[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 4, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H712-H713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      EAST TIMOR SHOULD BE HIGHER PRIORITY FOR U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Wolf] is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I was pleased today to see the editorial, 
which I will submit for the Record, in the Washington Post about East 
Timor. Like many issues in Washington, one minute it is hot and the 
next minute it is not. The editorial writer cautions, ``The Nobel Peace 
Prize brought a brief flare of publicity to East Timor's just but long 
neglected case, and then, just as Indonesia's government hoped, world 
tension turn elsewhere.''
  But we must not let East Timor drop off the radar screen. For over 20 
years the people there have suffered and fought for their human rights, 
and it would be immoral to let them down now. The United States needs 
to focus on this issue more. We need to make it a higher priority with 
regard to our foreign policy.
  In November, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo shared the 1996 Nobel Peace 
Prize and he was nominated for the prize by our colleague, the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hall]. He was nominated for his efforts to 
encourage peace, reconciliation and human rights.
  In January, I had the opportunity to visit Bishop Belo in East Timor. 
I found people were scared, scared of being arrested in the middle of 
the night; scared of being tortured; scared of disappearing without a 
trace. People I talked to had had family members who were killed or who 
had disappeared. We heard reports of police breaking into homes in the 
middle of the night and arresting young people. We met one young man 
whose ear had been slashed by the Indonesian security forces. People 
were afraid to talk to us, ever conscious of the pervasive military and 
security presence on the island. I felt like I was back in Romania in 
1985 under the tyranny of Nicolae Ceausescu.
  Last week I met with Jose Ramos-Horta, who shared the 1996 Nobel 
Peace Prize with Bishop Belo. He came to Washington to raise awareness 
of the conflict and told stories of torture and repression on the 
island.
  The United States, and the administration in particular, has an 
obligation to illustrate to the world that campaign donations have 
nothing to do with their policy in this region. We have an obligation 
to speak out and use our influence with the Indonesian Government.
  We should encourage Jakarta to negotiate a peaceful settlement and in 
the meantime reduce the repressive and heavy-handed police presence on 
the island. We should urge them to allow human rights monitors. We 
should appoint a prominent American to work on this issue full time. 
This person would enhance the good work already being done by the 
United Nations and U.S. Ambassador Stapleton Roy. A more aggressive 
diplomatic effort by the U.S. Government is needed.
  I have raised this issue with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright 
and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger. I have urged them to 
prioritize this issue in U.S. foreign policy. But I rise today to urge 
anyone who cares about East Timor to do the same.

                              {time}  1245

  I urge Members of Congress, religious leaders, human rights activists 
and anybody who is concerned, contact Secretary Albright, contact Sandy 
Berger at the White House and urge them to focus on this issue. Write 
them. Call them. Fax them. These are the people in our Government who 
will be looking at this issue. These are the people who need to know 
that Americans care.
  The East Timorese are entitled to decide for themselves who they want 
to run their affairs. Mr. Ramos-Horta is calling for a plebiscite, a 
referendum. This is an idea worth considering. In the meantime they are 
entitled to live in peace and without fear of repression. Encouraging 
the Indonesian Government to resolve this conflict once and for all is 
the least we can do as a country dedicated to freedom and justice and 
democracy. This is an important issue for the United States. It is an 
important issue for the people of East Timor, who have suffered for 20 
years. Let President Clinton, let Secretary Albright, let Mr. Berger 
know that you care.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the editorial to which I 
referred:

[[Page H713]]

                [From the Washington Post, Mar. 4, 1997]

                          Off the Screen Again

       Last October the Nobel Peace Prize went to two leaders of 
     East Timor, a distant South Pacific island where a small 
     population has been valiantly resisting Indonesian 
     colonization for more than two decades. The prize brought a 
     brief flare of publicity to East Timor's just but long-
     neglected cause, and then--just as Indonesia's government 
     hoped--world attention again turned elsewhere. Last week, one 
     of the Nobel laureates, Jose Ramos-Horta, came to Washington, 
     hoping to put East Timor back on the international agenda.
       Over the years, the United States has offered little 
     assistance. Anxious to please a Cold War ally, U.S. officials 
     looked the other way when Indonesia occupied East Timor in 
     1975 and when tens of thousands there died from what the 
     Nobel committee listed as ``starvation, epidemics, war and 
     terror.'' President Clinton, early in his term, seemed ready 
     to reverse traditional U.S. policy. His administration 
     supported a United Nations resolution criticizing Indonesia 
     on human rights, and in 1993 Mr. Clinton raised the issue of 
     East Timor with Indonesian President Suharto. But then Mr. 
     Clinton decided that trade mattered above all, and the plight 
     of East Timor again receded from U.S. policy screens.
       Last week, Mr. Ramos-Horta, a kind of unofficial foreign 
     minister, for the first time secured a meeting with senior 
     officials in the State Department. This is a positive, if 
     small, step forward. It should be followed by more action. 
     Indonesia is a modernizing nation of nearly 200 million 
     people who live on 6,000 islands. Its own interests are not 
     served by keeping captive 600,000 Timorese living on one of 
     those. Mr. Ramos-Horta is asking only for a plebiscite so the 
     East Tiomorese can decide their own future. It's a reasonable 
     request.

                          ____________________