[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5302-5305]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING TO UKRAINE AND NEIGHBORING 
                                REGIONS

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(S. 2183) United States international programming to Ukraine and 
neighboring regions.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 2183

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS.

       (a) Congress finds and declares the following:
       (1) The Russian Government has deliberately blocked the 
     Ukrainian people's access to uncensored sources of 
     information and has provided alternative news and information 
     that is both inaccurate and inflammatory;
       (2) United States international programming exists to 
     advance the United States interests and values by presenting 
     accurate and comprehensive news and information, which is the 
     foundation for democratic governance;
       (3) The opinions and views of the Ukrainian people, 
     especially those people located in the eastern regions and 
     Crimea, are not being accurately represented in Russian 
     dominated mass media;
       (4) Russian forces have seized more than five television 
     stations in Crimea and taken over transmissions, switching to 
     a 24/7 Russian propaganda format; this increase in 
     programming augments the already robust pro-Russian 
     programming to Ukraine;
       (5) United States international programming has the 
     potential to combat this anti-democratic propaganda.
       (b) Programming.--Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), 
     Incorporated, and the Voice of America service to Ukraine and 
     neighboring regions shall--
       (1) provide news and information that is accessible, 
     credible, and accurate;
       (2) emphasize investigative and analytical journalism to 
     highlight inconsistencies and misinformation provided by 
     Russian or pro-Russian media outlets;
       (3) prioritize programming to areas where access to 
     uncensored sources of information is limited or non-existent, 
     especially populations serviced by Russian supported media 
     outlets;
       (4) increase the number of reporters and organizational 
     presence in eastern Ukraine, especially in Crimea;
       (5) promote democratic processes, respect for human rights, 
     freedom of the press, and territorial sovereignty; and
       (6) take necessary preparatory steps to continue and 
     increase programming and content that promotes democracy and 
     government transparency in Russia.
       (c) Programming Surge.--RFE/RL, Incorporated, and Voice of 
     America programming to Ukraine and neighboring regions 
     shall--
       (1) prioritize programming to eastern Ukraine, including 
     Crimea, and Moldova, and to ethnic and linguistic Russian 
     populations, as well as to Tatar minorities;
       (2) prioritize news and information that directly 
     contributes to the target audiences' understanding of 
     political and economic developments in Ukraine and Moldova, 
     including countering misinformation that may originate from 
     other news outlets, especially Russian supported news 
     outlets;

[[Page 5303]]

