[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 17, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3500-S3501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FOREIGN TRAVEL, APRIL 2 THROUGH APRIL 5, 1996

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, on April 2, on behalf of the Senate 
Intelligence Committee, I traveled to Paris and then to The Hague, 
where I consulted with the prosecution teams of the war crimes tribunal 
to assess their progress. Then, on April 3, on to Belgrade April 4, 
then to Tuzla, and back to Paris on the evening of April 4.
  While in Paris, I had the opportunity to observe the operation of the 
Paris Embassy, under the direction of Ambassador Pamela Harriman. I was 
very much impressed with what I saw of the operation there. Ambassador 
Harriman conducts a large Embassy. Really, Paris is the crossroads of 
the European continent. There are many complex issues that confront the 
Embassy involving security matters with NATO, involving commercial 
matters, involving activities that touch upon the operation of the 
Senate Intelligence Committee and the Central Intelligence Agency. I 
was very much impressed with those operations.
  During the course of my discussions with Ambassador Harriman, I 
discussed with her the cuts in the budget of the State Department in 
the so-called 150 Account. And from the work I have done on the 
Appropriations Committee, and in the past having been on the 
subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Department of State, it is my 
sense that the cuts that have been imposed are excessive.
  I asked Ambassador Harriman to prepare for me a list of specifics, 
which she has done, entitled ``Disinvesting in Diplomacy,'' pointing 
out how hard hit large Embassies will be, like the Embassy in Paris, 
and with the specification of the cuts and the impact of those cuts on 
her operation. I was especially impressed with one of her offices, from 
which 17 officers had been cut, under last year's reduction, to 12, and 
if the anticipated cuts are put into effect for next year, down to 7.
  Mr. President, at the conclusion of my remarks, I ask unanimous 
consent that the specification under the caption ``Divesting in 
Diplomacy'' be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ashcroft). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, while in Paris, and at the Embassy on the 
evening of April 2, I visited with Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown for 
whom a reception was held in his honor along with the Secretary of 
Labor Robert Reich.
  As we all know, on the very next day Secretary Brown and his company 
met their untimely deaths with the crash of their plane making a 
landing approach into Sarajevo.
  When Secretary Brown and I spoke on the evening of April 2 at about 
6:45 he was robust, enthusiastic, and very anxious to carry out his 
responsibilities as Secretary of Commerce. He had brought with him a 
group of United States businessmen who could be instrumental in the 
rebuilding and the revitalization of Bosnia.
  It is well accepted that, if the peace in Bosnia is to stay and is to 
hold, there will have to be a buildup of the infrastructure there, and 
Secretary Brown was there in connection with those duties. He and I 
talked about meeting in Sarajevo or Zagreb. But that meeting 
unfortunately did not take place. The next morning I departed for 
Serbia, was in Belgrade, and had a plane on April 3 to travel to 
Sarajevo. That plane was canceled because of weather. We did not go to 
Sarajevo, and the same weather conditions resulted in the fatal crash 
of Secretary Brown and his company.
  I traveled the next day to Tuzla, arrived there early in the morning, 
was met by General Cherry, and we immediately talked about Secretary 
Brown's visit the preceding day. Secretary Brown had arrived at 6:40 
a.m. on April 3 and visited the United States military establishment in 
Tuzla, and departed at 1:58 p.m. And then, as we know, shortly 
thereafter the fatal crash occurred on the approach to the landing in 
Dubrovnik.
  Secretary Brown was certainly a stalwart advocate of U.S. interests, 
and his loss will be deeply felt by the U.S. Government. On behalf of 
my wife Joan, I want to convey our deepest sympathies and condolences 
to Ron's wife, Alma, and their two children, Michael and Tracey, and 
the rest of their family.

