U.S. GOVERNMENT > The Three Branches > Legislative Branch > Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support Act of 1992

Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support Act of 1992

Bill Summary & Status for the 102nd Congress

(REVISED AS OF 10/01/92 -- Conference report filed in House, H. Rept. 102-964)

Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support Act of 1992 or FREEDOM Support Act - Title I: General Provisions - Directs the President to designate a coordinator within the Department of State to be responsible for coordinating assistance to the independent states of the former Soviet Union (excluding Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Requires the coordinator to report to the Congress on the overall assistance and economic cooperation strategy for the independent states.

Title II: Bilateral Economic Assistance Activities - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide assistance to the independent states for the following activities: (1) meeting urgent humanitarian needs; (2) establishing a democratic and free society; (3) creating private enterprise and free market systems based on the principle of private ownership of property; (4) promoting trade and investment; (5) promoting market-based mechanisms for food distribution and encouraging policies that provide support for the agricultural sector; (6) promoting programs to strengthen quality health care and voluntary family planning, housing, and other components of a social safety net; (7) promoting educational reform; (8) promoting energy efficiency and production; (9) implementing civilian nuclear reactor safety programs; (10) enhancing the human and natural environment and conserving environmental resources; (11) improving transportation and telecommunications infrastructure and management; (12) promoting drug education, interdiction, and eradication programs; and (13) protecting and caring for refugees, displaced persons, and migrants.

Requires the President, in providing such assistance, to take into account the extent to which the state is: (1) making progress toward, and is committed to, the implementation of a democratic system and economic reform based on market principles; (2) respecting human rights; (3) respecting international law and obligations and adhering to the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Charter of Paris; (4) cooperating in seeking peaceful resolution of ethnic and regional conflicts; (5) implementing responsible security policies; (6) taking actions to protect the international environment; (7) denying support for terrorism; (8) accepting responsibility for paying a portion of debt to U.S. firms incurred by the former Soviet Union; (9) cooperating in uncovering evidence regarding American prisoners of war or missing in action who were detained in the former Soviet Union during the Cold War; and (10) terminating support for Cuba.

Prohibits assistance to the government of any state which: (1) engages in a consistent pattern of human rights violations; (2) has failed to facilitate the implementation of arms control obligations derived from agreements signed by the former Soviet Union; (3) has knowingly transferred to another country missiles or missile technology inconsistent with the Missile Technology Control Regime or materials, equipment, or technology that would contribute to such country's ability to manufacture weapons of mass destruction; or (4) is prohibited from receiving assistance under specified provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991. Bars assistance to Russia if it has failed to make progress on the removal of troops from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania or has failed to undertake good faith efforts to end other military practices that violate the sovereignty of the Baltic States.

Waives such prohibitions, other than the prohibition on assistance to states barred from receiving assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991, if such assistance: (1) is in the national interest; (2) will foster respect for human rights and democracy; or (3) is furnished for the alleviation of suffering.

Authorizes the use of economic support fund assistance and the use of funds and authorities under the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 for assistance under this title.

Permits funds under this title to be used for procurement in the United States, the independent states, or a developing country or in any other country, subject to conditions of availability, emergency, or the promotion of efficiency in the use of such assistance.

Authorizes appropriations.

Prohibits any governmental entity of an independent state from being eligible to receive assistance (except for humanitarian assistance) under this title if: (1) there is outstanding a final judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction within the state that such entity is withholding books or other documents of religious or historical significance that are the property of U.S. persons; and (2) the Secretary of State determines that execution of the court's judgment is blocked as the result of extrajudicial causes. Waives such prohibition of the court's judgment has been executed or it is important to national interests.

Title III: Business and Commercial Development - Encourages the President to establish American Business Centers in the independent states where the President determines that such Centers can be cost-effective in promoting the objectives of title II and U.S. economic interests and in establishing commercial partnerships between the United States and the independent states.

Requires the Agency for International Development (AID) to conclude a reimbursement agreement with the Secretary of Commerce for the Department of Commerce's services in operating the Centers.

Earmarks an amount from funding made available under title II for the Centers.

Authorizes the President to establish the Independent States Business and Agriculture Advisory Council to: (1) advise the President regarding assistance programs for the independent states; and (2) evaluate the adequacy of bilateral and multilateral assistance programs that would facilitate exports and investments by U.S. companies in the independent states.