       (3) provide programming content 24 hours a day, seven days 
     a week to target populations, using all available and 
     effective distribution outlets, including--
       (A) at least 8 weekly hours of total original television 
     and video content in Ukrainian, Russian, and Tatar languages, 
     not inclusive of live video streaming coverage of breaking 
     news, to be distributed on satellite, digital, and through 
     regional television affiliates by the Voice of America; and
       (B) at least 14 weekly hours the total audio content in 
     Ukrainian, Russian, and Tatar languages to be distributed on 
     satellite, digital, and through regional radio affiliates of 
     RFE/RL, Incorporated;
       (4) expand the use, audience, and audience engagement of 
     mobile news and multimedia platforms by RFE/RL, Incorporated, 
     and the Voice of America, including through Internet-based 
     social networking platforms; and
       (5) partner with private sector broadcasters and affiliates 
     to seek and start co-production for new, original content, 
     when possible, to increase distribution.
       (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated for fiscal year 2014, in addition to funds 
     otherwise made available for such purposes, up to $10,000,000 
     to carry out programming in the Ukrainian, Balkan, Russian, 
     and Tatar language services of RFE/RL, Incorporated, and the 
     Voice of America, for the purpose of bolstering existing 
     United States programming to the people of Ukraine and 
     neighboring regions, and increasing programming capacity and 
     jamming circumvention technology to overcome any disruptions 
     to service.
       (e) Report.--Not later than 15 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Broadcasting Board of Governors 
     shall submit to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations of the 
     Senate a detailed report on plans to increase broadcasts 
     pursuant to subsections (a) and (b).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous material on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of S. 2183, legislation to bolster U.S.-
backed international broadcasting to Ukraine and the surrounding 
region. This legislation passed the House overwhelmingly last week as 
part of H.R. 4278. It was authored by myself and Mr. Engel.
  While the Senate did not act on the full House package of legislation 
to support Ukraine, I am pleased that the Senate did recognize and act 
on this important piece of legislation. With its passage, this bill 
goes to the President's desk.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation is central to our effort to counter 
Russian aggression and to send the type of support we need for the 
democratic development of Ukraine.
  Throughout the crisis, Russians and Ukrainians alike have been 
bombarded by portrayals of Ukrainian protesters and the interim 
government, as you can hear on the Russian propaganda broadcast, what 
they call fascist mercenaries.
  This, of course, is a rather deplorable attempt to draw a connection 
between those who yearn for freedom in Ukraine to the brutal Nazi 
invasion of the second World War. Overwhelmingly, the country of 
Ukraine voted for independence.
  In this false narrative, which really is sort of a big lie, stark 
images of chaos and violence are used to persuade viewers that ethnic 
and linguistic Russians are under attack in Ukraine.
  Footage of a border crossing between Ukraine and Poland has been used 
to support the outlandish claims that Ukrainian refugees are fleeing 
into Russia.
  In Crimea, Russian forces have seized control over at least a dozen 
television and radio stations that are now used to broadcast misleading 
and false news and information around the clock.
  Russian propaganda right now is in overdrive. A survey by Russia's 
only independent polling service, Levada, earlier this month showed 
that 63 percent of Russians believe state media portrays an objective 
picture of Ukraine.
  This bill puts us on the offensive in this information battle. It 
does so by requiring Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Voice of 
America to increase broadcasts to the people of eastern Ukraine and 
Crimea, prioritizing programming to populations that are being 
inundated with Russian propaganda and combating the misinformation they 
are receiving.
  This bill also supports efforts to circumvent Russian jamming. The 
Russian government has targeted Ukrainian television and radio 
stations, jamming their signals and disrupting their ability to reach 
Ukrainian audiences while the Russian propaganda broadcasts come in 
relentlessly.
  In addition, this bill supports U.S. international broadcasting to 
the Balkans and Moldova, two regions that are subject to the wider 
Russian propaganda campaign.
  The free flow of information forms the foundation for a strong 
democratic society. Russian propaganda kills democratic prospects. This 
is the problem with the fact that the state and Russia has now taken 
over all independent media.
  As they struggle to build democracy, this bill will help provide the 
people of Ukraine with news and information that is accessible, 
credible, and accurate. It will basically be surrogate broadcasting.
  I urge its passage, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 2183, a bill to provide 
surge news broadcasts to the people of Ukraine and the surrounding 
region, in order to counter Russian propaganda.
  I want to, again, concur with everything that Chairman Royce said. I 
agree with every word he mentioned. I am, again, very happy to have 
been working closely with him on this legislation in a bipartisan 
fashion.
  Chairman Royce feels as I do, particularly strongly about 
broadcasting. It is something that is very important. It is something 
that helped to win the cold war.
  It is something that we are able to get into countries, so they hear 
the truth when they are denied the truth from their own governments, 
and that is what this bill does.
  Over the past few weeks, the people of Ukraine, Russia, and much of 
Eastern Europe have been bombarded by the state-controlled and directed 
Russian media. Among other things, these so-called reports claim that 
fascists and neo-Nazis have taken control of the government in Kiev, 
that they have been attacking ethnic Russians in Ukraine and similarly 
in Crimea, and that they have engaged in widespread anti-Semitic acts.
  Despite the complete lack of evidence, President Putin and other 
Russian officials have repeatedly referred to these alleged events to 
justify the invasion of Crimea and their massing of troops on Ukraine's 
border.
  It is important to note that a number of prominent Jewish leaders in 
Ukraine, including Chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, have recently made 
clear that the Russian allegations about anti-Semitic acts in Ukraine 
are false and that this baseless propaganda has been used as a pretext 
for the illegal annexation of Crimea.
  I will insert in the record a letter from Ukrainian Jewish leaders 
debunking the fabrications emanating from Russia.
  The legislation before us today, which is very similar to a provision 
included in the bipartisan Ukraine Support Act that passed the House 
last week, is a critical piece of our comprehensive approach to address 
the crisis in Ukraine.
  S. 2183 directs Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Voice of 
America to significantly increase radio, TV, and Internet programming 
in Ukraine and other countries in the region.
  It also requires RFE/RL and Voice of America to expand their network 
of reporters in eastern Ukraine and Crimea and focus on news and 
information that directly rebuts misinformation