                               Exhibit 1

                       Disinvesting in Diplomacy

       Large projected cuts in the 150 account will hamper our 
     ability to attain U.S. economic, security and political 
     objectives worldwide for many years to come.
       Among the hardest-hit will be our large embassies in 
     Western Europe. These Embassies protect and promote vital 
     U.S. interests. Western Europe is home to most of our biggest 
     and most powerful trading and investment partners. NATO is 
     our most important military alliance.
       Our European allies share our democratic ideals and are 
     willing to join us in coalitions to promote global stability. 
     A few, such as France, have global military, economic, 
     technological and commercial interests which parallel our 
     own. In France, our diplomacy reaches well beyond bilateral 
     relations to include cooperation and burdensharing on a broad 
     range of global issues.
       Embassy Paris, like most other major Embassies, is cutting 
     back sharply its operations while trying to economize. The 
     consulate in Lyon was closed in 1992. In 1996, the Bordeaux 
     consulate also had to be closed. The latter had been in 
     operation since George Washington's Presidency.
       In 1996, the Embassy was required to close its travel and 
     tourism office. Its ten person staff, which was handling 
     100,000 requests for information annually from potential 
     foreign visitors to the U.S., was eliminated. The calls will 
     have to be absorbed or redirected with no increase in staff.
       In the past two years, Embassy Paris has cut the operating 
     hours of its communication center by 65 percent. A hiring 
     freeze has been in place for four years, and the Embassy's 
     French work force has not received a pay increase in three 
     years. Twenty-five French employee positions have been marked 
     for elimination. The list of other reductions is long.
       In view of these reduced resources, Embassy Paris is making 
     a concerted effort to ``work smarter'' with fewer resources. 
     It has formed ``teams'' to pool interagency assets more 
     effectively. It has negotiated savings of $3,000,000 over 
     five years in local service contracts. It instituted a new 
     interactive automated telephone service for visa applicants 
     which generates $8,000 to $10,000/month in revenues. A 
     consolidation of warehouses is saving $400,000 per years. A 
     new computerized pass and ID system allowed the Embassy to 
     cut 10 Marine guards.
       This kind of innovation has allowed cuts to be distributed 
     and absorbed within the Embassy without drastic cutbacks in 
     services thus far. However, this is now likely to change.
       The State Department is calling for another round of deep 
     personnel cuts. For Paris, this would entail a 43 percent 
     drop in core diplomatic personnel in the 1995 to 1998 period. 
     Reductions this large will impact heavily on core diplomatic 
     strengths and the Embassy's effectiveness. Some of the 
     effects will be:
       Advocacy for U.S. trade and business interests will be 
     reduced in frequency and effectiveness (recent investment 
     problems handled by the Embassy included U.S. firms in the 
     food processing, pharmaceutical and information industries).
       The loss of the Embassy's ability to monitor the Paris 
     Club, the organization which negotiates debt rescheduling 
     affecting billions owed the USG by developing countries.
       A 50 percent reduction in contacts with the key French 
     officials we must reach if we are to influence French policy 
     and advocate U.S. positions on questions of vital interest to 
     us.
       Closure of the Science office at a time when our 
     cooperative exchanges with France on nuclear, space and 
     health technology matters (to mention only three) should be 
     growing rapidly.
       Significant cutbacks and slowdowns in passport and welfare 
     services to U.S. citizens. Passport issuance will take 3 to 5 
     days instead of one. Prison visits will be cut to one per 
     year. Consuls will no longer attend trials of U.S. citizens. 
     The consulate will be open to the public for only two hours 
     per day.
       A 60 percent reduction in State Department reporting from 
     Paris, including the political and economic analysis we need 
     on France's activities in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, 
     and Asia.
       These trends are disturbing and merit closer attention. The 
     Administration and Congress must work together to assess 
     carefully how budgetary and personnel cutbacks affect our 
     core diplomatic capabilities in Western Europe and elsewhere. 
     This is especially true at a moment when business and 
     information is globalizing and our national interests dictate 
     that we be even more intensively engaged with our key allies 
     than in the past.

  (The remarks of Mr. Specter pertaining to the submission of Senate 
Resolution 247 are printed in today's Record under ``Submission of 
Concurrent and Senate Resolutions.'')
  (The remarks of Mr. Specter pertaining to the introduction of S. 1681 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. SPECTER. I thank the Chair.

[[Page S3501]]

  I yield the floor, and with that conclude the activities of the 
Senate today.

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