II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 372

To make available funds under the Freedom Support Act to expand existing

educational and professional exchanges with the Russian Federation to

promote and strengthen democratic government and civil society in that

country, and to make available funds under that Act to conduct a

study of the feasibility of creating a new foundation toward that end.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 4, 1999

Mr. BIDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To make available funds under the Freedom Support Act

to expand existing educational and professional exchanges with the Russian Federation to promote and

strengthen democratic government and civil society in

that country, and to make available funds under that

Act to conduct a study of the feasibility of creating

a new foundation toward that end.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Russian Democratiza5 tion Assistance Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) The Russian Federation, which is currently

4 undergoing severe political and economic crises, con5 tinues to possess thousands of nuclear warheads and

6 the means to deliver them.

7 (2) Maintaining stability in Russia is a vital na8 tional security concern of the United States.

9 (3) Since the collapse of the Soviet Union at

10 the end of 1991, the Russian Federation has made

11 significant progress in democratizing its government

12 and society.

13 (4) The continued development of democratic

14 institutions and practice will foster stability in the

15 Russian Federation.

16 (5) Educational and professional exchanges

17 with the Russian Federation have proven to be an

18 effective mechanism for enhancing democratization

19 in that country.

20 SEC. 3. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.

21 It shall be the policy of the United States toward the

22 Russian Federation—

23 (1) to promote and strengthen democratic gov24 ernment and civil society;

25 (2) to expand already existing educational and

26 professional exchanges toward those ends; and
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1 (3) to consider the feasibility of a Russia-based,

2 internationally funded Foundation for Democracy to

3 further democratic government and civil society.

4 SEC. 4. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS FOR INTERNATIONAL IN5 FORMATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL EX6 CHANGES WITH THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

7 Of the amount authorized to be appropriated to carry

8 out chapter 11 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

9 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2295 et seq.; relating to support for

10 the independent states of the former Soviet Union) for

11 each of the fiscal years 2000 and 2001, the following

12 amounts are authorized to be available for the following

13 programs with the Russian Federation:

14 (1) For the ‘‘Future Leaders Exchange’’,

15 $4,000,000.

16 (2) For the ‘‘Freedom Support Act Under17 graduate Program’’, $3,000,000.

18 (3) For the ‘‘Community Connections Pro19 gram’’, $15,000,000.

20 (4) For the ‘‘Freedom Support Act Fellowships

21 in Contemporary Issues’’, $1,000,000.

22 SEC. 5. STUDY FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF RUSSIAN DEMOC23 RACY FOUNDATION.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to

25 conduct a study of the feasibility of establishing a founda-
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1 tion for the promotion of democratic institutions in the

2 Russian Federation.

3 (b) FOUNDATION TITLE.—It is the sense of Congress

4 that any foundation established pursuant to subsection (a)

5 should be known as the Starovoitova Foundation for Rus6 sian Democracy, in honor of Galina Starovoitova, a former

7 member of the State Duma and Russia’s leading female

8 politician who was assassinated in St. Petersburg in No9 vember 1998.

10 (c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Of the amount author11 ized to be appropriated to carry out chapter 11 of part

12 I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2295

13 et seq.; relating to support for the independent states of

14 the former Soviet Union) for fiscal year 2000, $50,000

15 is authorized to be available to carry out this section.

16 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR MUSKIE

17 FELLOWSHIPS WITH THE RUSSIAN FEDERA18 TION.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro20 priated to the President $7,000,000 for each of the fiscal

21 years 2000 and 2001 to carry out the Edmund S. Muskie

22 Fellowship Program under section 227 of the Foreign Re23 lations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993

24 (22 U.S.C. 2452 note) with the Russian Federation.
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1 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro2 priated pursuant to subsection (a) are authorized to re3 main available until expended.

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