JBANC PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release

contact: Karl Altau

JBANC Calls for Opposition to the Senate’s Bingaman Amendment as “Contrary to U.S. National Security Policy”

(JBANC/Washington, D.C.) -- The Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc. (JBANC) is asking Americans, particularly those of Baltic heritage, to oppose an amendment to the annual Foreign Operations bill, which threatens to affect the security of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and is in conflict with current U.S. national security policy.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) proposed his amendment to the Foreign Operations bill. That bill appropriates funds to many foreign countries for primarily military purposes and also contains some funds for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The U.S. Senate together with the House of Representatives will jointly consider a final version of the bill sometime in September. The amendment was co-sponsored by Senators John Warner (R-VA), Max Cleland (D-GA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Robert C. Smith (R-NH).

The "Bingaman amendment" reads as follows: "It is the sense of the Senate that nothing in this Act, or Senate Report 106-81, relating to assistance provided to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia under the Foreign Military Financing Program should be interpreted as expressing the will of the Senate to accelerate membership of those nations into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization."

In its letters to Sen. Bingaman and the five amendment co-sponsors, JBANC wrote that this language is "...highly discriminatory and potentially damaging to the security of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania..." and that "...it is contrary to the 'open door' policy by the US and other NATO members..." and to earlier legislation adopted by the previous Congress which "...recognized the progress made by the Baltic countries."

JBANC also criticized the amendment because it would penalize only the Baltics for the progress they have made and for the leading role they played in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. JBANC stated that the amendment would "...give implicit support to the notion of a Russian sphere of influence in the Baltic region."

JBANC has asked the Senators to respond and to explain the motivation behind this amendment. The same Senators last year sponsored similar language to an earlier version of the Foreign Operations bill. At that time, JBANC was told this was being done because of some other legislation that the Senators felt appeared to favor the Baltics over other candidates for NATO membership.

Baltic Americans who live in the states represented by the six Senators are encouraged to write to them in urgent opposition to the “Bingaman amendment.” It is important that these Senators hear from their constituents on this crucial issue. Please contact JBANC for more information.

 Contact Information on Supporters of “Bingaman Amendment”:

JBANC represents the Estonian American National Council, Inc., the American Latvian Association, Inc., and the Lithuanian American Council, Inc.                         

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