[[Page 5304]]

from the Kremlin-controlled Russian media.
  I would note, Mr. Speaker, that this legislation originated in the 
House as part of the Foreign Affairs Committee's Ukraine Support Act 
and was broken off in the Senate to create a separate bill.
  In the interest of expediting passage, I will support the bill, but 
in the future, I might expect that Congress would follow a different 
process.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting S. 2183 to 
help ensure that the people of Ukraine, Moldova, the Balkan States, and 
other countries in the region have access to objective and 
comprehensive news.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

Open Letter of Ukrainian Jews to Russian Federation President Vladimir 
                                 Putin


to the president of the russian federation vladimir vladimirovich putin

       Mr. President: We are Jewish citizens of Ukraine: 
     businessmen, managers, public figures, scientists and 
     scholars, artists and musicians. We are addressing you on 
     behalf of the multi-national people of Ukraine, Ukraine's 
     national minorities, and on behalf of the Jewish community.
       You have stated that Russia wants to protect the rights of 
     the Russian-speaking citizens of the Crimea and all of 
     Ukraine and that these rights have been trampled by the 
     current Ukrainian government. Historically, Ukrainian Jews 
     are also mostly Russian-speaking. Thus, our opinion on what 
     is happening carries no less weight than the opinion of those 
     who advise and inform you.
       We are convinced that you are not easily fooled. This means 
     that you must be consciously picking and choosing lies and 
     slander from the entire body of information on Ukraine. And 
     you know very well that Victor Yanukovich's statement used to 
     describe the situation after the latest treaty had been 
     signed--``. . . Kyiv is full of armed people who have begun 
     to ransack buildings, places of worship, and churches. 
     Innocent people are suffering. People are being robbed and 
     killed in the streets . . .''--is simply a lie, from the 
     first word to the very last.
       The Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine are not being 
     humiliated or discriminated against, their civil rights have 
     not been infringed upon. Meanderings about ``forced 
     Ukrainization'' and ``bans on the Russian language'' that 
     have been so common in Russian media are on the heads of 
     those who invented them. Your certainty about the growth of 
     anti-Semitism in Ukraine, which you expressed at your press-
     conference, also does not correspond to the actual facts. 
     Perhaps you got Ukraine confused with Russia, where Jewish 
     organizations have noticed growth in anti-Semitic tendencies 
     last year.
       Right now, after Ukraine has survived a difficult political 
     crisis, many of us have wound up on different sides of the 
     barricades. The Jews of Ukraine, as all ethnic groups, are 
     not absolutely unified in their opinion towards what is 
     happening in the country. But we live in a democratic country 
     and can afford a difference of opinion.
       They have tried to scare us (and are continuing their 
     attempts) with ``Bandera followers'' and ``Fascists'' 
     attempting to wrest away the helm of Ukrainian society, with 
     imminent Jewish pogroms. Yes, we are well aware that the 
     political opposition and the forces of social protests who 
     have secured changes for the better are made up of different 
     groups. They include nationalistic groups, but even the most 
     marginal do not dare show anti-Semitism or other xenophobic 
     behavior. And we certainly know that our very few 
     nationalists are well-controlled by civil society and the new 
     Ukrainian government--which is more than can be said for the 
     Russian neo-Nazis, who are encouraged by your security 
     services.
       We have a great mutual understanding with the new 
     government, and a partnership is in the works. There are 
     quite a few national minority representatives in the Cabinet 
     of Ministers: the Minister of Internal Affairs is Armenian, 
     the Vice Prime Minister is a Jew, two ministers are Russian. 
     The newly-appointed governors of Ukraine's region are also 
     not exclusively Ukrainian.
       Unfortunately, we must admit that in recent days stability 
     in our country has been threatened. And this threat is coming 
     from the Russian government, namely--from you personally. It 
     is your policy of inciting separatism and crude pressure 
     placed on Ukraine that threatens us and all Ukrainian people, 
     including those who live in Crimea and the Ukrainian South-
     East. Southeastern Ukrainians will soon see that for 
     themselves.
       Vladimir Vladimirovich, we highly value your concern about 
     the safety and rights of Ukrainian national minorities. But 
     we do not wish to be ``defended'' by sundering Ukraine and 
     annexing its territory. We decisively call for you not to 
     intervene in internal Ukrainian affairs, to return the 
     Russian armed forces to their normal fixed peacetime 
     location, and to stop encouraging pro-Russian separatism.
       Vladimir Vladimirovich, we are quite capable of protecting 
     our rights in a constructive dialogue and in cooperation with 
     the government and civil society of a sovereign, democratic, 
     and united Ukraine. We strongly urge you not to destabilize 
     the situation in our country and to stop your attempts of 
     delegitimizing the new Ukrainian government.
           Signed:
       Josef Zisels, Chairman of the Association of Jewish 
     Communities and Organizations of Ukraine (VAAD) Ukraine, 
     Executive Vice President of the Congress of National 
     Communities of Ukraine; Alexander Suslensky, D.Sc., Vice 
     President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine, 
     businessman; Andrei Adamovsky, First Vice President of the 
     Jewish Confederation of Ukraine, member of the ``Hillel'' 
     Jewish Student organization Observation Council (citizen of 
     Russia); Evgen Chervonenko, Vice President of the European 
     Jewish Congress, businessman; Rabbi Alex Dukhovny, Head Rabbi 
     of the Ukrainian Progressive Judaism communities; Rabbi 
     Reuven Stamov, Head Rabbi of the Ukrainian Traditional 
     Judaism communities; Alexander Paskhaver, Member of the VAAD 
     Ukraine Coordation Council, economist; Leonid Finberg, 
     Director of the NaUKMA Center for the Studies of History and 
     Culture of Eastern European Jewry, VAAD Ukraine Vice 
     Chairman; Anatoliy Podolsky, Director of the Ukrainian Center 
     for Holocaust Studies, Vice Chairman of VAAD Ukraine; Igor 
     Kuperberg, Chairman of the Zionist Federation of Ukraine, 
     Vice Chairman of VAAD Ukraine; Semen Belman, Vice President 
     of the Jewish Council of Ukraine, President of the Chernigiv 
     Jewish Community; Alexander Gaidar, Leader of the Union of 
     Ukrainian Progressive Judaism Religious Communities; 
     Vyacheslav Likhachev, CNCU Chief expert in monitoring and 
     analysing xenophobia and anti-Semitism, member of the VAAD 
     Ukraine Coordination Council (citizen of Russia and Israel); 
     Michael Gold, Editor-in-chief of the VAAD Ukraine newspaper 
     ``Hadashot''; Galina Haraz, Engineer (citizen of Ukraine and 
     Israel); Igor Turov, PhD in history, Director of the Jewish 
     Studies Certificate Program of VAAD Ukraine, VAAD Ukraine, 
     Presidium member; Diana Gold, VAAD Ukraine Presidium member; 
     Alexander Roitburg, Artist; Evgen Greben, Director of the 
     ``Maccabi'' Jewish Cultural and Sports Society (Kyiv); 
     Grigoriy Pickman; ``B'nei B'rith Leopolis'' President; Igor 
     Kerez, VAAD Ukraine Trustee Board member; businessman; 
     (Signatures still being collected); March 4, 2014.

