107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2121

AN ACT

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 andstrengthen democratic government and civil society in that country and to support independentmedia.

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2121

AN ACT

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.
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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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings:

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

10 the leadership of the Russian Federation has pub11 licly committed itself to building—

12 (A) a society with democratic political in13 stitutions and practices, the observance of uni14 versally recognized standards of human rights,

15 and religious and press freedom; and

16 (B) a market economy based on inter17 nationally accepted principles of transparency,

18 accountability, and the rule of law.

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

20 international community has provided multilateral

21 and bilateral technical assistance, and the United

22 States’ contribution to these efforts has played an

23 important role in developing new institutions built

24 on democratic and liberal economic foundations and

25 the rule of law.
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1 (3)(A) Since 1992, United States Government

2 democratic reform programs and public diplomacy

3 programs, including training, small grants, and tech4 nical assistance to independent television, radio, and

5 print media across the Russian Federation, have

6 strengthened nongovernment-owned media, provided

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

8 brought nearly 40,000 Russian citizens to the

9 United States, and have led to the establishment of

10 over 65,000 nongovernmental organizations, thou11 sands of vibrant independent media outlets, and nu12 merous political parties.

13 (B) These efforts contributed to the substan14 tially free and fair Russian parliamentary elections

15 in 1995 and 1999 and Presidential elections in 1996

16 and 2000.

17 (4) The United States has assisted Russian ef18 forts to replace its centrally planned, state-controlled

19 economy with a market economy and helped create

20 institutions and infrastructure for a market economy

21 by encouraging the transparent privatization of

22 state-owned enterprises. Approximately two-thirds of

23 the Russian Federation’s gross domestic product is

24 now generated by the private sector.
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1 (5)(A) The United States fostered grassroots

2 entrepreneurship in the Russian Federation by fo3 cusing United States economic assistance on small4 and medium-sized businesses and by providing train5 ing, consulting services, and small loans to more

6 than 250,000 Russian entrepreneurs.

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

8 businesses in the Russian Federation, producing 12

9 to 15 percent of the gross domestic product of the

10 Russian Federation.

11 (C) United States-funded programs help to

12 fight corruption and financial crime, such as money

13 laundering, by helping to—

14 (i) establish a commercial legal infrastruc15 ture;

16 (ii) develop an independent judiciary;

17 (iii) support the drafting of a new criminal

18 code, civil code, and bankruptcy law;

19 (iv) develop a legal and regulatory frame20 work for the Russian Federation’s equivalent of

21 the United States Securities and Exchange

22 Commission;

23 (v) support Russian law schools;

24 (vi) create legal aid clinics; and
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1 (vii) bolster law-related activities of non2 governmental organizations.

3 (6) Because the capability of Russian demo4 cratic forces and the civil society to organize and de5 fend democratic gains without international support

6 is uncertain, and because the gradual integration of

7 the Russian Federation into the global order of free8 market, democratic nations will further enhance

9 Russian cooperation with the United States on a

10 wide-range of political, economic, and security

11 issues, the success of democracy in Russia is in the

12 national security interest of the United States, and

13 the United States Government should develop a far14 reaching and flexible strategy aimed at strength15 ening Russian society’s support for democracy and a

16 market economy, particularly by enhancing Russian

17 democratic institutions and education, promoting the

18 rule of law, and supporting Russia’s independent

19 media.

20 (7) Since the tragic events of September 11,

21 2001, the Russian Federation has stood with the

22 United States and the civilized world in the struggle

23 against terrorism and has cooperated in the war in

24 Afghanistan by sharing intelligence and through

25 other means.
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1 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

2 (1) to strengthen and advance institutions of

3 democratic government and of a free and inde4 pendent media and to sustain the development of an

5 independent civil society in the Russian Federation

6 based on religious and ethnic tolerance, internation7 ally recognized human rights, and an internationally

8 recognized rule of law; and

9 (2) to focus United States foreign assistance

10 programs on using local expertise and giving local

11 organizations a greater role in designing and imple12 menting such programs, while maintaining appro13 priate oversight and monitoring.

14 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD THE RUSSIAN

15 FEDERATION.

16 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that the United States Government should—

18 (1) recognize that a democratic and economi19 cally stable Russian Federation is inherently less

20 confrontational and destabilizing in its foreign policy

21 and therefore that the promotion of democracy in

22 Russia is in the national security interests of the

23 United States; and

24 (2) continue and increase assistance to the

25 democratic forces in the Russian Federation, includ-
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1 ing the independent media, regional administrations,

2 democratic political parties, and nongovernmental

3 organizations.

4 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy

5 of the United States—

6 (1) to facilitate Russia’s integration into the

7 Western community of nations, including supporting

8 the establishment of a stable democracy and a mar9 ket economy, and also including Russia’s member10 ship in the appropriate international institutions;

11 (2) to engage the Government of Russian Fed12 eration and Russian society in order to strengthen

13 democratic reform and institutions, and to promote

14 good governance principles based on the internation15 ally recognized norms of transparency in business

16 practices, the rule of law, religious freedom, and

17 human rights;

18 (3) to advance a dialog between United States

19 Government officials and private sector individuals

20 and representatives of the Government of the Rus21 sian Federation regarding Russian integration into

22 the Western community of nations;

23 (4) to encourage United States Government of24 ficials and private sector individuals to meet regu25 larly with democratic activists, human rights activ-
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1 ists, representatives of the independent media, rep2 resentatives of nongovernmental organizations, civic