Encourages the President to use a portion of funds made available under title II to fund export promotion and related activities and capital projects.

Declares that the Secretary of Commerce should implement programs to provide commercial and technical assistance to U.S. businesses seeking markets in the independent states.

States that the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee should utilize its interagency working group on energy to assist U.S. energy sector companies to develop a long-term strategy for penetrating the energy market in the independent states.

Requires the Secretary of the Commerce to report annually to the Congress on: (1) implementation of this title; (2) programs of other industrialized nations to assist their companies with efforts to transact business in the independent states; and (3) trading practices of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations and pricing practices of the independent states that may be disadvantageous to U.S. companies.

Declares that the President should give priority attention to combatting tied aid practices if the Secretary of the Treasury determines that foreign countries are engaged in such practices with respect to any of the independent states.

Authorizes the President to provide technical assistance, through an American university in a region which received nonstop] air service to and from the Russian Far East as of July 1, 1992, to facilitate the development of U.S. business opportunities, free markets, and democratic institutions in the Russian Far East. Authorizes appropriations.

Makes funds under title II available for Overseas Private Investment Corporation programs in the independent states.

Title IV: The Democracy Corps - Authorizes the President to provide for the establishment of a Democracy Corps, a private, nonprofit corporation, to maintain a presence in the independent states. Authorizes the AID Administrator to make an annual grant to the Democracy Corps. Requires the grant to enable the Corps to assist at the local level in the development of: (1) institutions of democratic governance; and (2) nongovernmental organizations of a civil society. Directs the Corps to carry out its activities through the placement of teams of U.S. citizens with appropriate expertise in the independent states to: (1) provide advice and technical assistance; (2) make small grants to assist in the development of such institutions and organizations; (3) identify other sources of assistance; and (4) operate local centers to serve as information and educational centers and to encourage those involved in the development of democratic institutions, market-oriented economies, and civil societies.

Prohibits the use of funds for the Corps or any grant from the Corps to finance the campaigns of candidates for public office.

Earmarks an amount from funding made available under title II for the Corps.

Title V: Nonproliferation and Disarmament Programs and Activities - Permits nonproliferation assistance to be obligated for an independent state only if the President has certified to the Congress that such independent state is committed to: (1) making a substantial investment of its resources for dismantling or destroying weapons of mass destruction if obligated to do so under an agreement; (2) forgoing any military modernization program that exceeds legitimate defense requirements and forgoing the replacement of destroyed weapons of mass destruction; (3) forgoing any use in new nuclear weapons of components of destroyed nuclear weapons; and (4) facilitating U.S. verification of weapons destruction carried out under this Act or the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991.

Authorizes the President to promote nonproliferation and disarmament activities by: (1) supporting the dismantlement and destruction of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, their delivery systems, and conventional weapons of the independent states; (2) supporting efforts to halt the proliferation of such weapons, systems, and related technologies; (3) establishing programs for safeguarding against the proliferation of such weapons; (4) establishing programs for preventing diversion of weapons-related scientific and technical expertise of the independent states to terrorist groups or third countries; (5) establishing science and technology centers in the independent states for purposes of engaging weapons scientists and engineers in productive, nonmilitary undertakings; and (6) establishing programs for facilitating the conversion of military technologies and capabilities and defense industries of the former Soviet Union into civilian activities.

Makes funds available for such activities. Bars the obligation of such funds unless FY 1993 expenditures are counted against the defense category of the discretionary spending limits for purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Authorizes the use of security assistance funds for such activities.

Prohibits the obligation of funds for the conversion of military technologies and capabilities and defense industries of the former Soviet Union unless the President has previously obligated an amount equal to such sums in the same fiscal year for defense conversion and transition activities in the United States.

Amends the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991 to increase the amount of funds that may be transferred from Department of Defense accounts for use in reducing the Soviet military threat. Makes such amendment inapplicable if the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 enacts a similar amendment.

Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance to support international nonproliferation activities. Bars the obligation of such funds unless the expenditures will be counted against the defense category of discretionary spending limits for FY 1993 pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Prohibits the furnishing of assistance unless the Secretary certifies to the Congress that the assistance: (1) is in the national security interest; and (2) will not adversely affect the military preparedness of the United States.

