News

ACCESSION 
NUMBER:350486

FILE ID:EUR510

DATE:06/24/94

TITLE:THE GORE-CHERNOMYRDIN COMMISSION (06/24/94)

TEXT:*94062407.PFE

*EUR510   06/24/94

THE GORE-CHERNOMYRDIN COMMISSION

(Text: White House statement) (640)

(The following statement from the U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on Economic

and Technological Cooperation, titled "The Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission,"

was released June 23 by The White House Office of the Vice President.)



The third meeting of the U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on Economic and

Technological Cooperation was held June 22-23 in Washington.  The

Commission is co-chaired by U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime

Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.  The Commission provides a framework for

promoting a partnership between the United States and Russia based on the

principles enumerated in the Vancouver and Moscow Summit declarations.

These include a shared commitment to: democracy and human rights; a market

economy and the rule of law; and international peace and stability.  The

Commission's work is an effort to realize concrete benefits from this

partnership.



The decision to create the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission was taken by

Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin at the Vancouver Summit in June 1993.  The

Commission's original mandate was to support cooperation in the areas of

space, energy, and high technology.  Since then, the Commission has

expanded its scope to include other areas of U.S.-Russian cooperation, such

as business development, defense conversion and the environment.  Its six

working Committees are chaired at the cabinet level.  A list of American

members is attached.



The site of Commission sessions alternates between Russia and the United

States.  The inaugural session occurred in Washington, D.C., in August

1993.  The second session took place in Moscow in December 1993.  This

third Commission session has registered major progress in all areas of the

Commission's work.  These achievements include:



-- Space: signing of the $400 million contract for the joint Shuttle-Mir

program;



-- Business Development: signing of the $10-12 billion Sakhalin II project,

which represents the first development of a new Russian energy field

involving foreign direct investment;



-- Energy: intergovernmental agreement requiring a shutdown of plutonium

production reactors and the cessation of use of plutonium for nuclear

weapons;



-- Defense Conversion: announcement of the first awards to U.S. firms to

establish joint ventures with Russian defense firms converting to civilian

production, and incorporation of a Defense Conversion Enterprise Fund;



-- Science and Technology: conclusion of Memoranda of Understanding on a

bilateral science and technology program; and



-- Environment: signing of a bilateral environmental agreement.

1ommission meetings have also offered Russian and American participants an

opportunity to travel outside of their respective capitals to meet business

leaders and visit plants and technical facilities.  During this visit Prime

Minister Chernomyrdin will travel Detroit for meetings with Michigan

business executives and a tour of General Motors auto production

facilities.



U.S. MEMBERS OF THE GORE-CHERNOMYRDIN COMMISSION

The Vice President -- Co-Chairman of Commission

Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown -- Vice Chairman of Commission & Chair of

Business Development Committee



Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary -- Chair of Energy Policy Committee

OSTP Director Dr. Jack Gibbons -- Chair of Science and Technology Committee

Secretary of Defense Bill Perry -- Chair of Defense Conversion Committee

NASA Administrator Dan Goldin -- Chair of Space Committee

EPA Administrator Carol Browner -- Chair of Environment Committee

Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott

Ambassador at Large for the New Independent States James Collins

ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE U.S. CHAIRMAN

U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor

Director of Central Intelligence Agency James Woolsey

Director, Office of Environmental Policy Katie McGinty

AID Administrator Brian Atwood

Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs Lawrence Summers

Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Timothy Wirth

Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs Lynn Davis

Chairman, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Ivan Selin

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator James Baker

OPIC President and CEO Ruth Harkin

EXIM Bank President and Chairman Ken Brodie

Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to the New Independent States Tom Simons

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