I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 160
To prohibit the rescheduling or forgiveness of any outstanding bilateral debt
owed to the United States by the Government of the Russian Federation
until the President certifies to the Congress that the Government of
the Russian Federation has ceased all its operations at, removed all
personnel from, and permanently closed the intelligence facility at
Lourdes, Cuba.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 3, 2001
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for himself, Mr. GOSS, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. DELAY, Mr.
SMITH of New Jersey, and Mr. DIAZ-BALART) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
A BILL
To prohibit the rescheduling or forgiveness of any out-
standing bilateral debt owed to the United States by
the Government of the Russian Federation until the
President certifies to the Congress that the Government
of the Russian Federation has ceased all its operations
at, removed all personnel from, and permanently closed
the intelligence facility at Lourdes, Cuba.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Russian-American
Trust and Cooperation Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Government of the Russian Federation
maintains an agreement with the Government of
Cuba which allows Russia to operate an intelligence
facility at Lourdes, Cuba.
(2) The Secretary of Defense has formally ex-
pressed concerns to the Congress regarding the espi-
onage complex at Lourdes, Cuba, and its use as a
base for intelligence activities directed against the
United States.
(3) The Secretary of Defense, referring to a
1998 Defense Intelligence Agency assessment, has
reported that the Russian Federation leases the
Lourdes facility for an estimated $100,000,000 to
$300,000,000 a year.
(4) It has been reported that the Lourdes facil-
ity is the largest such complex operated by the Rus-
sian Federation and its intelligence service outside
the region of the former Soviet Union.
(5) The Lourdes facility is reported to cover a
28 square-mile area with over 1,500 Russian engi-
neers, technicians, and military personnel working at
the base.
(6) Experts familiar with the Lourdes facility
have reportedly confirmed that the base has multiple
groups of tracking dishes and its own satellite sys-
tem, with some groups used to intercept telephone
calls, faxes, and computer communications, in gen-
eral, and with other groups used to cover targeted
telephones and devices.
(7) News sources have reported that the prede-
cessor regime to the Government of the Russian
Federation had obtained sensitive information about
United States military operations during Operation
Desert Storm through the Lourdes facility.
(8) Former United States National Security
Agency officials have been quoted describing the
Lourdes facility as an ‘‘intelligence cornucopia’’
which lies within the ‘‘footprint’’ of every United
States communications satellite.
(9) Public reports relating to the Lourdes facil-
ity state that Defense Intelligence Agency officials
testified to the Senate Select Committee on Intel-
ligence in 1996 that ‘‘while commercial intelligence
[gathered at the facility] is the top priority, it is not
the only one . . . Personal information about U.S.
citizens in private and government sectors is also
snatched from the airwaves and used by Russian in-
telligence to identify promising recruits in these sec-
tors.’’.
(10) It has been reported that the operational
significance of the Lourdes facility has grown dra-
matically since February 7, 1996, when then Rus-
sian President, Boris Yeltsin, issued an order de-
manding that the Russian intelligence community in-
crease its gathering of United States and other
Western economic and trade secrets.
(11) It has been reported that the Government
of the Russian Federation is estimated to have spent
in excess of $3,000,000,000 in the operation and
modernization of the Lourdes facility.
(12) Colonel General Mikhail Kolenik, Russia’s
current chief of staff, has affirmed during his visits
to the Lourdes facility that this espionage base re-
mains critical to the intelligence needs of the Rus-
sian Federation.
(13) The December 2000 visit of Russian Presi-
dent Putin to Cuba was described by United States
analysts as a ‘‘diplomatic offensive’’ to strengthen
and expand Russia’s ties with its former satellite in
Latin America.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON BILATERAL DEBT RESCHEDULING
AND FORGIVENESS FOR THE RUSSIAN FED-
ERATION.
(a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the President—
(1) shall not reschedule or forgive any out-
standing bilateral debt owed to the United States by
the Government of the Russian Federation, and
(2) shall instruct the United States representa-
tive to the Paris Club of official creditors to use the
voice and vote of the United States to oppose re-
scheduling or forgiveness of any outstanding bilat-
eral debt owed by the Government of the Russian
Federation,
until the President certifies to the Congress that the Gov-
ernment of the Russian Federation has ceased all its oper-
ations at, removed all personnel from, and permanently
closed the intelligence facility at Lourdes, Cuba.
(b) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica-
tion of subsection (a)(1) with respect to rescheduling of
outstanding bilateral debt if—
(1) the President determines that such waiver
is necessary to the national interests of the United
States; and
(2) not less than 10 days before the waiver is
to take effect, the President transmits to the Com-
mittee on International Relations of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Re-
lations of the Senate a written certification that con-
tains the determination made pursuant to paragraph
(1) and the reasons therefor.
Æ