IV

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 339

Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning recent manifestations of

official policy directed against the independent media in Russia and

expressing concern for the continued functioning of the independent

media in Russia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 25, 2000

Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. SMITH of New

Jersey, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. SALMON, Mr. PITTS, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA,

and Mr. ROHRABACHER) submitted the following concurrent resolution;

which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning recent

manifestations of official policy directed against the independent media in Russia and expressing concern for the

continued functioning of the independent media in Russia.

Whereas on May 11 masked officers of the Russian Federal

Security Service carrying assault weapons raided the offices of Media/Most, Russia’s largest independent media

group;

Whereas the raid represents a failure of recourse to normal

legal mechanisms and conveys the appearance of a politically motivated attack on Russia’s independent media;
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HCON 339 IH

Whereas the fragility of press freedom in Russia is indicated

by other recent events including the relative lack of

media access by opposition candidates in the March 2000

Presidential election and by the arrest and prosecution of

RFE/RL journalist Andrey Babitskiy;

Whereas the Media/Most raid was carried out under the authority of President Putin and government ministers who

have not criticized or repudiated the action;

Whereas Deputy Press Minister Romanchenko has publicly

and unwarrantedly suggested that RFE/RL’s programming is ‘‘hostile to the [Russian] State’’, a statement in

contradiction with values endorsed by President Putin

and enshrined in the Russian Constitution;

Whereas the continued functioning of an independent media

is a vital attribute of Russian democracy; and

Whereas a free news media can exist only in an environment

that is free of state control of the news media, that is

free of any form of state censorship or official coercion

of any kind, and that is protected and guaranteed by the

rule of law: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) reaffirms the particular right and obligation

4 of the United States Congress to express its opposi5 tion to anti-democratic and authoritarian tendencies

6 in countries with important relationships with the

7 United States;

8 (2) condemns the May 11 Media/Most raid by

9 the Russian Federal Security Service as a breach of
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HCON 339 IH

1 normal legal procedure and a deliberate political at2 tack on the independent media;

3 (3) expresses profound regret and dismay at the

4 detention and continued prosecution of RFE/RL

5 journalist Andrey Babitskiy and other manifesta6 tions of official policy directed against the inde7 pendent media;

8 (4) urges Members of Congress to use any

9 meetings with ministers and political leaders of the

10 Russian Federation to express concern for the con11 tinued functioning of the independent media in Rus12 sia;

13 (5) calls upon the President, the Secretary of

14 State, and other officials and agencies of the United

15 States Government to emphasize to Russian govern16 ment officials our concern and preoccupation that

17 official pressures against the independent media are

18 incompatible with democratic norms; and

19 (6) directs the Clerk of the House to send a

20 copy of this resolution to the Secretary of State with

21 the request that it be forwarded to the President of

22 the Russian Federation.

Æ