104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 120
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas August 24, 1996, marks the fifth anniversary of the
independence of Ukraine;
Whereas the independent State of Ukraine is a member State
of the United Nations and the United Nations has estab-
lished in Ukraine an office to assist Ukraine in building
relations with the international community and in coordi-
nating international assistance for Ukraine;
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Whereas the independent State of Ukraine is a member State
of the Council of Europe, the Organization on Security
and Cooperation in Europe, the Central European Initia-
tive, and the North Atlantic Cooperation Council of the
North Atlantic Alliance, is a participant in the Partner-
ship for Peace program of the North Atlantic Alliance,
and has entered into a Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement with the European Union;
Whereas the United States recognized Ukraine as an inde-
pendent State on December 25, 1991;
Whereas Ukraine is a major European nation, having the sec-
ond largest territory and sixth largest population of all
the States of Europe;
Whereas Ukraine has an important geopolitical and economic
role to play within Central and Eastern Europe and a
strong, stable, and secure Ukraine serves the interests of
peace and stability in all of Europe, which is also an im-
portant national security interest of the United States;
Whereas Ukraine conducted its first presidential and par-
liamentary elections as an independent State in 1994,
carrying such elections out in a free and fair manner and
moving further away from the former communist model
of one-party, centralized, totalitarian rule;
Whereas Ukraine’s presidential elections of July 1994 re-
sulted in the first peaceful transfer of executive power in
any of the independent States of the former Soviet
Union;
Whereas on June 28, 1996, the Parliament of Ukraine adopt-
ed a new constitution for Ukraine;
Whereas Ukraine’s economic and social stability depend on
its ability to build a stable market-based economy and a
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legal system based on the rule of law, attract foreign in-
vestment, improve tax and revenue collection, and build
its export sectors;
Whereas Ukraine was the first of the independent states of
the former Soviet Union to have appointed a civilian to
the office of Minister of Defense, an historic precedent in
support of civilian control and oversight of the armed
forces of Ukraine;
Whereas Ukraine is pursuing political and economic reforms
intended to ensure its future strength, stability, and secu-
rity and to ensure that it will assume its rightful place
among the international community of democratic States
and in European and trans-Atlantic institutions;
Whereas through the agreement by the Government of
Ukraine to the establishment of a mission from the Orga-
nization on Security and Cooperation in Europe in the
region of Crimea, Ukraine has shown its interest in
avoiding the use of force in resolving ethnic and regional
disputes within Ukraine;
Whereas all nuclear weapons were removed from Ukraine by
June 1, 1996, and Ukraine has taken very positive steps
in supporting efforts to stem proliferation of nuclear
weapons by ratifying the START–I Treaty on nuclear
disarmament and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons;
Whereas in December 1994, the Presidents of the United
States and the Russian Federation and the Prime Min-
ister of Great Britain signed a Memorandum on National
Security Assurances for Ukraine as depository States
under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons;
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Whereas the Secretary of Defense of the United States and
the Minister of Defense of Ukraine signed a Memoran-
dum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of de-
fense and military relations on July 27, 1993;
Whereas Ukraine has sought to promote constructive co-
operation with its neighbors through humanitarian assist-
ance and through mediation of disputes;
Whereas Ukraine has provided Ukrainian troops as part of
the international peacekeeping force meant to prevent the
spread of conflict in the states of the former Yugoslavia;
and
Whereas Ukraine has acted in defense of its sovereignty and
that of other newly independent states by opposing the
emergence of any political or military organization which
has the potential to promote the reintegration of the
states of the former Soviet Union: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) Ukraine has made significant progress in
political reform in its first 5 years of independence
and that it is to be congratulated for the successful
conduct of free and fair elections for the presidency
and parliament and for the adoption of a new con-
stitution;
(2) the territorial integrity of Ukraine in its ex-
isting borders is an important element of European
peace and stability;
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(3) the President and Parliament of Ukraine
should focus their efforts on passing legislation
needed to implement the new democratic constitu-
tion;
(4) the Government of Ukraine should continue
its efforts to ensure the rights of all citizens of
Ukraine regardless of their ethnic or religious back-
ground;
(5) the Government of Ukraine should make its
first priority the dismantling of the remaining social-
ist sectors of its economy, particularly by speedily
privatizing medium and large state-owned enter-
prises, privatizing state and collective farms and
ending their monopolistic control of the agro-indus-
trial sector, and fostering a competitive market-
based energy sector;
(6) the Government of Ukraine should make
the necessary institutional and legal reforms to cre-
ate a stable tax regime, foster market-based com-
petition, protect the right to private property, and
make other changes that build a positive climate for
foreign investment;
(7) the Government of Ukraine should make it
a priority to build the institutional capacity and
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legal framework needed to fight crime and corrup-
tion effectively in a democratic environment;
(8) the Government of Ukraine should continue
its cooperative efforts with the ‘‘G–7’’ group of
States to safely and expeditiously shut down the nu-
clear reactors at Chernobyl, Ukraine;
(9) the President of the United States should
support continued United States assistance to
Ukraine for its political and economic reforms, for
efforts associated with the safe and secure dis-
mantlement of its weapons of mass destruction, and
for the increased safety of operation of its civilian
nuclear reactors, and assistance for the establish-
ment of rule of law, for criminal justice and law en-
forcement training, and for the promotion of trade
and investment, and in this regard United States as-
sistance to the Ukraine should leverage private-sec-
tor involvement as much as possible;
(10) the President of the United States should
urge that the Government of the Russian Federa-
tion, in line with the assurances for the security of
Ukraine made by the President of the Russian Fed-
eration in the January 1994 Trilateral Statement on
Nuclear Disarmament in Ukraine, offer Ukraine its
promised highest possible cooperation, fully and fi-
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nally recognizing Ukraine’s sovereignty and terri-
torial integrity and refraining from any economic co-
ercion of Ukraine;
(11) the Government of Ukraine should con-
tinue to act in defense of its sovereignty and that of
the other independent states of the former Soviet
Union by opposing the emergence of any political or
military organization which would have the potential
to promote the reintegration of the states of the
former Soviet Union;
(12) the President of the United States should
ensure that Ukraine’s national security interests are
fully considered in any review of European security
arrangements and understandings;
(13) the President of the United States should
support continued United States security assistance
for Ukraine, including assistance for training of
military officers, military exercises as part of the
North Atlantic Alliance’s Partnership for Peace pro-
gram, and appropriate military equipment to assist
Ukraine in maintaining its defensive capabilities as
it reduces its military force levels;
(14) the President of the United States should
ensure the United States Government’s continued ef-
forts to assist Ukraine in its accession to the World
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Trade Organization; and should ensure, in particu-
lar, that the potential for aerospace and space co-
operation and commerce between the United States
and Ukraine is fully and appropriately exploited; and
(15) as a leader of the democratic nations of
the world, the United States should continue to sup-
port the people of Ukraine in their struggle to bring
peace, prosperity, and democracy to Ukraine and to
the other independent states of the former Soviet
Union.
Passed the House of Representatives September 4,
1996.
Attest:
Clerk.