[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E150-E151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

REMARKS BY SENATOR SIMPSON AT NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST

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HON. TOM LANTOS

of california

in the house of representatives

Thursday, February 1, 1996

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to introduce into
the Congressional Record the following speech, by my friend and
colleague Senator Alan Simpson, given at the National Prayer Breakfast
this morning. Senator Simpson delivered this eloquent address with his
legendary wit and humor. I encourage all of my colleagues to read this
most significant speech by Senator Alan Simpson.

National Prayer Breakfast

february 1, 1996

Mr. President, First Lady Hillary, Mr. Vice President and
President of our Senate and Tipper Gore, distinguished
guests. Greetings, my fellow seekers, discoverers, and
wanderers (not necessarily in that order!) Always a grand
morning.
One of the great honors of my life was to give the
principal address at this National Prayer Breakfast in 1989.
I was filled with trepidation that a seeker like me would be
asked.
The night before, the Reverend Billy Graham, one of the
most loving, inspirational, caring men in this world, called
and said, ``Alan, we are praying for you.'' I said, ``You're
praying for me! I'm doing plenty of that for myself!'' So
typical of Billy Graham.
Long ago in public life I learned where to turn when I
didn't know where to turn. One source.
The Senate prayer breakfast group gathers every Wednesday
morning for a convivial half hour between 8 and 9:00. Our
leaders are Bob Bennett, the Republican from Utah and Dan
Akaka a Democrat from Hawaii. Rare gentlemen both.
The presentor of the day--after an opening prayer--shares
much of himself or herself with us for fifteen or twenty
minutes and then a time of discussion and fellowship.
Promptly at the hour of nine we close with a prayer as we
stand with hands joined around the tables. Sometimes the
theme is the Bible. Sometimes it's public life. Sometimes
it's about family and our jobs but always it's about
ourselves and the impact of that greater force in our lives--
a higher being. All faiths. All philosophies. All believers.
These are always very moving times. We share much with each
other and we gain much from each other.
It helps us endure in the partisan and political world in
which we have chosen to labor. Kindness, civility, tolerance
and forgiveness all are part of the essence of our
gatherings. We try to put aside harsh judgment and criticism.
I remember the words of a wonderful couplet my mother used
to share.
``There is so much good in the worst of us. And so much bad
in the best of us. That it ill behooves any of us to find
fault with the rest of us.''
I like that one. I knew you would!
We also talk about our human frailties. We talk about how
easy it is to fall for the blandishments of flattery and be
overcome by ego. I have often said that those who travel the
high road of humility in Washington DC are not really
troubled by heavy traffic!
It is always a very uplifting time. Yes, actually too a
time of sharing of our own vulnerabilities. It was Will
Rogers, our great American humorist, who said, ``It's great
to be great but it is greater to be human.''
We are very privileged to be able to serve in the United
States Senate. A special obligation. People do observe us. We
are scrutinized. (Indeed we are!) We hope to do more than
just talk a good game. We need to live the things we learn
and share.
Let me close with a poem that is something we try to take
from the weekly Senate prayer breakfast group and something
we might hope to remember from this marvelous convocation
today. That little poem.

``We'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day,
We'd rather you would walk with us than merely show the way.
The eye is a better pupil and more willing than the ear.
Fine counsel is confusing, but example's always clear.
We can soon learn how to do it if you'll let us see it done,
We can watch you well in action, but your tongue too fast may
run
And the lecture you deliver may be very wise and true,
But we'd rather get our lessons by observing what you do.''
Now there's ``The Word'' for the day! God bless you all.

[[Page E151]]

YELTSIN ADVISOR PROCLAIMS YELTSIN REFORM ERA OVER

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HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

of new york

in the house of representatives

Thursday, February 1, 1996

Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit for the record the
text of Boris Yeltsin's human rights advisor Sergei Kovalev's letter of
resignation.
Mr. Speaker, this devastating critique of the Yeltsin regime is most
timely, considering the IMF's current considerations of a $9 billion
infusion into the Russian treasury. It also comes at a time when Prime
Minister Chernomyrdin is here in the United States assuring the
administration and other officials that all is well in Russia. All is
not well Mr. Speaker, and those, like the administration, who still
don't get it are plainly referred to by Mr. Kovalev as naive. I urge
all Members to read this critical letter.

