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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 151 Introduced in House (IH)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 151

  Noting the disturbing pattern of killings of dozens of independent 
  journalists in Russia over the last decade, and calling on Russian 
    President Vladimir Putin to authorize cooperation with outside 
                investigators in solving those murders.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 22, 2007

    Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Payne, Mr. Pitts, Mr. 
Fortenberry, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr. Burton of Indiana, 
Mr. Berman, Mr. Royce, Mr. Rohrabacher, Ms. Watson, Mr. Sam Johnson of 
  Texas, Mr. Renzi, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Weldon of Florida, Mr. Daniel E. 
Lungren of California, Mr. Chabot, Mr. McCotter, Mr. LoBiondo, Mrs. Jo 
Ann Davis of Virginia, Mrs. Musgrave, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Frelinghuysen, 
Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Shuster, Mr. Poe, Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart 
of Florida, Mr. Stearns, Mr. Souder, Mr. Inglis of South Carolina, Mr. 
     Herger, and Mr. Gallegly) submitted the following concurrent 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
  Noting the disturbing pattern of killings of dozens of independent 
  journalists in Russia over the last decade, and calling on Russian 
    President Vladimir Putin to authorize cooperation with outside 
                investigators in solving those murders.

Whereas Paul Klebnikov, the editor of the Russian version of Forbes Magazine who 
        was investigating suspect business dealings and corruption cases in 
        Russia, was shot to death in Moscow on July 9, 2004;
Whereas Mr. Klebnikov's murder remains unsolved;
Whereas Anna Politkovskaya, an acclaimed Russian journalist and human rights 
        activist who wrote numerous articles critical of Russia's prosecution of 
        the war in Chechnya, of human rights abuses by the Russian Government, 
        and of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was shot to death in Moscow on 
        October 7, 2006;
Whereas Ms. Politkovskaya's murder remains unsolved;
Whereas Ivan Safronov, a military affairs reporter for the Russian newspaper 
        ``Kommersant'' who wrote articles criticizing the failure of Russian 
        military programs and who was planning to report on potential Russian 
        arms sales to Middle Eastern countries, including to state sponsors of 
        terrorism Iran and Syria, died in mysterious circumstances, falling five 
        stories from a window in the stairwell of his apartment building in 
        Moscow on March 2, 2007;
Whereas Russian prosecutors subsequently suggested that Mr. Safronov may have 
        committed suicide, although he left no suicide note and had just bought 
        fresh fruit prior to his death;
Whereas the cause of Mr. Safronov's death remains undetermined;
Whereas according to the International News Safety Institute, close to 90 
        reporters were murdered in Russia between January 1996 and the present 
        and a great many of those murders remain unsolved;
Whereas according to the International News Safety Institute, over the period of 
        the last ten years Russia holds the second position in the world in the 
        number of journalists killed;
Whereas a number of those reporters who were murdered had reported on alleged 
        corruption, malfeasance, and other controversies at the federal, 
        provincial, and local levels of Government in Russia;
Whereas a number of those murdered had reported on alleged human rights abuses 
        by the Russian Government;
Whereas a number of those murdered had reported on the Russian Government's 
        conduct of the war in Chechnya, which has involved numerous allegations 
        of gross human rights violations and corruption; and
Whereas according to the President of the International News Safety Institute, 
        ``murder has become the easiest, cheapest and most effective way of 
        silencing troublesome reporting, and the more the killers get away with 
        it the more the spiral of death is forced upwards'': Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That Congress--
            (1) recalls the essential role that transparency and the 
        free flow of information play in creating and preserving 
        democratic institutions and civil society in any country;
            (2) recognizes the vital contribution made by independent 
        journalists in Russia in bringing transparency and a free flow 
        of information to readers after decades of Communist censorship 
        and repression;
            (3) notes the disturbing trend of murders of independent 
        journalists in Russia over the last decade;
            (4) encourages the President of the United States to 
        formally offer Russian President Vladimir Putin and other 
        officials of the Russian Government United States Government 
        law enforcement investigative assistance to help identify and 
        bring to justice those responsible for the many unsolved 
        murders of journalists in Russia during the past decade; and
            (5) urges President Putin to seek out competent, outside 
        law enforcement assistance in the investigation of the unsolved 
        murders of numerous independent journalists in Russia.
                                 <all>
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