Both the Washington Post and New York Times reported today the Sec. State Rice criticized Russia for moving against NGOs. A proposed law, which will be voted on Dec. 16, would ban foreign NGOs and limit what foreigh grants and foreign employees Russian NGOs could have. All NGOs would have to re-register and a state agency would decide if they can continue to operate. Officials are defending the bill, saying it is needed to crack down on graft and stop terrorist influence over NGOs. Rice's comments are interesting- makes one wish the Bush administration felt the same way about American nonprofits. For instance, she said "We would certainly hope that the importance of nongovernmental organizations to a stable democratic environment would be understood by the Russian government," and "Democracy is "built on the ability of citizens to associate themselves freely and to work to bring their government into a particular direction," Rice said. Nongovernmental organizations in Russia "are simply trying to help citizens to organize themselves better, to petition their government to make changes in the policies that affect their very lives. That's the essence of democracy."