Limits the amount of such assistance and the amount to be provided for the On-Site Inspection Agency in support of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq. Makes international nonproliferation authorities of this Act inapplicable if the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 enacts the same authorities.

Directs the Secretary of State to report to the Congress on possible alternatives for the ultimate disposition of special nuclear materials of the former Soviet Union.

Authorizes the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish an endowed, nongovernmental, nonprofit foundation to: (1) promote and support joint research and development projects for peaceful purposes between scientists and engineers in the United States and the independent states on subjects of mutual interest; and (2) seek to establish joint nondefense industrial research, development, and demonstration activities through private sector linkages which may involve participation by scientists and engineers in the university or academic sectors.

Makes funds appropriated under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 (to the extent available) available for the establishment of the endowment.

Requires an independent state, as a condition of participation in the foundation, to make a minimum contribution to the endowment which shall reflect its ability to make a financial contribution and its expected level of participation in the foundation's programs. Authorizes local currencies generated by U.S. assistance programs to be made available to the foundation.

Title VI: Space Trade and Cooperation - Requires any request for a license or other approval described under this title that is submitted to a U.S. Government agency by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), its contractors, or any other person to be considered on an expedited basis by that agency. Provides for notification of designated congressional committees if an agency denies a request. Applies this title to requests for licenses or approval necessary to conduct discussions with an independent state with respect to the possible acquisition of space hardware, space technology, or space service for integration into U.S. space projects that have been approved by the Congress or commercial space ventures.

Encourages the Office of Space Commerce of the Department of Commerce to conduct trade missions to appropriate independent states to familiarize U.S. aerospace industry representatives with space hardware, technologies, and services that may be available from the independent states and with the business practices and business climate of such states.

Directs the Office of Space Commerce to: (1) monitor the progress of discussions being carried out with the independent states for the acquisition of space hardware, technology, or service for integration into U.S. space projects; and (2) advise the NASA Administrator of the impact on U.S. industry of each potential acquisition of such hardware, technology, or services from the independent states, including any anticompetitive issues the Office may observe.

Title VII: Agricultural Trade - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to waive the annual tonnage limitation with respect to commodities furnished from stocks of the Commodity Credit Corporation (Corporation) during FY 1993 to the independent states. Permits the Corporation to make commodities available on grant or credit terms to such states.

Encourages the President to make funds available to assist private voluntary organizations and cooperatives in carrying out food assistance programs for the independent states.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should encourage the involvement of multinational organizations to monitor the transport and distribution of food aid within the independent states.

Amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to make the independent states eligible for an agricultural fellowship program. Authorizes fellowships to private agricultural producers under such program.

Amends the Agricultural Development and Trade Act of 1990 to authorize direct credits with respect to the promotion of agricultural exports to emerging democracies. Permits export credit guarantees under such Act to be available for the establishment or improvement of facilities or the provision of services or U.S. goods in emerging democracies by U.S. persons if such guarantees will promote the export of U.S. agricultural commodities.

Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to exempt the independent states from conditions on export financing of, and export credit guarantees with respect to, agricultural commodities by the Corporation that require the development of the importing country as a foreign market on a long-term basis or the improvement of the capability of the country to use such commodities on a long-term basis.

Authorizes the Corporation to use such financing and guarantees to assist emerging democracies that have committed to carry out policies that promote economic freedom, private domestic production of food commodities for domestic consumption, and the expansion of domestic markets for the purchase and sale of such commodities.

Prohibits the Corporation from making export sales financing available in connection with sales of an agricultural commodity to any country that cannot adequately service the debt associated with the sale.

Directs the Corporation to ensure that at least 35 percent of the total amount of credit guarantees issued in connection with sales to the independent states under the export credit guarantee program (and 25 percent of the funds expended under the export enhancement program) in a fiscal year are issued (or expended) to promote the export of processed and high-value agricultural products, with the balance issued (or expended) to promote the export of bulk or raw agricultural commodities.

Makes such percentage requirements inapplicable only if the percentage of the total amount of: (1) credit guarantees issued in a fiscal year to promote the export of such products to all countries is less than 25 percent; and (2) funds expended and the value of commodities made available in a fiscal year to promote such exports to all countries is less than 15 percent.

