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The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Taylor of North Carolina). Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 7, 1997, the gentleman from California [Mr. Horn] is recognized until midnight.

Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, the United States must work to help align Russia with the democratic nations of the West. If we isolate Russia, we will miss a historic opportunity to bring Russia into the western world. If we do not, the result will be instability and unneeded conflict in the future.

One of the interesting questions of history has been whether or not Russia is western or an eastern power, whether it is a European or an Asian nation. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO as it is known, faces the task of deciding where the frontiers of Europe lie.

[TIME: 2315]

Over three centuries ago, in 1703, Czar Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg as his capital. He sought to give Russia a more western-oriented outlook. In the early 19th century, Napoleon of France invaded Russia. In the early 1940's Hitler invaded Russia, and Russia has cause to be wary of some of the Western Powers. During the Russian Civil War, after the communists had seized power and the Czar was removed and there had been a short bleep of democracy in Russian history; the West, including the United States of America, intervened on the side of the democratic Duma, a noble cause, the legislature, the only one of its day in 300 years of Russian history, and it provided that brief blip of democracy I mentioned, and it was a hopeful institution for a brief time. And yet the autocratic Czars and the totalitarian Soviets ruled Russia until very recent years.

Despite its suspicion of the West and our suspicion of Soviet Russia, as allies from 1941 to 1945 we were still able to cooperate to stop and defeat the vicious murderous Nazi Germany.

Western Europe and the United States now have a historic opportunity to promote reconciliation and cooperation with Russia. We have fought one Cold War with the Soviet Russia, which is no more. If we are to avoid a nationalistic, autocratic Russia arising from the chance that we will have democracy, we need to take diplomatic risks now.

Let us recall that the enemies of the Second World War are now democracies. Germany, for example, and Germany's involvement with the European Community and NATO helped bind it further to the West. Germany, guided by progressive leadership since the end of the Second World War in the elimination of Hitler, overcame the deep and historic divisions which existed between France and Germany, two countries who had been at war with each other three times in 65 years. And then, of course, the great crimes of the Nazi period.

Japan. Japan was as far different culturally from the United States and Europe as one could imagine in 1945. In the decade which spanned the period 1935 to 1945, Japan waged an aggressive war against its neighbors in Asia as well as the United States of America. Yet under the leadership of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, we imposed democracy on Japanese institutions which were militaristic and feudal in nature, and our military occupation helped the Japanese rebuild their country which had been shattered and overcome those militaristic forces that had led their country into aggressive wars in that decade of 1935 to 1945. And the result now is that we have stability and peace in East Asia.

One obvious reason for the successful American alliance and the relationship we have with Germany and Japan is that we stationed our troops in both of those nations, and we had a major role in influencing the formation of new institutions in those countries. A second reason for the successful alliance was the common goal of halting the spread of communism as practiced by a number of Soviet dictators, the worst of which of course was Stalin. We must remember that we fought the Cold War against these dictators and zealots who ruled Russia through Communist ideology, fear, and militarism. For 75 years the Soviet Union was the leader of all of the Communist world except China. The Soviet Union, however, is no more. It collapsed in the face of its own weaknesses and because of the resolve of the western nations. We must show the same resolve to ensure that peace and stability represent the future of Europe.

For this to happen, Russia must not be isolated but must become a partner of the West in the economic submits, in the European Community, and in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO operates by consensus. No nation can veto NATO decisions. Giving Russia a seat at the table in NATO does not mean it will be able to veto any application of any other nations. Whether as a formal member of NATO or as an advisory nature, it is important that Russia do receive that seat, and this will not result in its ability to block decisions of a military nature. Its fundamental mission that NATO now has is to keep Europe at peace.

In brief, NATO is not the United Nations, whereas we know in the United Nations one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, including the United States of America, can exercise a veto over the actions of not only its colleagues on the Security Council, but the actions of the General Assembly which represents all nations in the United Nations.

Mr. Speaker, it is the right of every sovereign nation to choose who its friends are. Russia cannot decide for the nations of central and eastern Europe on the question of NATO membership. It would also be foolish for NATO to automatically rule out Russia or any other Nation from NATO based on some of the current economic or social conditions that exist within those countries. It makes sense to consult with Russia on the future of NATO and the future of Europe. Russia's military power has been substantially weakened, but it still remains the greatest nuclear power in Europe. Isolating Russia will only help the domestic political goals of the Communists, the Fascists, and the nationalists who wish to undermine the progressive reforms which have occurred in Russia under the leadership of President Boris Yeltsin.

We are at a point in history that will decide the future of our country for generations. Will the United States work to promote peace and cooperation in Europe? Or will we foolishly seek to gloat over our victory in the cold war by marginalizing Russia and thus helping the very elements of Russian society that we deplore, namely the Communists, the Fascists, and the nationalists who once in a while raise their head in this or that election.

Have we reached a peace with Russia that is only a pause in the conflict, or will we work to create a peace that brings stability and prosperity? The choice is ours. Russia has vast natural resources and an energetic people with a growing democracy and burgeoning market-based competitive economy. The Russian people need to be tied to the Western World.

Mr. Speaker, if the Government of the United States does not involve Russia in NATO , this country will have made the most critical foreign policy mistake in the last half of the 20th century.

The key question we face is whether we will address this issue of NATO expansion on the basis of common sense and our long-term national interest, or will we allow NATO expansion to continue to be a political football for various domestic audiences and ethnic groups? Clearly a balance must be struck between the legitimate interests of central Europe and Russia. The nations of central Europe have emerged from Soviet domination into an uncertain era where their sovereign rights of self-determination and self-defense have become real, but they have yet to be fully defined.

The United States in NATO must help give life and definition to those rights through thoughtful and effective steps, including membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. However, we must be mindful of the fact that nothing we do will change geography. Poland will always be next door to Russia

whether it is a member of NATO or not, so Poland and NATO must deal with the realities of the neighborhood. We can ignore, offend, and alienate Russia, and that will guarantee endless tension in Central Europe, or we can seek to be good neighbors and expect similar behavior from Russia.

Russia also has legitimate rights of self-determination and self-defense. It has an understandable concern with NATO expansion right to its doorstep. Imagine our concern if an international alliance was on our border and it included nations that were hostile to us in the recent past. We must not ignore or gloss over those concerns. We must deal with them openly and honestly so that the Russian people can see that the intentions of the American people and its Government are clear and that the motives are honest.

We must not assume that as victors of the cold war we can impose any conditions we wish on the losers. The allies made that mistake at the end of the First World War. We had won the war in 1918, and we lost the peace in 1919 by forcing on a vanquished Germany a Treaty of Versailles that every thoughtful person knew was completely unreasonable, harsh, and ultimately unsustainable. The result was not a lasting peace but a temporary truce between two great world wars. We must not repeat that mistake.

Mr. Speaker, let us work to involve Russia with the West and its major political institutions, the European Community and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Such involvement will result in a much more peaceful 21st century.

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