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I first visited the former Soviet Union in 1 987 when I served as President of the 

 University of Alaska to explore cooperative opportunities in science . In July 1 992 and 

 as Chairman of the U. S. Arctic Research Commission, I met with the Arctic Research 

 Commission, Russian Academy of Sciences and traveled to parts of the Russian 

 Arctic. These experiences, I believe, are relevant to your discussions as there have 

 been many changes in Russian science over the past five years. 



My primary observations are: 



1) In 1987, leaders of Russian science that I met in Moscow and Siberia 

 expressed a desire to establish greater contacts with western scientists, particularly in 

 the U.S. and especially to learn U.S. scientific methodologies and to gain access to 

 U.S. technologies such as computers. The means of doing so was bilateral 

 agreements premised on the host country pays all in-country expenses of the visiting 

 scientist. 



2) In 1990 I traveled to the Soviet Union to sign a series of agreements including a 

 plan to establish a joint international science center in Magadan supported by the Far 

 East Branch of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and the University of Alaska. 



I note that 1 4 bilateral agreements between the University of Alaska and various 

 research institutes across Russia have been been signed (see list). The degree of 

 activity in each is primarily a function of U.S. funding because in today's economic 

 realities Russia cannot pay costs of U.S. scientists in Russia. Although openness had 

 engendered even more willingness to propose joint research projects in 1990, access 

 to many areas of the Russian Arctic remained under tight control. 



3) In July 1992, the Arctic Research Commission went to Northeastern Russia, met 

 with various officials and scientists and visited a number of sites of scientific and 



