Orrin Hatch: “I wish to rise and join my colleagues in supporting the Smith amendment to the fiscal year 1998 foreign operations bill…”

“I wish to rise and join my colleagues in supporting the Smith amendment to the fiscal year 1998 foreign operations bill that would cut assistance to the Government of the Russian Federation if it enacts the onerous bill passed by the Duma last month entitled "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Association." Mr. President, this bill passed by the Duma is about restricting freedom of conscience and prohibiting the freedom of conscience. It is a major step backward for democracy and human rights in Russia. It takes Russia away from the West and the institutions that protect an individual's freedom of religion. The bill passed by the Duma--promoted by an unholy alliance of Communists and Populists whose responsibility to the country appears to focus on restricting its citizens' ability to practice any faith they choose. The measures in the bill are deeply objectionable. A few points are worth mentioning: Religious groups must register with the government by 1998. In a blatant act of discrimination, the bill assigns different religions to different categories that will afford them different sets of rights. For a religion to be deemed a religious organization, it will have to demonstrate that they have officially existed in Russia for at least 15 years. This means that the religion would have had to register under Communist dictator Leonid Brezhnev, at a time when the Soviet Union was officially atheistic and officially repressive to the pursuit of faith.”