I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2121

To make available funds under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to expand

democracy, good governance, and anti-corruption programs in the Russian Federation in order to promote and strengthen democratic government and civil society in that country and to support independent media.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 12, 2001

Mr. LANTOS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To make available funds under the Foreign Assistance Act

of 1961 to expand democracy, good governance, and

anti-corruption programs in the Russian Federation in

order to promote and strengthen democratic government

and civil society in that country and to support independent media.

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 Democracy

5 Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings:

4 (1) Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union,

5 the leadership of the Russian Federation has pub6 licly committed itself to building—

7 (A) a society with democratic political in8 stitutions and practices, observance of univer9 sally recognized standards of human rights and

10 religious and press freedom; and

11 (B) a market economy, based on inter12 nationally accepted principles of transparency,

13 accountability, and the rule of law.

14 (2) In order to facilitate this transition, the

15 international community provided multilateral and

16 bilateral technical assistance, and the United States

17 contributions to these efforts played an important

18 role in influencing the Government of the Russian

19 Federation to abandon expansionist and

20 confrontational policies of the former Soviet Union

21 and start developing new institutions built on demo22 cratic and liberal economic foundations and the rule

23 of law.

24 (3)(A) Since 1992, United States Government

25 democratic reform programs and public diplomacy

26 programs, including training, small grants, and tech-
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1 nical assistance to independent television, radio, and

2 print media across the Russian Federation, has

3 strengthened nongovernment-owned media, provided

4 access to and training in the use of the Internet,

5 brought nearly 40,000 Russian citizens to the

6 United States and has led to the establishment of

7 over 65,000 nongovernmental organizations, thou8 sands of vibrant independent media outlets and nu9 merous political parties.

10 (B) These efforts also contributed to the con11 duct of substantially free and fair Russian par12 liamentary elections in 1995 and 1999 and Presi13 dential elections in 1996 and 2000.

14 (4) The United States has also assisted Russian

15 efforts to dismantle its centrally planned state-con16 trolled economy and helped create institutions and

17 infrastructure for a market economy by encouraging

18 transparent privatization of state-owned enterprises,

19 and two-thirds of the Russian Federation’s domestic

20 product is now generated by the private sector.

21 (5)(A) The United States fostered grassroots

22 entrepreneurship in the Russian Federation by fo23 cusing United States economic assistance on small24 and medium-sized businesses and by providing train-
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1 ing, consulting services, and small loans to more

2 than 250,000 Russian entrepreneurs.

3 (B) There are now more than 900,000 small

4 businesses in the Russian Federation, producing 12–

5 15 percent of the gross domestic product of the Rus6 sian Federation.

7 (C) United States-funded programs help to

8 fight corruption and financial crimes, such as money

9 laundering, by helping to establish a commercial

10 legal infrastructure, develop an independent judici11 ary, support the drafting of a new criminal code,

12 civil code, and bankruptcy law, develop legal and

13 regulatory framework for the Russian Federation’s

14 equivalent of the United States Securities and Ex15 change Commission, support Russian law schools,

16 create legal aid clinics, and bolster law-related activi17 ties of nongovernmental organizations.

18 (6)(A) Despite these successes, political and

19 economic freedoms in the Russian Federation re20 main tenuous. Since the election of President Putin

21 in May 2000, the Government of the Russian Fed22 eration has launched administrative and political re23 forms that run counter to the democratic achieve24 ments of the past 8 years, restrict political plurality,

25 threaten the nongovernmental sector, and call into
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1 question the Government’s commitment to freedom

2 of the press, including the concerted campaign by

3 Russian authorities against independent television

4 station NTV and its founder, Vladimir Guzinsky.

5 (B) The Department of State’s Country Re6 ports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 con7 cluded that during 2000 ‘‘the [Russian Federation]

8 Government’s record on media freedom worsened

9 and significant problems persist’’ and that ‘‘[t]here

10 was persistent evidence of government pressure on

11 the media.’’.

12 (7)(A) Furthermore, despite the Russian eco13 nomic recovery of 1999 and 2000 due to higher oil

14 prices and due in part because of the failure of

15 President Putin to carry through with his promise to

16 implement genuine economic reform, except for the

17 approval of important tax code reform legislation,

18 the Russian economy also remains highly resistant

19 to reform and continues to be plagued with corrup20 tion and organized crime.

21 (B) This corruption and crime is estimated to

22 cost the Russian economy $15,000,000,000 annu23 ally, and the Government of the Russian Federation

24 has not yet genuinely addressed the problems of

25 crime, corruption, violation of property and investor
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1 rights, weak rule of law, absence of an independent

2 judiciary, and the lack of transparency in corporate

3 governance.

4 (8) In addition, while the Government of the

5 Russian Federation allowed for elections in

6 Chechnya to establish the Chechen civilian adminis7 tration, the perilous economic, social, and political

8 situation in Chechnya and the transfer of the re9 sponsibility for the conduct of the Chechen operation

10 from the Russian military to the Russian security

11 services threatens to undermine indigenous Chechen

12 authorities and increase human rights abuses.

