in the work of the helsinki commission. i mention that because this past week the 23rd annual parliamentary assembly was held in baku, azerbaijan, in which over 300 parliamentarians participated. it was from june 28-july 2. and we had a very strong representation from the united states senate and the house of representatives representing the united states. i was proud to join with senator wicker and senator harkin as well as congressman smith, congressman alderhol, congressman grienke, and congressman schiff. we represented the u.s. interests. by way of background for some of my colleagues who may not be familiar, the helsinki commission is the u.s. participation in the organization for security and cooperation in europe. this was a -- this followed up on the helsinki accords that took place in 1975 when all the countries of europe, including the soviet union, joined the united states and canada and agreed on principles. these are principles that recognize the importance of good governance, human rights, economic opportunit

tallinn's nordic lutheran culture and language connect it with stockholm and helsinki, but two centuries of czarist russian rule and nearly 50 years as part of the soviet union have blended in a distinctly russian flavor. fins and estonians share a similar history. first, swedish domination, then russian. then independence after world war i. until 1940, the estonians were about as affluent as the fins, but then estonia was gobbled up by an expanding soviet empire and spent the decades after world war ii under communism. when the ussr fell, estonia regained its freedom, and in 2004, it joined the european union. tallinn has modernized at an astounding rate since the fall of the soviet union. its business district shines with the same glass and steel gleam you'll find in any modern city. yet nearby are the rugged and fully intact medieval walls, and the town within these ramparts has a beautifully preserved old-world ambiance. among medieval cities in the north of europe, none are as well preserved as tallinn. the town hall square was a marketplace through the centuries. its fine old build

systems customs officials declined to confirm that the shipment was seized at the end of june of helsinki because it was locking necessary permits for defense material it reportedly originated from vietnam and was heading to ukraine in transit via finland the finnish military are investigating the case. on this washington proceeds with its accusations against moscow claiming it's doing nothing to deescalate tensions in ukraine fresh sanctions have been imposed this week against major russian companies russia's biggest oil producer rosneft along with gazprom bank are among those targeted just to give you an idea of the scale of these companies gazprom bank is the country's third largest bank it finances some of russia's most prominent energy projects rosneft is a vital contributor to the state budget generating over one hundred billion dollars in revenue these two along with several other firms and are forbidden from borrowing money on u.s. markets for periods longer than ninety days and here is how the russian president reacted to the move. as far as sanctions are concerned they usually h

-helsinki commission which is well known for its commitment to human rights. it's also our participating arm in the organization for security and cooperation in europe, the osce. starting when i first joined the helsinki commission almost 20 years ago, i worked on the issues of antisemitism and trying to deal with combating antisemitism. this is overt actions against jews and jewish institutions, which was on the rise and we tried to do something about it. in the early 2000's, working with congressman hoyer and congressman hastings and congressman smith and others, we made an agreement in the helsinki commission to bring up the increasing episodes of antisemitism and what we needed to do about it. we saw increased episodes of violence against jews and jewish institutions. we saw that world events was used to try to justify antisemitic activities. as a result of the work of the u.s. helsinki commission, the osce determined it was important enough to do a special conference on antisemitism, and in 2004, we had the berlin conference on antisemitism under the lead

nato shimimura, nhk world, helsinki. >>> that will do it for business hour. let's get a check of the markets now. >>> scientists in australia fear a tourist destination visited by millions of people every year will wash away. they're seeing coral on the great barrier reef erode, so they have undertaken a plan to save the natural wonder. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: the great barrier reef is the world's largest coral reef. it stretches over 2,000 kilometers off australia's northeastern coast. but now this natural wonder is in danger. this coral has been bleached. the cause is linked to the rising ocean temperature. if it stays at this level, more coral will die or deteriorate. the australian institute of marine science says in the last 30 years the great barrier reef has shrunk by 50%. some researchers say pollution is the cause. among them is professor john brodie, his research focuses on water runoff from land. >> pollution comes from agriculture and cultural development including ports. the first stapge of that was 20 years of science and research.

guidance systems customs officials declined confirmation the shipment was seized at the end of june at helsinki airport because it was lacking necessary permits for defense material reportedly originated from vietnam and was heading to ukraine in transit finland the finnish military are investigating the case. and is washington proceeds with its accusations against moscow claiming it's doing nothing to deescalate tensions in ukraine fresh sanctions have been imposed this week against major russian companies russia's biggest oil producer ross nifty along with the gas problem bank are among those targeted now just to give you an idea of the scale of these companies are us the effort is a vital contributor to the state budget it generates more than one hundred billion dollars in revenue annually and gazprom bank is the country's third largest bank it finances some of russia's most prominent energy projects these two along with several other firms are now forbidden from borrowing money on u.s. markets for periods longer than ninety days here's how the russian president reacted to the move. as far a