3 organizers, and reform-minded politicians from Mos4 cow and the various regions of the Russian Federa5 tion;

6 (5) to incorporate democratic reforms, the pro7 motion of an independent media, and economic re8 forms in the broad United States agenda with the

9 Government of the Russian Federation;

10 (6) to encourage the Government of the Rus11 sian Federation to address cross-border issues, in12 cluding the environment, crime, trafficking, and cor13 ruption in a cooperative and transparent manner

14 consistent with internationally recognized and ac15 cepted principles of the rule of law;

16 (7) to consult with the Government of the Rus17 sian Federation and the Russian Parliament on the

18 adoption of economic and social reforms necessary to

19 sustain Russian economic growth and to ensure Rus20 sia’s transition to a fully functioning market econ21 omy;

22 (8) to persuade the Government of the Russian

23 Federation to honor its commitments made to the

24 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Eu25 rope (OSCE) at the November 1999 Istanbul Con-
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1 ference and to conduct a genuine good neighbor pol2 icy toward the other independent states of the

3 former Soviet Union in the spirit of internationally

4 accepted principles of regional cooperation; and

5 (9) to encourage the G–7 partners and inter6 national financial institutions, including the World

7 Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the

8 European Bank for Reconstruction and Develop9 ment, to develop financial safeguards and trans10 parency practices in lending to the Russian Federa11 tion.

12 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT

13 OF 1961.

14 (a) AMENDMENTS.—

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

16 498(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

17 U.S.C. 2295(2)) is amended—

18 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘DEMOC19 RACY’’ and inserting ‘‘DEMOCRACY AND RULE

20 OF LAW’’;

21 (B) by striking subparagraphs (E) and

22 (G);

23 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as

24 subparagraph (I);
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1 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (D)

2 the following:

3 ‘‘(E) development and support of grass4 roots and nongovernmental organizations pro5 moting democracy, the rule of law, trans6 parency, and accountability in the political

7 process, including grants in small amounts to

8 such organizations;

9 ‘‘(F) international exchanges to promote

10 greater understanding by Russian Federation

11 citizens on how democracy, public policy proc12 ess, market institutions, and an independent ju13 diciary function in Western societies;

14 ‘‘(G) political parties committed to pro15 moting democracy, human rights, and economic

16 reforms;

17 ‘‘(H) support for civic organizations com18 mitted to promoting human rights; and’’; and

19 (E) by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(J) strengthened administration of justice

21 through programs and activities carried out in

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

23 ‘‘(i) support for nongovernmental or24 ganizations, civic organizations, and polit-
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1 ical parties that favor a strong and inde2 pendent judiciary based on merit;

3 ‘‘(ii) support for local organizations

4 that work with judges and law enforcement

5 officials in efforts to achieve a reduction in

6 the number of pretrial detainees; and

7 ‘‘(iii) support for the creation of Rus8 sian legal associations or groups that pro9 vide training in human rights and advo10 cacy, public education with respect to

11 human rights-related laws and proposed

12 legislation, and legal assistance to persons

13 subject to improper government inter14 ference.’’.

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

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

17 amended—

18 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3)

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

20 respectively; and

21 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the

22 following:

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

24 and independent media, including—
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1 ‘‘(A) supporting all forms of non-state2 owned media reporting, including print, radio,

3 and television;

4 ‘‘(B) providing special support for, and un5 restricted public access to, nongovernmental

6 Internet-based sources of information, dissemi7 nation and reporting, including providing tech8 nical and other support for web radio services,

9 providing computers and other necessary re10 sources for Internet connectivity and training

11 new Internet users in nongovernmental and

12 other civic organizations on methods and uses

13 of Internet-based media; and

14 ‘‘(C) training in journalism, including in15 vestigative journalism techniques which educate

16 the public on the costs of corruption and act as

17 a deterrent against corrupt officials.’’.

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

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

20 inserting ‘‘paragraph (2)(J)’’.

21 SEC. 5. ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT THE RUSSIAN FEDERA22 TION.

23 (a) ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.—In providing assistance

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

25 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2295 et
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1 seq.), the President is authorized to carry out the fol2 lowing specific activities:

3 (1) Work with the Government of the Russian

4 Federation, the Duma, and representatives of the

5 Russian Federation judiciary to help implement a

6 revised and improved code of criminal procedure and

7 other laws.

8 (2) Establish civic education programs relating

9 to democracy, public policy, the rule of law, and the

10 importance of an independent media, including the

11 establishment of ‘‘American Centers’’ and public pol12 icy schools at Russian universities and programs by

13 universities in the United States to offer courses

14 through Internet-based off-site learning centers at

15 Russian universities.

16 (3) Support the Regional Initiatives (RI) pro17 gram, which provides targeted assistance in those re18 gions of the Russian Federation that have dem19 onstrated commitment to reform, democracy, and

20 the rule of law, and which promote the concept of

21 such programs as a model for all regions of the Rus22 sian Federation.

23 (b) RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY AND

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

25 and the Voice of America should use new and innovative
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1 techniques, in cooperation with local independent media

2 sources, to disseminate information throughout the Rus3 sian Federation relating to democracy, free-market eco4 nomics, the rule of law, and human rights.

5 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE FOR DEMOCRACY,

6 INDEPENDENT MEDIA, AND THE RULE OF

7 LAW.

8 Of the amounts made available to carry out the provi9 sion of chapter 11 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

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

11 Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open

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

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

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

15 498 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended

16 by section 4(a) of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives December 11,

2001.

Attest:

Clerk.