Home > 106th Congressional Bills > H.R. 4118 (rh) To prohibit the rescheduling or forgiveness of any outstanding [Reported in House] ...H.R. 4118 (rh) To prohibit the rescheduling or forgiveness of any outstanding [Reported in House] ...
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4118
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 20, 2000
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To prohibit the rescheduling or forgiveness of any outstanding
bilateral debt owed to the United States by the Government of the
Russian Federation until the President certifies to the Congress that
the Government of the Russian Federation has ceased all its operations
at, removed all personnel from, and permanently closed the intelligence
facility at Lourdes, Cuba.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Russian-American Trust and
Cooperation Act of 2000''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Government of the Russian Federation maintains an
agreement with the Government of Cuba which allows Russia to
operate an intelligence facility at Lourdes, Cuba.
(2) The Secretary of Defense has formally expressed
concerns to the Congress regarding the espionage complex at
Lourdes, Cuba, and its use as a base for intelligence
activities directed against the United States.
(3) The Secretary of Defense, referring to a 1998 Defense
Intelligence Agency assessment, has reported that the Russian
Federation leases the Lourdes facility for an estimated
$100,000,000 to $300,000,000 a year.
(4) It has been reported that the Lourdes facility is the
largest such complex operated by the Russian Federation and its
intelligence service outside the region of the former Soviet
Union.
(5) The Lourdes facility is reported to cover a 28 square-
mile area with over 1,500 Russian engineers, technicians, and
military personnel working at the base.
(6) Experts familiar with the Lourdes facility have
reportedly confirmed that the base has multiple groups of
tracking dishes and its own satellite system, with some groups
used to intercept telephone calls, faxes, and computer
communications, in general, and with other groups used to cover
targeted telephones and devices.
(7) News sources have reported that the predecessor regime
to the Government of the Russian Federation had obtained
sensitive information about United States military operations
during Operation Desert Storm through the Lourdes facility.
(8) Academic studies assessing the threat the Lourdes
espionage station poses to the United States cite official
United States sources affirming that the Lourdes facility is
being used to collect personal information about United States
citizens in the private and government sectors, and offers the
means to engage in cyberwarfare against the United States.
(9) It has been reported that the operational significance
of the Lourdes facility has grown dramatically since February
7, 1996, when then Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, issued an
order demanding that the Russian intelligence community
increase its gathering of United States and other Western
economic and trade secrets.
(10) It has been reported that the Government of the
Russian Federation is estimated to have spent in excess of
$3,000,000,000 in the operation and modernization of the
Lourdes facility.
(11) Former United States Government officials have been
quoted confirming reports about the Russian Federation's
expansion and upgrade of the Lourdes facility.
(12) It was reported in December 1999 that a high-ranking
Russian military delegation headed by Deputy Chief of the
General Staff Colonel-General Valentin Korabelnikov visited
Cuba to discuss the continuing Russian operation of the Lourdes
facility.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON BILATERAL DEBT RESCHEDULING AND FORGIVENESS FOR
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.
(a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
President--
(1) shall not reschedule or forgive any outstanding
bilateral debt owed to the United States by the Government of
the Russian Federation; and
(2) shall instruct the United States representative to the
Paris Club of official creditors to use the voice and vote of
the United States to oppose rescheduling or forgiveness of any
outstanding bilateral debt owed by the Government of the
Russian Federation,
until the President certifies to the Congress that the Government of
the Russian Federation has ceased all its operations at, removed all
personnel from, and permanently closed the intelligence facility at
Lourdes, Cuba.
(b) Waiver.--
(1) In general.--The President may waive the application of
subsection (a)(1) with respect to rescheduling of outstanding
bilateral debt if, not less than 10 days before the waiver is
to take effect, the President determines and certifies in
writing to the Committee on International Relations of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Senate that--
(A) such waiver is necessary to the national
interests of the United States; and
(B) the Government of the Russian Federation is
substantially in compliance with multilateral and
bilateral nonproliferation and arms limitation
agreements.
(2) Additional requirement.--If the President waives the
application of subsection (a)(1) pursuant to paragraph (1), the
President shall include in the written certification under
paragraph (1) a detailed description of the facts that support
the determination to waive the application of subsection
(a)(1).
(3) Submission in Classified Form.--If the President
considers it appropriate, the written certification under
paragraph (1), or ap
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