The Case Against Yeltsin

(By Sergei Kovalev)

For the past six years I have considered it my duty to
promote in every way possible the policy that can fairly be
called the ``democratic transformation of Russia'' not-
withstanding many reservations. For a long time that policy
was closely linked with your name. You were the head of a
country on the road to democracy, and at first, you were even
considered the leader of the democrats. As long as you
remained headed in that direction. I considered myself your
ally, or, in those instances when you departed from the
overall course or drastically slowed the tempo of advance, a
member of the loyal opposition.
Russia's road to freedom never promised to be easy. Many
difficulties were obvious from the very beginning. Many
others cropped up unexpectedly. To overcome them, all of us--
the government, society, each individual--had to make
complicated and sometimes tragic decisions. The main things
the country expected from you were the will to make changes
and honesty. Especially honesty. In electing you, Russia saw
not only a politician ready to demolish the former state
structure, but a person who was sincerely trying to change
himself, his views, his prejudices and his habits of rule.
You convinced many--myself included--that humane and
democratic values could become the foundation of your life,
your work and your policies. We weren't blind. We saw the
typical traits of a Communist Party secretary preserved in
your behavior. But all Russia, like a man striving to
overcome a serious defect, was struggling with itself. We
understood you even when we did not love you.
In recent years, however, even though you continue to
proclaim your undying devotion to democratic ideals, you have
at first slowly, and then more and more abruptly, changed the
course of government policy. Now your government is trying to
turn the country in a direction completely contrary to the
one proclaimed in August 1991. . . .
Beginning in late 1993 if not even earlier, you have
consistently taken decisions which--instead of strengthening
the rule of law in a democratic society--have revived the
blunt and inhuman might of a state machine that stands
above justice, law and the individual. . . .
During the tragic days of the fall of 1993 [when Yeltsin
dissolved the Supreme Soviet], I decided to stand by you
despite my serious inner doubts. I don't deny my
responsibility for that support. I believed that the use of
force was a tragic necessity given the imminent threat of
civil war. Even then I understood that the events of October
might encourage the top leaders to perceive force as a
convenient and familiar instrument for resolving political
problems. But I hoped for a different outcome, that by
overcoming the crisis of legitimacy and creating a basis for
the rule of law in Russia, the president and the government
would do everything possible for our country's peaceful and
free development. To a very great extent, the outcome
depended on you, Boris Nikolaevich. I believed that you would
choose the second path. I was wrong.
The 1993 Constitution confers enormous powers on the
president, but it also places enormous responsibilities on
him: to be the guarantor of the rights and liberties of
citizens, to safeguard their security and to protect law and
order in the country. How have you discharged these duties?
How have you fulfilled your responsibilities?
You have virtually halted judicial reform, which was
designed to make the administration of justice truly
independent from the other branches of government. You openly
professed the principle: ``Let the innocent suffer as long as
the guilty are punished.''
You loudly proclaimed the launching of a war on organized
crime. In order to implement this, you granted exceptional,
extralegal authority to the security ministries. The result?
The criminals continue to roam freely, while law-abiding
citizens have to tolerate the abuse of the uniformed forces
without gaining the security they were promised.
You stated that your goal was the preservation and
strengthening of the Russian Federation's territorial
integrity. The result? A shameful and bungled civil war which
has been raging in the North Caucasus for more than a year.
Under the guise of strengthening Russia's defense capability,
you've blocked all military reforms which would give Russia
an effective modern army. The result? Spending on the army
is growing, and the number of generals has increased to an
indecent figure. In order to justify their existence, the
term of service has been increased and draft deferments
have been ended. Meanwhile, soldiers and officers are
impoverished, ragged and hungry. And the degradation, ill-
treatment and corruption, traditional in our army, are as
prevalent as ever. Not surprisingly, tens of thousands of
young men are evading this medieval recruitment like the
plague.
You speak of a policy of openness, of transparency and of
public accountability, yet at the same time you sign secret
decrees concerning the most important matters of state. You
create closed institutions, and you classify as secret ever
more information about government operations and the state of
the country. Presidential decisions are made almost in the
same backroom fashion as in the era of the Politburo. It's no
secret that you increasingly depend on the security services
and on their system of clandestine information. Isn't it
obvious to you how unreliable and tendentious this
information is?
The thrust of your personnel policy is becoming clearer
with each passing day. At first there were quite a few
competent, honorable people around you. But you also
enthusiastically welcomed individuals whose only virtue
consisted in their personal loyalty to you. Gradually such
loyalty has become your primary demand when recruiting staff,
just as it was in the heyday of the Community Party. . . .
You began your democratic career as a forceful and
energetic crusader against official deceit and party
disposition, but you are ending it as the obedient executor
of the will of the power-seekers in your entourage. You took
an oath to build a government of the people and for the
people, but instead you have built a bureaucratic pyramid
over the people and against the people. Moreover, having
rejected democratic values and principles, you haven't
stopped using the word ``democracy'' so that naive people may
well believe that ``democrats'' remain in power in the
Kremlin. Your policies have compromised the very word, and if
democracy is fated to someday exist in Russia (and I believe
it will), it will exist not because of you, but in spite of
you.

____________________