                              {time}  1630

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly), a very respected member of our Foreign Affairs 
Committee.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from New York.
  Let me begin first by thanking and extending my commendation to the 
distinguished chairman of our committee, Mr. Royce, and our 
distinguished ranking member, Mr. Engel. They have comported the 
Foreign Affairs Committee in a civil and bipartisan, collegial fashion 
that I think is a model for this Congress, and I wish we could emulate 
that in more of our committee work and here on the floor of the House 
of Representatives. They understand, both of them, that foreign policy 
has to be bipartisan, that the United States' interest must trump 
partisan issues and interests, and I thank them both for their 
leadership and their inspiration.
  I rise in strong support of these two bipartisan bills which contain 
provisions supported by our committee and the full House in recent 
weeks.
  The House initially passed a bill to provide loan guarantees to 
Ukraine on March 6, and with today's vote, the bill finally will go to 
the President for his signature. It authorizes $150 million in aid to 
Ukraine, and another $100 million for this fiscal year for increased 
U.S. security cooperation among NATO states in response to the 
situation in Ukraine. This compromise legislation will also codify and 
expand the sanctions imposed last month by the Obama administration 
against certain Russian and Ukrainian officials who have undermined the 
Ukrainian Government or committed human rights abuses.
  The second bill authorizes up to $10 million for Radio Free Europe/
Radio Liberty and the Voice of America to increase their broadcasts 
into eastern Ukraine--including the Crimea, Moldova, and other nearby 
ethnic Russian communities--consistent with the House-passed bill.
  As the ranking member just noted, the power of radio certainly was 
something we saw during the cold war era,

