Forty years ago, on June 11, 1976, members were named to the newly established U.S. Helsinki Commission that included six members from the Senate and House of Representatives as well as three appointees of the executive branch of government. The U.S. Commission was proposed by Sen. Clifford P. Case (R-N.J.) and Rep. Millicent Fenwick (R-N.J.) following the signing of the Helsinki Final Act on August 1, 1975, by 31 signatory member states. President Gerald Ford signed the bill into law (Public Law No. 94-304) in the Oval Office at the White House on June 3.
Rep. Fenwick said: “The commission will monitor compliance with the Helsinki Accord and will encourage the United States government to implement programs to carry out our own pledges in this important undertaking. The signing of this bill by the president is a resounding statement by the United States, which reaffirms our commitment to human freedom and dignity.”
She also noted President Ford’s statement during the signing of the accord in Helsinki in 1975 that the effectiveness of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission) would be determined “not by the promises we make, but by the promises we keep.”
In addition to the 12 senators and representatives, three members of the U.S. Helsinki Commission were to be appointed by the U.S. president from the departments of State, Defense and Commerce.
Senate members of the commission included: Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), Dick Clark (D-Iowa), Richard Stone (D-Fla.), Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), Sen. Case and James Buckley (R-N.Y.). House members included: Dante Fascel (D-Fla.), chairman, Sidney Yates (D-Ill.), Jonathan Bingham (D-N.Y.) Paul Simon (D-Ill), John H. Buchanan (R-Ala.) and Rep. Fenwick.
Today, the commission comprises 18 Senators and Congressmen (nine from each legislative chamber) and one member each from the departments of State (vacant since March 2013), Defense (vacant since July 2013) and Commerce (vacant since February 2012).
The U.S. Helsinki Commission today includes: Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), co-chairman, Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chairman, Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), Michael Burgess (R-Texas), Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) and Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.).
Policy advisor for Belarus, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine, Orest Deychakiwsky has served since 1981 as a member of the commission’s staff and has served as a member of U.S. delegations to numerous OSCE meetings and election observation missions.
Source: “Helsinki Commission members named,” The Ukrainian Weekly, June 19, 1976.