H. Con. Res. 120
Agreed to September 18, 1996
One Hundred Fourth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six
Concurrent Resolution
Supporting the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine and the progress of its
political and economic reforms.
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 established
in Ukraine an office to assist Ukraine in building relations with
the international community and in coordinating international
assistance for Ukraine;
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 Initiative, and the
North Atlantic Cooperation Council of the North Atlantic Alliance,
is a participant in the Partnership 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 independent
State on December 25, 1991;
Whereas Ukraine is a major European nation, having the second
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 important national security
interest of the United States;
Whereas Ukraine conducted its first presidential and parliamentary
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 resulted 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 adopted
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 legal system
based on the rule of law, attract foreign investment, improve
tax and revenue collection, and build its export sectors;
H. Con. Res. 120—2
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 security
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 Organization on Secu-
rity 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 Minister 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;
Whereas the Secretary of Defense of the United States and the
Minister of Defense of Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Under-
standing on cooperation in the field of defense and military rela-
tions on July 27, 1993;
Whereas Ukraine has sought to promote constructive cooperation
with its neighbors through humanitarian assistance 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 concur-
ring), 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 constitution;
(2) the territorial integrity of Ukraine in its existing borders
is an important element of European peace and stability;
(3) the President and Parliament of Ukraine should focus
their efforts on passing legislation needed to implement the
new democratic constitution;
(4) the Government of Ukraine should continue its efforts
to ensure the rights of all citizens of Ukraine regardless of
their ethnic or religious background;
(5) the Government of Ukraine should make its first prior-
ity the dismantling of the remaining socialist sectors of its
economy, particularly by speedily privatizing medium and large
H. Con. Res. 120—3
state-owned enterprises, privatizing state and collective farms
and ending their monopolistic control of the agro-industrial
sector, and fostering a competitive market-based energy sector;
(6) the Government of Ukraine should make the necessary
institutional and legal reforms to create a stable tax regime,
foster market-based competition, 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 legal framework needed
to fight crime and corruption effectively in a democratic environ-
ment;
(8) the Government of Ukraine should continue its coopera-
tive efforts with the ‘‘G–7’’ group of States to safely and expedi-
tiously shut down the nuclear 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 dismantlement of its weapons of mass destruction, and
for the increased safety of operation of its civilian nuclear
reactors, and assistance for the establishment of rule of law,
for criminal justice and law enforcement training, and for the
promotion of trade and investment, and in this regard United
States assistance to the Ukraine should leverage private-sector
involvement as much as possible;
(10) the President of the United States should urge that
the Government of the Russian Federation, in line with the
assurances for the security of Ukraine made by the President
of the Russian Federation in the January 1994 Trilateral State-
ment on Nuclear Disarmament in Ukraine, offer Ukraine its
promised highest possible cooperation, fully and finally rec-
ognizing Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and
refraining from any economic coercion of Ukraine;
(11) the Government of Ukraine should continue 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 understand-
ings;
(13) the President of the United States should support
continued United States security assistance for Ukraine, includ-
ing assistance for training of military officers, military exercises
as part of the North Atlantic Alliance’s Partnership for Peace
program, and appropriate military equipment to assist Ukraine
in maintaining its defensive capabilities as it reduces its mili-
tary force levels;
(14) the President of the United States should ensure the
United States Government’s continued efforts to assist Ukraine
in its accession to the World Trade Organization; and should
ensure, in particular, that the potential for aerospace and space
cooperation and commerce between the United States and
Ukraine is fully and appropriately exploited; and
H. Con. Res. 120—4
(15) as a leader of the democratic nations of the world,
the United States should continue to support the people of
Ukraine in their struggle to bring peace, prosperity, and democ-
racy to Ukraine and to the other independent states of the
former Soviet Union.
Attest:
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.