[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 11 (Thursday, January 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1234-S1235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN:
  S. 251. A bill to make provisions of title IV of the Trade Act of 
1974 applicable to Cambodia; to the Committee on Finance.


          most-favored-nation status for cambodia legislation

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, last year, I introduced legislation 
to clear up an anomaly in United States law that prohibits the 
President from granting Cambodia most-favored-nation status [MFN]. 
Despite my efforts, Cambodia is without MFN and the President is still 
without the statutory power to grant it. There were many more important 
issues for Congress to address in 1994. But MFN is very important to 
Cambodia. And it should be important to all of us interested in a 
stable and prosperous Southeast Asia. Accordingly, today, I am 
reintroducing legislation to grant MFN to Cambodia.
  Areas of Indochina under Communist control, including significant 
portions of Cambodia, were denied MFN under the Trade Agreements 
Extension Act of 1951 and the 1974 Trade Act. Cambodia as a whole was 
denied MFN in 1975 by Executive action and its new trading status was 
confirmed by Congress in the 1988 Trade Act.
  The 1974 Trade Act provided a process for restoring MFN to those 
nations then denied it. However, only a portion of Cambodia was denied 
MFN at the time the 1974 act was signed into law. There is no clear 
legal authority for restoring MFN to the entire nation under the 
processes established by the 1974 Trade Act. It cannot be restored by 
reversing the action taken in 1975 through an Executive order because 
Cambodia's non-MFN trading status was made law in the 1988 Trade Act. 
In short, the President wants to grant MFN to Cambodia, but lacks the 
authority to do so.
  The legislation I am introducing would give the President the 
authority to grant Cambodia MFN status by bringing the entire country 
under the restoration procedure of the 1974 Trade Act. Under these 
procedures, Cambodia will have to demonstrate compliance with the 
requirements of the Jackson-Vanik amendment, reach a bilateral 
agreement with the United States, and have its status approved by the 
Congress. The President may also waive the requirements of Jackson-
Vanik, which has for political reasons come to mean a policy decision 
far beyond the original concern for emigration, and immediately upon 
this legislation becoming law, extend MFN to Cambodia. Cambodia would 
be eligible to receive MFN by virtually the same process 
[[Page S1235]] that all other non-MFN countries, except the Baltics, 
have received it since the signing of the 1974 Trade Act.
  I want to emphasize that if this bill becomes law, the President will 
retain his prerogatives to respond to developments in Cambodia.
  Despite some disturbing developments in Cambodia since I introduced 
this legislation for the first time last May, I remain hopeful for the 
future of Cambodia. Cambodia's democracy is a very fragile and 
incomplete one, but it is a democracy. It needs careful attention to 
fully develop and sustain the rights of the Cambodian people. Promoting 
economic development through open markets would offer considerable 
support for Cambodian democracy and demonstrate American concern for 
its future. I encourage my colleagues to act on legislation to grant 
MFN to Cambodia at the earliest possible opportunity.
                                 ______