III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 14 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the continued participation of the 

Russian Federation in the Group of 8 nations should be conditioned 

on the Russian Government voluntarily accepting and adhering to the 

norms and standards of democracy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2005 

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. BURNS, Mr. BAYH, Mr. 

CHAMBLISS, Mr. SMITH, and Mr. DURBIN) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the continued participation of the Russian Federation in the Group of 8 

nations should be conditioned on the Russian Government voluntarily accepting and adhering to the norms 

and standards of democracy.

Whereas the countries that comprise the Group of 7 nations 

are pluralistic societies with democratic political institutions and practices, committed to the observance of universally recognized standards of human rights, respect 

for individual liberties, and democratic principles; 

Whereas in 1991 and subsequent years, the leaders of the 

Group of 7 nations, heads of the governments of the 
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major free market economies of the world who meet annually in a summit meeting, invited then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin to a post-summit dialogue; 

Whereas in 1998, the leaders of the Group of 7 nations formally invited President Boris Yeltsin of Russia to participate in an annual gathering that subsequently was known 

as the Group of 8 nations, although the Group of 7 nations have continued to hold informal summit meetings 

and ministerial meetings that do not include the Russian 

Federation; 

Whereas the invitation to President Yeltsin to participate in 

the annual summits was in recognition of his commitment to democratization and economic liberalization, despite the fact that the Russian economy remained weak 

and the commitment of the Russian Government to 

democratic principles was uncertain; 

Whereas under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, 

the Russian Government has attempted to control the activities of independent media enterprises, nongovernmental organizations, religious organizations, and other 

pluralistic elements of Russian society in an attempt to 

mute criticism of the government; 

Whereas under the leadership of President Putin, the Russian Government has suppressed the activities of independent journalists, international observers, and human 

rights monitoring organizations, and has blocked the renewal of the mandate of the Organization for Security 

and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to operate inside 

Chechnya in an attempt to block public scrutiny of the 

war in Chechnya; 
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Whereas the suppression by the Russian Government of independent media enterprises has resulted in widespread 

government control and influence over the media in Russia, stifling freedom of expression and individual liberties 

that are essential to any functioning democracy; 

Whereas the arrest and prosecution of prominent Russian 

business leaders who had supported the political opposition to President Putin are examples of selective application of the rule of law for political purposes; 

Whereas the courts of the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Greece have consistently ruled against 

extradition warrants issued by the Russian Government 

after finding that the cases presented by the Prosecutor 

General of the Russian Federation have been inherently 

political in nature; 

Whereas Russian military forces continue to commit brutal 

atrocities against the civilian population in Chechnya and 

have been implicated in abductions of Chechen civilians 

who filed cases before the European Court of Human 

Rights; 

Whereas leaders of the Group of 7 nations have repeatedly 

expressed that a military solution in Chechnya is not possible; 

Whereas in the aftermath of the tragic siege of School No. 

1 in Beslan, Russia that occurred during September 

2004, which was an act of terrorism abhorrent to all civilized people, President Putin cited violence in the North 

Caucasus as a pretext for consolidating centralized power 

and proposed to abolish the popular election of regional 

governors in favor of presidential appointment of such officials; 
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Whereas the catastrophic consequences of the siege of School 

No. 1 in Beslan and of the continued violence in 

Chechnya demonstrate the need to search for political solutions and to commence negotiations between the Government of Russia and moderate Chechen separatists, 

giving moderates credence over extremist elements; 

Whereas the Government of Russia initially supported the 

undemocratic results of the November 21, 2004, runoff 

in the Ukrainian presidential election, in spite of widespread election fraud and mass demonstrations in support of a new, legitimate election, which raised concerns 

among the Group of 7 nations that the commitment of 

the Government of Russia to democratic standards is 

waning; 

Whereas a wide range of observers at think tanks and nongovernmental organizations have expressed deep concern 

that the Russian Federation is moving away from the political and legal underpinnings of a market economy and 

have identified the continuing war in Chechnya as a 

major threat to stability and democracy in Russia; and 

Whereas the continued participation of the Russian Federation in the Group of 8 nations, including the opportunity 

for the Russian Government to host the Group of 8 nations in 2006 as planned, is a privilege that is premised 

on the Government of Russia voluntarily accepting and 

adhering to the norms and standards of democracy, including governmental accountability, transparency, and 

the rule of law: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 
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1 (1) the selective prosecution of political oppo2 nents and the suppression of free media by the Rus3 sian Federation, and the continued commission of 

4 widespread atrocities in the conduct of the brutal 

5 war in Chechnya, do not reflect the minimum stand6 ards of democratic governance and rule of law that 

7 characterize every other member state in the Group 

8 of 8 nations; 

9 (2) the continued participation of the Russian 

10 Federation in the Group of 8 nations, including the 

11 opportunity for the Russian Government to host the 

12 Group of 8 nations summit in 2006 as planned, 

13 should be conditioned on the Russian Government 

14 accepting and adhering to the norms and standards 

15 of free, democratic societies as generally practiced by 

16 every other member nation of the Group of 8 na17 tions, including— 

18 (A) the rule of law, including protection 

19 from selective prosecution and protection from 

20 arbitrary state-directed violence; 

21 (B) a court system free of political influ22 ence and manipulation; 

23 (C) a free and independent media; 
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1 (D) a political system open to participation 

2 by all citizens and which protects freedom of ex3 pression and association; and 

4 (E) the protection of universally recognized 

5 human rights; and 

6 (3) the President and the Secretary of State 

7 should work with the other members of the Group 

8 of 7 nations to take all necessary steps to suspend 

9 the participation of the Russian Federation in the 

10 Group of 8 nations until the President, after con11 sultation with the other members of the Group of 7 

12 nations, determines and reports to Congress that the 

13 Russian Government is committed to respecting and 

14 upholding the democratic principles described in 

15 paragraph (2).

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