The Helsinki Commission is a Cold War relic that needs to go

Every government institution should periodically be asked a simple question: is it still performing the mission for which Congress created it?

That principle has become a hallmark of the Trump administration. Through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the closing of USAID, and the restructuring of federal agencies, the administration has encouraged the reexamination of longstanding institutions to ensure they remain faithful to their original purposes.

That question should now be asked of one of Washington's least scrutinized congressional bodies: the U.S. Helsinki Commission.

Congress established the U.S. Helsinki Commission in 1976, one year after the signing of the Helsinki Final Act, the culminating political agreement of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). The CSCE was a landmark diplomatic process that brought together the United States, Canada, the Soviet Union, and virtually every European nation at the height of the Cold War. The CSCE later evolved into today's Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The Helsinki Final Act established a political framework intended to reduce East-West tensions by promoting military transparency, economic cooperation, and respect for fundamental human rights. Congress established the U.S. Helsinki Commission as the United States' oversight body for monitoring implementation of the Helsinki Final Act. Today, members of the commission also serve as the U.S. delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, linking the commission directly to the broader institutional framework that grew out of the Helsinki process.

There’s just one problem: the Cold War ended more than three decades ago, and the Soviet Union no longer exists. Yet the organization — and its $3 million annual budget — have continued trudging along. The question today is not whether the commission once served an important purpose. Rather, it is why Congress has allowed it to continue operating beyond the mission for which it was originally created.

The commission's sustained and biased focus on the country of Georgia over the past several years illustrates why that question deserves serious attention. Most recently, at its 33rd Annual Session on July 8, 2026, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted the “Resolution on Upholding Election Integrity and Fundamental Freedoms in Georgia.” Sponsored by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), co-chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, the resolution was a political attack on Georgia's elected conservative government, exemplifying the kind of institutional overreach that has increasingly come to characterize the U.S. Helsinki Commission.

This stands in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s approach. On July 16, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Georgia's vice prime minister and foreign minister, Maka Botchorishvili, to Washington to participate in a high-level ministerial meeting alongside representatives from more than sixty nations. One day later, President Donald Trump wrote directly to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, expressing appreciation for Georgia's friendship and affirming his desire to strengthen U.S.-Georgia cooperation in support of sovereignty, security, and lasting prosperity. Yet during this same period, Congressman Joe Wilson was helping advance a resolution through the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly that sought to further isolate Georgia.

Acting through the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Wilson has repeatedly advanced biased foreign policy initiatives toward Georgia that diverge from the administration's friendlier approach. Through projects like these, the commission has evolved beyond its original oversight mission into an independent platform for pursuing foreign policy initiatives as individual members of Congress see fit.

The commission's campaign against Georgia rests on the unproven premise that the country's current government lacks democratic legitimacy. The OSCE alleged that the October 2024 parliamentary elections were undermined by voter intimidation and the implementation of a law aimed at reducing foreign influence in the country. In part as a response to these concerns, the European Parliament called for the elections to be re-run.

Yet no international election observers — including the OSCE — have rejected the results. Georgia's 2024 elections produced an 89-61 parliamentary majority for the governing Georgian Dream party. The results were certified under Georgia's constitutional process and confirmed through a recount. Nearly 90% of ballots were cast using electronic voting technology supplied by Smartmatic, an international election technology company, with the voting system independently tested by the American laboratory Pro V&V. One year later, Georgian voters again returned the governing party to victory in nationwide local elections.

Based on these facts, it is difficult to understand how the commission can credibly continue to advance the premise of democratic illegitimacy. In any case, the Trump administration has made clear that such debates are immaterial to its foreign policy approach; the 2025 National Security Strategy states that U.S. foreign policy should be grounded in respect for national sovereignty and cooperation based on shared strategic interests rather than attempts to reshape the domestic politics of partner nations.

Since 1997, my company has invested significantly in Georgia's oil and gas sector. During that time, I have watched Georgia welcome American companies like mine across virtually every sector of its economy, recognizing U.S. investment as an important contributor to its economic growth and its strategic partnership with the United States. I have also watched the country evolve from a struggling post-Soviet state into one of America's most reliable strategic partners in the South Caucasus and one of Eastern Europe's leading examples of democratic and economic transformation. My firsthand experience bears no resemblance to the picture repeatedly presented by Wilson and the commission.

Congress did not create the commission to act as a shadow State Department. Wilson’s relentless campaign against Georgia's elected government has become a one-man crusade intent on undermining relations with Georgia, a longtime ally and strategic partner. Even the Commission's own leadership has begun to distance itself from his approach. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the commission's chairman, recently told Wilson to “stop embarrassing yourself” over a proposal to bring the 2027 OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to South Carolina at a taxpayer cost of approximately $4 million.

There is a broader disturbing pattern in the commission's treatment of Georgia. Its hearings on Georgia have consistently featured biased critics and political opponents of the country’s democratically elected conservative government while excluding credible alternative viewpoints, resulting in a one-sided record of advocacy.

This pattern was evident in the commission's September 2025 hearing entitled “From Partner to Problem: Georgia's Anti-American Turn.” The panel featured former President Salome Zourabichvili, a vocal figure in Georgia's political opposition, as a principal witness without providing representation from Georgia's elected government or any witness offering a contrary perspective. Moreover, Wilson has repeatedly referred to Georgia's democratically elected government as "illegitimate" and “anti-American,” a characterization that goes unchallenged and stands in marked contrast to the broader conduct of official U.S.-Georgia relations, including continued constructive engagement by the administration and members of both the House and Senate.

The commission's institutional overreach has consequences that extend well beyond foreign policy. It also undermines American economic interests by exaggerating political risk, discouraging investment, and placing U.S. companies operating in Georgia at a competitive disadvantage.

Congress created the U.S. Helsinki Commission to monitor compliance with the Helsinki Final Act during the Cold War — not to advance foreign policy agendas of its own choosing.

The U.S. Helsinki Commission fulfilled the mission Congress assigned it nearly fifty years ago. The Cold War has ended, the Soviet Union no longer exists, and the commission has outlived the purpose for which it was created. Its conduct toward Georgia has demonstrated how far it has strayed from its original mission. The time has come for Congress and the administration to sunset the U.S. Helsinki Commission for the benefit of the American taxpayer.