[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H5487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      MEMBERS URGED TO SUPPORT THE AMERICAN OVERSEAS INTERESTS ACT

  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, the House today is scheduled to continue our 
work on the American Overseas Interests Act--a bill designed to reform 
and reorganize and downsize our Nation's foreign affairs operations so 
that we can better serve our international interests in the years 
ahead.
  This bill cuts foreign aid spending by $3 billion over 2 years and 
$21 billion over 7 years, while serving our national security needs and 
international economic interests, and providing humanitarian assistance 
for people who have been hit by disaster and cannot provide for 
themselves.
  By maintaining support for the Camp David accords, we are signaling 
the opponents of peace in the Middle East as well as radical 
fundamentalists working to undermine other countries in the Middle East 
that are friendly to the United States, that our resolve to stay the 
course remains firm.
  Our international relations measure punishes our adversaries by 
cutting off aid to countries that provide weapons to terrorist states 
and that consistently vote against us in the United Nations.
  It is a sound bill, in the interests of Government reform. I urge my 
colleagues to support it.


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