13 (9) These developments and actions by the Gov14 ernment of the Russian Federation led more than

15 1,000 civic and human rights activists representing

16 430 groups from throughout the Russian Federation

17 to meet in Moscow in January 2001 to take the un18 precedented step of declaring a human rights emer19 gency in response to what they see as the growing

20 threat to civil liberties.

21 (10) Because the capability of Russian demo22 cratic forces and the civil society to organize and de23 fend democratic gains without international support

24 is uncertain, and because the gradual integration of

25 the Russian Federation into the global order of free-
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1 market democratic nations will further Russian co2 operation with the United States on a wide-range of

3 political, economic, and security issues, the success

4 of democracy in Russia is in the national security in5 terest of the United States and the United States

6 Government needs to develop a far-reaching and

7 flexible strategy aimed at rejuvenating Russian soci8 ety’s support for democracy and market economy,

9 particularly by enhancing Russian democratic insti10 tutions and education, promoting the rule of law,

11 and supporting Russian independent media.

12 (b) PURPOSES.— The purposes of this Act are—

13 (1) to strengthen and advance institutions of

14 democratic government and free and independent

15 media and to sustain the development of the inde16 pendent civil society in the Russian Federation

17 based on religious and ethnic tolerance, internation18 ally recognized human rights, and internationally

19 recognized rule of law; and

20 (2) to target United States foreign assistance to

21 the political and economic reality in the Russian

22 Federation, and, to the extent possible, to focus

23 United States foreign assistance programs on using

24 local expertise and giving local organizations a great25 er role in designing and implementing such pro-
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1 grams, while maintaining appropriate oversight and

2 monitoring.

3 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD THE RUSSIAN

4 FEDERATION.

5 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that the United States Government should—

7 (1) consider the transition undertaken by the

8 Russian Federation to be a work in progress, where

9 the influence and the prominence of the United

10 States can be a persuasive factor in gradual Russian

11 integration in Western institutions;

12 (2) recognize that a democratic and economi13 cally stable Russian Federation is inherently less

14 confrontational and destabilizing in its foreign policy

15 and therefore promotion of democracy in Russia is

16 in the national security interests of the United

17 States;

18 (3) continue and increase assistance to the

19 democratic forces in the Russian Federation, includ20 ing to independent media, progressive regional ad21 ministrations, democratic political parties, and non22 governmental organizations; and

23 (4) express its opposition to antidemocratic and

24 authoritarian tendencies in countries with important

25 relationships with the United States.
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1 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy

2 of the United States—

3 (1) to engage the Government of Russian Fed4 eration and Russian society to strengthen demo5 cratic reform and institutions, and to promote good

6 governance principles based on the internationally

7 recognized norms of transparency in business prac8 tices, the rule of law, religious freedom, and human

9 rights;

10 (2) to advance a dialogue between United

11 States Government officials and private sector indi12 viduals and representatives of the Government of the

13 Russian Federation on Russian integration into the

14 western community of nations;

15 (3) to encourage United States Government of16 ficials and private sector individuals to meet regu17 larly with democratic activists, human rights activ18 ists, representatives of the independent media, rep19 resentatives of nongovernmental organizations, civic

20 organizers, and reform-minded politicians from Mos21 cow and the various regions of the Russian Federa22 tion;

23 (4) to incorporate democratic reforms, inde24 pendent media, and economic reforms in the broad
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1 United States agenda with the Government of the

2 Russian Federation;

3 (5) to encourage the Government of the Rus4 sian Federation to address cross-border issues, in5 cluding environment, crime, trafficking, and corrup6 tion in a cooperative and transparent manner con7 sistent with internationally recognized and accepted

8 principles of the rule of law;

9 (6) to consult with the Government of the Rus10 sian Federation and the Russian Parliament on

11 adoption of economic and social reforms necessary to

12 sustain Russian economic growth since 1999;

13 (7) to persuade the Government of the Russian

14 Federation to honor its commitments made to the

15 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Eu16 rope (OSCE) at the November 1999 Istanbul Con17 ference and to conduct a genuine good neighbor pol18 icy toward the other independent states of the

19 former Soviet Union in the spirit of internationally

20 accepted principles of regional cooperation; and

21 (8) to encourage the G–7 partners and inter22 national financial institutions, including the World

23 Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the

24 European Bank for Reconstruction and Develop25 ment, to develop financial safeguards and trans-
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1 parency practices in lending to the Russian Federa2 tion.

3 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING POLICY OF THE

4 RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

5 It is the sense of Congress that—

6 (1) the Government of the Russian Federation

7 and Russian President Putin should resolve out8 standing taxation issues that hinder deliverance of

9 United States assistance programs and to completely

10 fulfill its obligations under existing bilateral agree11 ments; and

12 (2) the Parliament of the Russian Federation

13 should adopt necessary legislation and procedures

14 for the exemption of United States assistance from

15 all forms of taxation and customs duties.

