IV
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 120
Supporting the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine and the progress
of its political and economic reforms.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DECEMBER 15, 1995
Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. SOLOMON, and Mr. HOKE) sub-
mitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Supporting the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine and
the progress of its political and economic reforms.
Whereas August 24, 1995, marked the fourth 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;
Whereas the independent State of Ukraine is a member State
of the Council of Europe, the Organization on Security
and Cooperation in Europe, and the North Atlantic Co-
operation Council of the North Atlantic Alliance, is a
participant in the Partnership for Peace program of the
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North Atlantic Alliance, and has entered into a Partner-
ship and Cooperation Agreement with the European
Union and has been accepted for membership in the
Central European Initiative in 1996;
Whereas the United States recognized Ukraine as an inde-
pendent State on December 25, 1991, and established
diplomatic relations with Ukraine on January 2, 1992;
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 in June 1995, through peaceful cooperation and
compromise, the President and Parliament of Ukraine
reached a political accord meant to better define the bal-
ance of powers between the executive and legislative
branches of government, pending the adoption of a new
constitution for Ukraine;
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Whereas Ukraine is the first of the independent states of the
former Soviet Union to appoint a civilian to the office of
Minister of Defense;
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 Ukraine has taken very positive steps in supporting
efforts to stem proliferation of nuclear weapons by ratify-
ing the START–I Treaty on nuclear disarmament and
the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,
thereby relinquishing nuclear weapons it possessed after
the dissolution of the former Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics;
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;
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;
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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 played a vital role in preventing the
emergence of a coercive military bloc on the territory of
the former Soviet Union by representing the interests of
the smaller states that are members of the organization
known as the Commonwealth of Independent States:
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 4 years of independence
and that it is to be congratulated for the successful
conduct of free and fair elections for the presidency
and parliament;
(2) the territorial integrity of Ukraine in its ex-
isting borders is an important element of European
peace and stability;
(3) the President and Parliament of Ukraine
should continue their strong efforts to agree upon
and submit to the Ukranian people for their ap-
proval a new democratic constitution providing for a
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proper balance of power between the branches of
government;
(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 continue
and accelerate its efforts to transform its economy,
abandoning the failed economic policies of the
former communist regime and ensuring that pro-
grams meant to ensure the success of economic re-
form receive strong support at all levels of govern-
ment;
(6) the Government of Ukraine should, in par-
ticular, proceed with the privatization of state-owned
enterprises in a very expeditious manner;
(7) the Government of Ukraine should, in par-
ticular, place a high priority on the adoption of
those laws necessary to ensure the continued growth
of an economy based on market mechanisms, private
enterprise, and the right to private property;
(8) the Government of Ukraine should continue
its efforts to arrive at an agreement with the ‘‘G–
7’’ group of States whereby the nuclear reactors at
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Chernobyl, Ukraine, might be shut down in a safe
and expeditious manner;
(9) the President of the United States should
support continued United States assistance to
Ukraine for its political and economic reforms, for
the safe and secure dismantlement of its weapons of
mass destruction, and for the increased safety of op-
eration of its civilian nuclear reactors, and assist-
ance for the establishment of rule of law, for crimi-
nal justice and law enforcement training, and for the
promotion of trade and investment;
(10) the President of the United States should
insist 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, fully and finally
recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integ-
rity and refrain from any economic coercion 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 collective
military bloc on the territory of the former Soviet
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Union whose primary purpose would be the re-cre-
ation of that failed state or the reintegration into
one political entity of those nations once held captive
by it;
(12) the President of the United States should
express the support of the United States for
Ukraine’s insistence that it be provided with appro-
priate rent or compensation for the use of its bases,
ports or other facilities on its territory under appro-
priately negotiated and ratified agreements and trea-
ties;
(13) the President of the United States should
ensure that Ukraine’s national security interests are
fully considered in any revision of the Treaty on
Conventional Forces in Europe that may be agreed
to by the signatories to that agreement;
(14) the President of the United States should
work to ensure that Ukraine’s interests as an inte-
gral part of Central and Eastern Europe are fully
considered in any review of European security ar-
rangements and understandings;
(15) 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
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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;
(16) 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
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
(17) 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.
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