IV
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 339
Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning recent manifestations of
official policy directed against the independent media in Russia and
expressing concern for the continued functioning of the independent
media in Russia.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 25, 2000
Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. SMITH of New
Jersey, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. SALMON, Mr. PITTS, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA,
and Mr. ROHRABACHER) submitted the following concurrent resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning recent
manifestations of official policy directed against the inde-
pendent media in Russia and expressing concern for the
continued functioning of the independent media in Rus-
sia.
Whereas on May 11 masked officers of the Russian Federal
Security Service carrying assault weapons raided the of-
fices of Media/Most, Russia’s largest independent media
group;
Whereas the raid represents a failure of recourse to normal
legal mechanisms and conveys the appearance of a politi-
cally motivated attack on Russia’s independent media;
HCON 339 IH
Whereas the fragility of press freedom in Russia is indicated
by other recent events including the relative lack of
media access by opposition candidates in the March 2000
Presidential election and by the arrest and prosecution of
RFE/RL journalist Andrey Babitskiy;
Whereas the Media/Most raid was carried out under the au-
thority of President Putin and government ministers who
have not criticized or repudiated the action;
Whereas Deputy Press Minister Romanchenko has publicly
and unwarrantedly suggested that RFE/RL’s program-
ming is ‘‘hostile to the [Russian] State’’, a statement in
contradiction with values endorsed by President Putin
and enshrined in the Russian Constitution;
Whereas the continued functioning of an independent media
is a vital attribute of Russian democracy; and
Whereas a free news media can exist only in an environment
that is free of state control of the news media, that is
free of any form of state censorship or official coercion
of any kind, and that is protected and guaranteed by the
rule of law: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) reaffirms the particular right and obligation
of the United States Congress to express its opposi-
tion to anti-democratic and authoritarian tendencies
in countries with important relationships with the
United States;
(2) condemns the May 11 Media/Most raid by
the Russian Federal Security Service as a breach of
HCON 339 IH
normal legal procedure and a deliberate political at-
tack on the independent media;
(3) expresses profound regret and dismay at the
detention and continued prosecution of RFE/RL
journalist Andrey Babitskiy and other manifesta-
tions of official policy directed against the inde-
pendent media;
(4) urges Members of Congress to use any
meetings with ministers and political leaders of the
Russian Federation to express concern for the con-
tinued functioning of the independent media in Rus-
sia;
(5) calls upon the President, the Secretary of
State, and other officials and agencies of the United
States Government to emphasize to Russian govern-
ment officials our concern and preoccupation that
official pressures against the independent media are
incompatible with democratic norms; and
(6) directs the Clerk of the House to send a
copy of this resolution to the Secretary of State with
the request that it be forwarded to the President of
the Russian Federation.
Æ