[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 98 (Thursday, June 15, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1256-E1257]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 AMERICAN OVERSEAS INTERESTS ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                               speech of

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 8, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1561), to 
     consolidate the foreign affairs agencies of the United 
     States; to authorize appropriations for the Department of 
     State and related agencies for fiscal year 1996 and 1997; to 
     responsibly reduce the authorizations of appropriations for 
     United Stats foreign assistance programs for fiscal year 1996 
     and 1997, and for other purposes:

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I want to express my opposition to the 
amendment proposed by my distinguished friend from Illinois, Mr. Hyde. 
I have the highest regard for my friend from Illinois. He and I have 
worked together on many issues, and we agree on many of the most 
fundamental of those issues. I respect his principled opposition to the 
War Powers Act, and I have heard him express his disagreement with that 
legislation on many different occasions over the years as we have 
served together on the Foreign Relations Committee.
  Like Congressman Hyde, I have serious reservations about the way in 
which fundamental questions regarding the decision to commit United 
States troops abroad have been made over the years. I have had 
disagreements with Republican presidents and with Democratic 
presidents, and it will come as no surprise to my colleagues to know 
that I have not hesitated to express those differences both publicly 
and privately. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on International 
Security, International Organizations, and Human Rights in the last 
Congress, I chaired a number of hearings related to this issue.
  I have the highest regard for my distinguished friend from Illinois, 
and I acknowledge that his amendment to repeal the War Powers Act and 
to establish provisions that provide for Executive-Legislative 
consultations is a serious and
 thoughtful effort to deal with the problem of the commitment and 
involvement of American military forces abroad.

  At the same time, however, Mr. Hyde's amendment suffers from the same 
fundamental flaw that undermines the entire bill that is before us 
today, Mr. Chairman. It is a partisan document that has been imposed by 
the Republican majority, first in the International Relations Committee 
and now, I fear, in the House of Representatives. Our foreign policy 
should be a bipartisan effort that jointly involves the Administration 
and the Congress, and both of our political parties. Furthermore, it is 
again being done without thoughtful deliberate consideration and 
evaluation by the Committee of jurisdiction.
  There were no hearings in the International Relations Committee on 
the specific amendment Mr. Hyde is presenting to us here today; There 
was no effort to solicit the thoughtful views of the Administration 
about mechanisms to assure consultation between the Administration and 
the Congress; there was no effort to seek the views of scholars and 
lawyers and historians about the potential impact of those changes; 
there was no attempt to develop an amendment that had input from and 
reflected the concerns of the Democratic members of the International 
Relations Committee.
  Regretfully, Mr. Chairman, with Mr. Hyde's amendment we are simply 
continuing the partisan politicization of our foreign policy at the 
very time that we should be working together to deal with the serious 
challenges that our Nation faces in the post-cold war world. There 
[[Page E1257]] may be merit in the proposals of my distinguished friend 
from Illinois, but this amendment should be thoughtfully considered and 
evaluated, not presented as an amendment to this piece of legislation 
without proper reflection.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose the amendment.
  

                          ____________________