[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 83 (Monday, June 27, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               THE CONTRACTING OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

 Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I rise today to question what this 
administration is doing with regard to Korea. Has this administration 
sunk so low as to use others to conduct our foreign policy because it 
is unable to do so itself? Are we contracting out our Nation's foreign 
policy?
  It is outrageous that not only did former President Carter go to 
North Korea to concede American foreign policy to the world's last 
Stalinist dictator, but that the administration allowed him to do so.
  The President wonders if Mr. Carter pulled off a miraculous 
diplomatic move. I fail to see the miracle in Kim Il-song's concession 
to Carter's highly publicized and grandstanding mission to North Korea. 
Kim could surely afford to agree to wait, while his nuclear fuel rods 
cool and his technicians plan their next move to build his nuclear 
arsenal for sale or threat against his neighbors.
  It all comes down to this. What we all again witnessed was an 
administration that is out of its element in foreign affairs, 
constantly outwitted and outmatched on every front by our opponents, 
North Korea being only the latest failure of American foreign policy 
under this administration.
  In the beginning of this administration, the policy was to simply 
ignore foreign affairs. After facing criticism, the policy changed to 
active engagement. Despite the attendant problems, I suggest that the 
administration go back to the old policy. Our foreign policy was better 
then--doing nothing got us in less trouble.
  Mr. President, I ask that the text of the article ``Jimmy Clinton,'' 
by William Safire, that appeared in the New York Times, be included in 
the Record, following the conclusion of my remarks.
  The article follows:

                             Jimmy Clinton

                          (By William Safire)

       Washington.--``It was kind of like a miracle,'' breathed 
     Jimmy Carter, about his conversation of North Korea's 
     dictator from lion to lamb.
       No wonder Kim Il Sung denied entry to special envoys chosen 
     by President Clinton last month. Senators Sam Nunn and 
     Richard Lugar would have presented a strong American position 
     on his nuclear bomb production.
       North Korea much preferred the eager courtship of Jimmy 
     Carter, who as President wanted to remove U.S. troops from 
     the South. Carter went not as a representative of the U.S., 
     but as one who opposed the imposition of pressure on the 
     North that would have made it costly for Kim to break the 
     nuclear treaty.
       Amazingly, as Carter proudly brought a CNN crew into his 
     meeting with the North Korean strongman, the world could see 
     and hear the American blatantly misrepresent the U.S. 
     position: Clinton would not continue to press for sanctions, 
     Carter declared, in direct contravention of instructions.
       Even more amazing was the reaction of what is laughingly 
     called the Clinton national security team to this usurpation 
     of Presidential authority. At the urging of Vice President 
     Gore, Mr. Clinton grasped for some reason to believe that 
     Carter's appeasement had worked, and that North Korea was 
     using the Carter brokerage as a face-saving device to make a 
     concession on its plutonium production.
       Enter what Kennedyites liked to call ``the Trollope ploy.'' 
     In the 19th-century romantic novels of Anthony Trollope, 
     heroines deliberately misinterpret a squeeze of the hand as a 
     proposal of marriage. Last week, Clinton chose to view Kim's 
     promise of a temporary suspension of his plutonium-making--a 
     pause required anyway to let rods cool--as the long-sought 
     verifiable ``freeze.''
       In response to this televised manipulation, Clinton then 
     embraced his loose cannon as his savior. We caved in to Kim's 
     demands to resume high-level talks that had been denied North 
     Korea after its repeated double-crossing of negotiators. 
     Crisis declared over.
       Here, on the vital interest of the United States in 
     stopping rogue states from becoming nuclear powers, we have 
     an amalgam of the worst of two Presidents.
       Jimmy Carter, truster of Leonid Brezhnev until Afghanistan, 
     truster and promoter of the B.C.C.I. banker until thousands 
     of depositors were bilked of their savings, makes his 
     pilgrimage to the last Stalinist--and again bets on the 
     contagion of his own indisputable goodness.
       Bill Clinton, passive in Bosnia, paper tiger in China, 
     other-directed about Haiti--is again hoping for a break to 
     distract the world's attention and to kick the can ahead for 
     decision by his nuclear-threatened successor.
       Result: the creation of President Jimmy Clinton, with the 
     return of the malaise of leaderlessness.
       Reaction of doves to this latest visit to Trollope is: 
     What's wrong with talking? If Kim wants meetings, give him 
     summits. Since we can't get China and Japan to help lean on 
     him, why not test his promise to ``suspend'' his nuclear 
     buildup, in return for recognition, trade and aid?
       The reason for not getting suckered into another year's 
     cat-and-mouse is the ticking of a clock. For safety's sake, 
     we should negotiate from strength; betting on our hopes is 
     irresponsible.
       North Korea is in the business of secretly building nuclear 
     bombs. It deceived the world by producing plutonium in the 
     past; the C.I.A. and the U.N. inspectors believe North Korea 
     has at least one device ready. From Moscow we learn that the 
     K.G.B. was convinced of Kim's impending capability four years 
     ago.
       Remember how wrong the world nuclear police turned out to 
     be in underestimating the advanced state of Saddam Hussein's 
     buildup? The odds are that the experts are just as wrong 
     about North Korean nukes today; a closed society can keep big 
     secrets.
       By pretending to be insulted by the world's nosiness, Kim 
     has already prevented the world from checking on his past 
     production of plutonium. Maybe it's in untested weapons; 
     maybe some has been sold to Iran; maybe more is being made 
     secretly beyond Yongbyon.
       We are today giving him the time to make a fresh five-bomb 
     supply. If we do not accede to his demands this fall, Kim 
     will add to the stockpile beyond our reach.
       That's the position Jimmy Clinton has placed us in. With no 
     basis for trust, we're trusting North Korea with precious 
     time. It's kind of like a miracle.

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