certainly, a gross violation of the helsinki final act which was adopted in 1995.nki act were violated with vladimir putin with the ent interference by the ukraine. and the clear evidence that the russian leadership is continuing to be involved with these military separatists. in eastern ukraine. and it's something that needs to stop, and if it doesn't, i think we've now shown there are going to be serious consequences for mr. putin and his fellow countrymen. >> as we noted secretary kerry is meeting with ukraine's foreign minister this morning at about 10:15. what do you make of how he's handled himself both ukraine and also what's happening in israel and gaza? >> i'm very disappointed in the secretary of state. and i have a lot of company in that respect. and, of course, he represents administration policy, no question about it. i don't think anybody in a responsible position in washington, d.c. would have advocated the united states becoming militarily involved with helping the ukrainian democracy resist the russians. i think that's something that simply could n

certainly, a gross violation of the helsinki act which was adopted in 1975. every single tenet of the helsinki act, all ten, were violated by vladimir putin with this incursion into crimea and the interference in ukraine. and i think what prompted the europeans yesterday finally to agree on this package of sanctions is the clear evidence that the russian leadership is continuing to be involved with this military, with these military separatists. in eastern ukraine. and it's something that needs to stop. and if it doesn't, they're going -- i think we've now shown there are going to be serious consequences for mr. putin and his fellow countrymen. >> host: as we noted, secretary kerry is meeting with ukraine's foreign ministers this morning at about 10:15. what do you make of how he's handled himself in both ukraine and also what's happening in israel and gaza? >> guest: i'm very disappointed in the secretary of state, and i have a lot of company in that respect. and, of course, he represents administration policy, no question about it. i don't think anybody in

helsinki commission. it's known for many things. it's known for its standing up for human rights globally. and we have talked about america asking the international community to have open borders when their instability in their community. most recently the problems in syria. we thank the people of turkey, the people of jordan for having open borders so people can find safe havens. well, we better take care of our issues at home first. we have humanitarian responsibilities, and this supplemental appropriation takes care of that. $1.2 billion to health and human services to deal with adequate shelter for these children so they are properly cared for. that's our responsibility. they have certain rights, certain rights. the majority will be returned to their host country in a safe manner, but there are many that are entitled to asylum. there are many who have been victimized by the traffickers and are in fear of their life. there is no safe option and have a right to expect our country to reach out in a humanitarian way to take care of

last week at a hearing at the helsinki commission to speak out against the rise of anti-semitism, we need your help. we need your individual organizations, your collectives to speak out against the rise of ventas semitism, to speak out for justice, to speak out for , andafety of the israelis to stand united on the side of what is right, on our democratic ally. today, we stand in solidarity with the people of israel. i am proud to be here today. thank you. [applause] >> my name is les, and i am a chairman of the board in greater los angeles, and i am here proud represent los angeles and to say loud and clear that los angeles stands with solidarity with israel's right to defend itself. introduceleasure to the chairman of the house of representatives committee on foreign affairs, this fellow southern californian has helped to ensure that congress has israel's back 20 four/7, 365. please join me in welcoming congressman ed rice. [applause] >> les, thank you very much. what i thought i would share with you or some of my i hadations about trip taken during the second lebanon war, and i had

point of fact, the united states embassy in helsinki in february of last year inaugurated its own innovation center as a part of the embassy complex in the presence of the president and members of his cabinet. the purpose of the innovation center being to function as a focal point and as a forum for interchange between the united states and finland in precisely this area. another way in which i think these shared exchanges can be enhanced is through the international visitor leadership program of which finland has been a very active participant. in fact the president himself is an alumnus of an international visitor leadership program visit to the united states as are several of the members of his cabinet. and many of these exchanges have focused on the area of education whereas you say finland and the united states each will greatly benefit from a continuation of these exchanges to further the aspects of education. >> you alluded a little bit to this in your testimony but just talk about the current status of u.s./finnish defense cooperation which would have a sensitivity because of finland

our secret fallback position, our final author in the strategic arms limitations negotiations in helsinki in 1971. there and team was trying to achieve as much security for the united states as possible from nuclear attacks. had on the table is there in a dealing with the russians and asking them to stop the construction of all nuclear missiles among both land and submarine based. reporter,to another one of our senior officials, fight it in him that we were willing to settle for less -- confided in him we were willing to settle for less and we did not expect to get that much security from the russians and if they turned us down, we would be willing to settle for a ban on construction of a land based missiles at letting them go ahead with marine base. when that was printed and the russians read it, you can imagine what it did to our chances of getting more secure arrangement, greater protection for our country. that was definitely a security leak which needed to be plugged. then there was no release of the pentagon papers by daniel ells burg in 1971. had been ellsberg identified so the cas

our secret fallback position, our final offer in the strategic arms limitations negotiations in helsinki in 1971. our negotiators there and team was trying to achieve as much security for the united states as possible from nuclear attacks. the package which we had on the table in their dealing with the russians and asking them to stop the construction of all nuclear missiles among both land and submarine based. according to another reporter, one of our senior officials, confided in him we were willing to settle for less and we did not expect to get that much security from the russians and if they turned us down, we would be willing to settle for a ban on construction of land based missiles at letting them go ahead with submarine based. when that was printed and the russians read it, you can imagine what it did to our chances of getting more secure arrangement, greater protection for our country. that was definitely a security leak which needed to be plugged. then there was no release of the -- the release of the pentagon papers by daniel ellsberg in 1971. of course ellsberg had been iden