Title VIII: United States Information Agency, Department of State, and Related Agencies and Activities - Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 to designate a specified law and business training program for students from the independent states and the Baltic States as the Edmund S. Muskie Fellowship Program.

Repeals provisions of such Act relating to the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C.

Amends the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Anti-Terrorism Act of 1986 to require at least 15 Fascell fellowships (for temporary service at U.S. missions abroad) to be provided during FY 1993.

Considers the International Development Law Institute to be a public international organization for purposes of the International Organizations Immunities Act.

Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 for exchanges with the independent states. Permits the Director of the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) to use funds to provide technical assistance in local and regional self-government to the independent states.

Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 for the Fulbright Academic Exchange Programs and other programs administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Repeals a provision of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 which provides for an Eastern Europe Student Exchange Endowment Fund.

Authorizes the President to establish regional agribusiness offices at State universities and land grant colleges for purposes of expanding exchanges between agribusiness practitioners in the United States and the independent states. Bars the use of funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act for such program.

Title IX: Other Provisions - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to remove Czechoslovakia, Estonia, East Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania, and the Soviet Union from the list of Communist countries to which assistance is prohibited.

Makes a provision of the Federal criminal code that prescribes penalties for financial transactions with foreign governments in default on obligations to the United States inapplicable with respect to obligations of the former Soviet Union.

Amends the SEED Act of 1989 to authorize the President to conduct SEED activities in any East European country similar to those being conducted in Hungary and Poland (with specified exceptions).

Authorizes the President to furnish administration of justice assistance to East European countries under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

Includes Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech and Slovak Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and states that were once part of Yugoslavia in the definition of "East European countries" for purposes of the SEED Act.

Amends the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 to extend certain provisions granting refugee status or permanent residence to nationals of the independent states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Prohibits U.S. assistance under this Act (other than title V) or any other Act to the Government of Azerbaijan until the President reports to the Congress that such government is taking steps to cease all blockades and uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Title X: International Financial Institutions - Amends the Bretton Woods Agreements Act to authorize: (1) the U.S. Governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to consent to an increase in the U.S. quota of the IMF and to the amendments to the Articles of Agreement of the IMF approved in resolution 45-3 of the Board of Governors; and (2) the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF to approve a pledge to sell gold to restore the resources of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility Trust.

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF to promote the following proposals: (1) considerations of poverty alleviation and reduction of barriers to economic and social progress in all IMF programs; (2) audits to review policy prescriptions in the areas of poverty and the environment; (3) economic reform programs that increase the productive participation of the poor in the economy; and (4) public access to information.

Requires the Secretary to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF to urge the IMF to explore ways to increase the participation of representatives from the loan-recipient country in the development of IMF programs.

Directs the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF to urge the IMF to: (1) develop an economic methodology to measure the level of military spending by each developing country; (2) provide the Executive Board of the IMF with annual reports estimating the level of such spending by such countries; and (3) include an analysis of the level of such spending in every Article IV consultation with a developing country.

Supports U.S. participation in a currency stabilization fund for the independent states.

Requires the Secretary to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF to urge the IMF to study the need for, and feasibility of, a currency stabilization fund for Ukraine and make recommendations with respect to the economic and policy conditions required for the success of such a fund.

Amends the International Finance Corporation Act to authorize the U.S. Governor of the Corporation to: (1) vote for any increase in capital stock needed to accommodate the requirements of the independent states; and (2) agree to amendments to the Corporation's Articles of Agreement to increase the votes by which the capital stock may be increased and by which the Articles of Agreement may be amended.

Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the debt incurred by the former Soviet Union held by commercial financial institutions outside the independent states that are obligated on such debt.

Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to add the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the IMF to the list of institutions through which the United States shall advance human rights.

Directs the Secretary to instruct the U.S. Executive Directors of international financial institutions, in assessing human rights, to consider, in relation to assistance to Russia and the other independent states, the responsiveness of such governments to providing a substantial accounting of Americans missing in action.

Requires the U.S. Director of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency to report to the Congress on: (1) the investments in the independent states of the former Soviet Union guaranteed by the Agency; and (2) the demand for investment guarantees of the type provided by the Agency for investments in the independent states.