[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[Senate]
[Page 31965]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

 Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I commend Russian citizens for 
turning out in large numbers to vote in yesterday's parliamentary 
elections. For 16 years, Russia's citizens have exercised their right 
to vote, which is so essential to democracy.
  Unfortunately, Russia's leaders have been working to make that vote 
more and more meaningless by creating an imitation democracy instead of 
a real one.
  Well before the campaign even began, several Russian political 
parties and politicians were banned from participating in the election. 
During the campaign, President Putin and his party, United Russia, 
enjoyed virtually unlimited positive television air-time on Kremlin-
controlled networks, while opposition parties had their ads removed and 
their campaign materials confiscated. The Russian authorities have 
prevented opposition parties from campaigning fairly, imprisoning 
opposition leaders, intimidating activists, and preventing them from 
making their case to Russia's voters. Russian voters have reported that 
they have been pressured to vote for the Kremlin's party, United 
Russia, by employers and local officials. In Chechnya, 99.2 percent of 
voters allegedly turned out to vote and 99.3 percent of these voters 
allegedly cast their ballot for United Russia. Several other regions 
have reported similar results for Putin's party, making a mockery of 
this vote as a free and fair election. Yesterday's elections were the 
least free and fair in the 16 years of Russia's modern history as an 
independent country.
  We have to work with the Russian leadership in the coming years to 
deal with vital foreign policy issues, including securing nuclear 
materials and preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Nuclear 
weapons security is a high priority, and the United States and Russia 
need to work together to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons or 
materials.
  But in doing so, we do not have to turn a blind eye to the erosion of 
Russian democracy. We must be clear-eyed on Russia's political 
direction, which in the long run is not favorable for Russia's own 
political stability or economic prosperity. By engaging Russia 
honestly, we will remain friends of the Russian people as they continue 
to try to build for themselves a better country and future.

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