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“SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S9837 on July 24, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 278--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION OF ITS SUSPENSION OF
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTIONAL ARMED FORCES IN EUROPE TREATY
Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. Smith, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. DeMint) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Res. 278
Whereas the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, signed at Paris November 19, 1990 (``the CFE Treaty''), was agreed upon and signed by 22 States Parties in order to establish predictability, transparency, and stability in the balance of conventional military forces and equipment in an area of Europe stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains;
Whereas there are now 30 States Parties to the CFE Treaty, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States;
Whereas the CFE Treaty is recognized as one of the most successful arms control treaties of the modern era and has served as a cornerstone of European security as the continent emerged from the shadows of the Cold War;
Whereas the CFE Treaty facilitated the destruction or conversion of over 52,000 battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery pieces, combat aircraft, and attack helicopters;
Whereas the CFE Treaty continues to enable an unprecedented level of transparency into military equipment holdings and troop deployments in Europe, including over 4,000 on-site inspections of military units and installations implemented since the entry into force of the Treaty;
Whereas, on November 19, 1999, at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, the parties to the CFE Treaty signed an Adaptation Agreement to reflect the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the expansion of membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (``NATO''), and other changes in the European geopolitical environment;
Whereas, at the time of the signing of the Adaptation Agreement, the Russian Federation made a series of pledges, known as the Istanbul Commitments, to withdraw its remaining military forces and equipment from the territory of Georgia and Moldova or otherwise negotiate consensual agreements on their continued presence;
Whereas while the Government of the Russian Federation has taken initial steps towards fulfilling the Istanbul Commitments, it continues to maintain troops and associated equipment in both Georgia and Moldova without the express sovereign consent of the governments of either of those countries, and the United States and other parties to the CFE Treaty have therefore refrained from taking steps to ratify the Adaptation Agreement;
Whereas, on April 26, 2007, President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, in a speech to the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, announced his intention to initiate an unspecified ``moratorium'' on Russian compliance with the CFE Treaty, citing the refusal of NATO Members to ratify the Adaptation Agreement, concerns over the proposed United States missile defense deployment in Poland and the Czech Republic, and new basing arrangements between the United States Government and the Governments of Bulgaria and Romania as unacceptable encroachments on the security of the Russian Federation;
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation subsequently requested, as is its right under the CFE Treaty, an Extraordinary Conference to discuss its outstanding concerns, which was held from June 12 to June 15, 2007, in Vienna, Austria;
Whereas, on July 14, 2007, President Putin issued a formal decree announcing the intention of the Russian Federation to suspend compliance with the CFE Treaty after providing 150 days advance notice to the other CFE Treaty signatories;
Whereas President Putin justified his decision on
``extraordinary circumstances'' that ``affect the security of the Russian Federation and require immediate measures'';
Whereas the CFE Treaty provides a formal mechanism for withdrawal of a State Party from the Treaty following 150 days of notice, but does not contain any provision for suspension; and
Whereas the Department of State, in responding to the announcement by the Government of the Russian Federation to suspend compliance with the CFE Treaty, declared, ``The United States is disappointed by the Russian announcement of its intention to suspend implementation of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. The United States remains committed to CFE's full implementation. We also remain committed to the ratification and entry into force of the Adapted CFE Treaty. We look forward to continuing to engage with Russia and the other States Parties to the Treaty to create the conditions necessary for ratification by all 30 CFE States.'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) it is the sense of the Senate that the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation to suspend implementation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, signed at Paris November 19, 1990 (``the CFE Treaty''), is a regrettable step that will unnecessarily heighten tensions in Europe;
(2) the Senate recognizes the enduring value of the CFE Treaty as a cornerstone of European security and affirms its support for the basic principles of transparency, accountability, host country consent for the stationing of foreign military forces, and the rule of law embodied in the CFE Treaty and the 1999 Adaptation Agreement thereto;
(3) the Senate strongly urges the Government of the Russian Federation to reconsider its suspension of CFE implementation and engage with the other parties to the CFE Treaty to resolve outstanding problems and establish an agreed approach leading to the eventual implementation of the Adaption Agreement to the CFE Treaty;
(4) the Senate calls on the Russian Federation to fulfill its Istanbul Commitments of 1999 and move speedily to withdraw all remaining forces and military equipment from Georgia and Moldova;
(5) the Senate encourages all parties to the CFE Treaty to engage the Russian Federation in seeking innovative and constructive mechanisms to fully implement the Istanbul Commitments, consistent with the principles and objectives of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and making full use of OSCE mechanisms;
(6) the Senate calls on all States Parties to ensure that the resolution of the current disputes surrounding the CFE Treaty be considered a priority at the highest political levels, recognizing that the CFE Treaty is important both as an arms control treaty and as an essential building block for stable relations between the Russian Federation and neighboring countries in Europe; and
(7) the Senate encourages officials of the Government of the Russian Federation to refrain from belligerent statements that only further polarize relations and jeopardize security in Europe.
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