[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14369]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



         TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINE'S SOVEREIGNTY DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 12, 2000

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, ten years ago, on July 16th 
1990, the Supreme Soviet (parliament) of the Ukrainian S.S.R. adopted a 
far-reaching Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine. The 
overwhelming vote of 355 for and four against was a critical and 
demonstrative step towards independence, as Ukraine was at that time a 
republic of the Soviet Union.
  The Declaration, inspired by the democratic movement Rukh whose key 
members were veterans of the Helsinki movement seeking greater rights 
and freedoms, proclaimed Ukraine's state sovereignty and stressed the 
Republic's intention of controlling its own affairs. Ukraine and its 
people were identified as the sole source of state authority in the 
republic, and they alone were to determine their own destiny. The 
Declaration asserted the primacy of Ukraine's legislation over Soviet 
laws and established the right of Ukraine to create its own currency 
and national bank, raise its own army, maintain relations with foreign 
countries, collect tariffs, and erect borders. Through this 
Declaration, Ukraine announced its intention not to use, possess, or 
acquire nuclear weapons. Going beyond Soviet leader Gorbachev's vision 
of a ``renewed'' Soviet federation, the Declaration asserted Ukraine's 
sovereignty vis-a-vis Moscow, a move that only a few years earlier 
would have been met with the harshest of sanctions.
  The Declaration's assurances on the protection of individual rights 
and freedoms for all of the people of Ukraine, including national and 
religious minorities, were extremely important and viewed as an 
integral aspect of the building of a sovereign Ukraine. The Declaration 
itself was the outcome of emerging democratic processes in Ukraine. 
Elections to the Ukrainian Supreme Soviet--the first in which 
noncommunists were permitted on the ballot--had been held only a few 
months earlier, in March 1990; one-third of the new members elected 
were representatives of the democratic opposition. Even the Communist 
majority voted for the Declaration, reflecting the reality that the 
Soviet Empire was steadily unraveling. A year later, on August 24, 
1991, the same Ukrainian parliament declared Ukraine's independence, 
and in December of that year, on the heels of a referendum in Ukraine 
in which over 90 percent voted for independence, the Soviet Union 
ceased to exist.
  Mr. Speaker, since the adoption of the Declaration ten years ago 
Ukraine has witnessed momentous transformations. Independent Ukraine 
has developed from what was, for all practical purposes, a colony of 
the Soviet empire into a viable, peaceful state with a commitment to 
ensuring democracy and prosperity for its citizens. It has emerged as a 
responsible and constructive actor in the international arena which 
enjoys good relations with all its neighbors and a strategic 
partnership with the United States. Obviously, the heavy legacy of 
communism and Soviet misrule has not yet disappeared, as illustrated by 
stifling corruption, and inadequate progress in rule of law and 
economic reforms. However, the defeat of the communists in last 
November's presidential elections, and the appointment of genuinely 
reformist Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko have given grounds for 
renewed optimism, which is supported by evidence of growth in some 
sectors of the economy.
  Mr. Speaker, now is the time for the Ukrainian people to strengthen 
and ensure independence by redoubling their efforts to build democracy 
and a market economy, thereby keeping faith with the ideals and goals 
of the historic 1990 Declaration on Sovereignty.

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