[[Page 5305]]

where truth could be beamed into homes, people had the courage to 
listen, and it actually changed minds, hearts, and, ultimately, the 
politics of the entire Soviet-dominated region.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States and its allies cannot allow the 
flagrant violation of sovereignty that occurred by Russia in Crimea in 
violation of the international law, blatantly, to stand. Doing so would 
be an abrogation of our moral responsibility as a world power, and it 
would be turning our backs on the lessons we should have learned from 
the catastrophic events of the previous century.
  Mr. Putin's claims that Russian speakers in Crimea were in jeopardy 
is nothing more than a fabrication and a ruse. Russia's interests were 
never threatened in the Crimea after the revolution in Kiev.
  The current treaty with Crimea provided Russia with naval and 
military privileges and bases through the year 2042. That treaty was 
never threatened by Kiev. That treaty was never abrogated until the 
Russians' lower chamber of Parliament voted to abrogate that treaty, as 
a matter of fact.
  Putin has learned nothing from history and is, in fact, bent, 
apparently, on repeating it. Crimea was settled by Stalin to have a 
Russian majority. He expelled and executed much of the native 
population of Crimea.
  Mr. Putin seems to have learned nothing from that history, other than 
there is power at the end of the barrel of a gun. And the so-called 
referendum in Crimea was also, frankly, carried out with the assistance 
of bused-in thugs and at the end of the barrel of a gun. I guess, as I 
have said before with respect to Mr. Putin, once a KGB agent, always a 
KGB agent.
  If Mr. Putin's goal was to deter Ukraine and other former Soviet 
satellite nations from turning to the West, he has failed miserably. 
Ukraine and its neighbors are now looking at this aggression and 
turning even more to the West for their orientation and their support. 
As they do, the United States and its allies must be there to stand 
with them against this naked aggression, a raw and reckless act by the 
Russian Government.
  I urge my colleagues to support these two bills. Speak with one voice 
on behalf of the United States Congress, and send a decisive message to 
the aggressive Mr. Putin and his Russian Government.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  In closing, I would like to say that information is power, and we 
must not yield the media landscape to intentional efforts by the state-
controlled and directed Russian media to mislead the people of Ukraine 
and the surrounding countries by providing false and deceptive 
information. These reports, as was mentioned, have been used as a 
pretext to the annexation of Crimea and possible incursions into 
eastern Ukraine and even Moldova and, I might say, even Georgia. That 
is why this bill is necessary to ensuring that there is access to 
objective news and information.
  I again urge the Congress to pass this with an overwhelming, 
bipartisan majority.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, it is a sad state of affairs. There was one 
television station left in Russia that had some measure of 
independence, that wasn't state-controlled. Russia, President Putin, 
went after that institution, and now it is no longer broadcasting.
  Russia has been waging an intense, aggressive, and very blunt 
disinformation campaign. Not only is that campaign directed at 
disinformation to people in Ukraine, but they have also spun tales of 
sinister plotting by the West. This measure, S. 2183, responds by 
directing U.S. international broadcasters to advance access to 
uncensored sources of information, the truth, about what is happening 
on the ground in Ukraine, to use stringers and reporters and to operate 
as a surrogate radio broadcast source in order to get news and 
information to people that are otherwise subject to the Russian 
propaganda, state-run propaganda that is coming into the country. I 
think it is important that this be done because the Ukrainian stations 
themselves have now been jammed by the Russians, by the Russian 
Government.
  The former head of Radio Free Europe once described the mission of 
his broadcasts as one that ``irritates authoritarian regimes, inspires 
democrats, and creates greater space for civil society.'' We need to 
create greater space for civil society in Eastern Europe today. We need 
to provide a platform to inspire those who want to see democratic 
governance, and that is exactly the type of response that is needed.
  For years, this type of broadcasting has been pivotal in helping 
young democracies push back against media lies and distortions and get 
off of their feet. We know from listening to Vaclav Havel and Lech 
Walesa how important this broadcasting can be. It is the type of 
broadcasting needed now in Ukraine and the surrounding region more than 
ever.
  So I urge the House to pass S. 2183 and ensure that Russian attempts 
to undermine democracy in Ukraine through an intense propaganda 
campaign do not go unanswered.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 2183.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________