day. Also, on the same day, Moldova, another member 
of the OSCE, was having parliamentary elections.
  We have every hope that the results of these elections will be a 
further resolve in those two nation members to counter the corruption 
at the highest level, and we want to congratulate both of those member 
states of the OSCE for free and fair elections in Europe.
  With that, I thank my colleague.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.