16 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT

17 OF 1961.

18 (a) AMENDMENTS.—

19 (1) DEMOCRACY AND RULE OF LAW.—Section

20 498(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

21 U.S.C. 2295(2)) is amended—

22 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘DEMOC23 RACY’’ and inserting ‘‘DEMOCRACY AND RULE

24 OF LAW’’;
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1 (B) by striking subparagraphs (E) and

2 (G);

3 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as

4 subparagraph (I);

5 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (D)

6 the following:

7 ‘‘(E) development and support of grass8 roots and nongovernmental organizations pro9 moting democracy, rule of law, transparency,

10 and accountability in the political process, in11 cluding grants in small amounts to such organi12 zations;

13 ‘‘(F) international exchanges to promote

14 greater understanding by Russian Federation

15 citizens on how democracy, public policy proc16 ess, market institutions, and independent judici17 ary function in Western societies;

18 ‘‘(G) political parties committed to pro19 moting democracy, human rights, and economic

20 reforms;

21 ‘‘(H) support for civic organizations com22 mitted to promoting human rights; and’’; and

23 (E) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(J) strengthened administration of justice

2 through programs and activities carried out in

3 accordance with section 498B(e), including—

4 ‘‘(i) support for nongovernmental or5 ganizations, civic organizations, and polit6 ical parties that favor a strong and inde7 pendent judiciary based on merit;

8 ‘‘(ii) support for local organizations

9 that work with judges and law enforcement

10 officials in efforts to achieve a reduction in

11 the number of pretrial detainees; and

12 ‘‘(iii) support for the creation of Rus13 sian legal associations or groups that pro14 vide training in human rights and advo15 cacy, public education with respect to

16 human rights-related laws and proposed

17 legislation, and legal assistance to persons

18 subject to improper government inter19 ference.’’.

20 (2) INDEPENDENT MEDIA.—Section 498 of the

21 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2295) is

22 amended—

23 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3)

24 through (13) as paragraphs (4) though (14),

25 respectively; and
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1 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the

2 following:

3 ‘‘(3) INDEPENDENT MEDIA.—Developing a free

4 and independent media, including—

5 ‘‘(A) supporting all forms of nonstate6 owned media reporting, including print, radio,

7 and television;

8 ‘‘(B) providing special support for, and un9 restricted public access to, nongovernmental

10 Internet-based sources of information, dissemi11 nation and reporting, including providing tech12 nical and other support for web radio services,

13 providing computers and other necessary re14 sources for Internet connectivity and training

15 new Internet users in nongovernmental and

16 other civic organizations on methods and uses

17 of Internet-based media; and

18 ‘‘(C) training in journalism, including in19 vestigative journalism techniques which educate

20 the public on the costs of corruption and act as

21 a deterrent against corrupt officials.’’.

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 498B(e) of

23 such Act is amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)(G)’’ and

24 inserting ‘‘paragraph (2)(J)’’.
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1 SEC. 6. ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT THE RUSSIAN FEDERA2 TION.

3 (a) ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.—In providing assistance

4 to the Russian Federation under chapter 11 of part I of

5 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2295 et

6 seq.), the President is authorized to carry out the fol7 lowing specific activities:

8 (1) Work with the Government of the Russian

9 Federation, the Duma, and representatives of the

10 Russian Federation judiciary to help implement a

11 revised and improved code of criminal procedure and

12 other laws.

13 (2) Establish civic education programs relating

14 to democracy, public policy, rule of law, and the im15 portance of the independent media, including the es16 tablishment of ‘‘American Centers’’ and public policy

17 schools at Russian universities and programs by uni18 versities in the United States to offer courses

19 through Internet-based off-site learning centers at

20 Russian universities.

21 (3) Support the Regional Investment Initiatives

22 (RII) program, which provides targeted assistance in

23 those regions of the Russian Federation that have

24 demonstrated commitment to reform, democracy,

25 and rule of law, and promote the concept of such
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1 program as a model for all regions of the Russian

2 Federation.

3 (b) RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY AND

4 VOICE OF AMERICA.—Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

5 and the Voice of America should use new and innovative

6 techniques, in cooperation with local independent media

7 sources and to the extent possible, to disseminate informa8 tion throughout the Russian Federation relating to democ9 racy, free-market economics, rule of law, and human

10 rights.

11 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE FOR DEMOCRACY,

12 INDEPENDENT MEDIA, AND THE RULE OF

13 LAW.

14 Of the amounts made available to carry out the provi15 sion of chapter 11 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

16 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2295 et seq.) and the Freedom for

17 Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open

18 Markets Support Act of 1992 for fiscal year 2002, not

19 less than $50,000,000 is authorized to be available for the

20 activities authorized by paragraphs (2) and (3) of section

21 498 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended

22 by section 5(a) of this Act.

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