FOR THE RECORD: House Concurrent Resolution 120 in support of Ukraine's independence (10/13/96)

FOR THE RECORD

House Concurrent Resolution 120 in support of Ukraine's independence

Following is the full text of House Concurrent Resolution 120 passed by the House of Representatives on September 4 and by the Senate on September 18.

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;

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, a 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 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 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 Understanding on cooperation in the field of defense and military relations 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 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that:

(1) Ukraine has made significant progress in political reform in its first five 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 priority the dismantling of the remaining socialist sectors of its economy, particularly by speedily privatizing medium and large 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 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 nuclear reactors at Chornobyl, 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 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 Statement on Nuclear Disarmament in Ukraine, offer Ukraine its promised highest possible cooperation, fully and finally recognizing 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 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 program, 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 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

(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 democracy to Ukraine, and to the other independent states of the former Soviet Union.