[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 42 (Thursday, April 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1419-H1428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          REPORT ON TRIP TO ASIA LED BY SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore [Mr. Hastings of Washington]. Under the 
Speaker's announced policy of January 7, 1997, the gentleman from 
Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter] is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of 
the majority leader.

[[Page H1420]]

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the special order I have 
taken out today is to relate to the House and to the American people 
the details about a trip to Asia led by the Speaker, the gentleman from 
Georgia [Mr. Gingrich], and 11 other Members of the House during the 
period of March 23 through April 2 of this year.
  Accompanying Speaker Gingrich was the senior Democrat in the House of 
Representatives and the senior Member of the House, the gentleman from 
Michigan, Mr. John Dingell, the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Robert 
Livingston, the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. John Boehner, the gentleman 
from California, Mr. Chris Cox, the gentlewoman from Washington, Ms. 
Jennifer Dunn, the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Alcee Hastings, the 
gentleman from California, Mr. Jay Kim, the gentleman from California, 
Mr. Ed Royce, the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. William ``Jeff'' 
Jefferson, the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Mark Foley, and this Member. 
Also accompanying us on part of the trip, that part relating to China, 
Japan, and Taiwan, was the junior Senator from the State of Florida, 
Connie Mack.
  Mr. Speaker, in this trip we visited the following cities, in this 
order: first to Seoul, Korea; then to Hong Kong; to Beijing; to 
Shanghai; to Tokyo; and to Taipei, Taiwan.
  As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the 
Committee on International Relations, some 2 years ago when I took 
control and chairmanship of the subcommittee, I set out three guiding 
objectives. The first of those objectives is to maintain our military 
and naval strength in the Pacific region, because it is in our national 
interest, and because our military and naval forces there are a source 
of security for the entire region. I think it makes it much less likely 
that we will have extraordinary arms races in East or Southeast Asia, 
as long as a military presence is there from the United States.
  Indeed, it is rather remarkable that every nation in the region, with 
the possible exception of North Korea, wants the United States to be 
there in that significant role. Constantly we are asked whether or not 
the United States is there and will retain its forces there in the 
foreseeable future.
  The second guiding objective is to maintain and in fact enhance our 
economic presence in the region, our business presence, our export 
presence, our American business activity, including investments.
  Third, rather than check them at the door, the guiding principle will 
be to take American objectives and principles to Asia and continue to 
push for their introduction and sustenance. They would include, of 
course, the rule of law, a democracy, free and fair elections, and 
human rights, as well as taking economic freedom to the region.
  Those are the objectives that were pursued by the Speaker's CODEL to 
Asia. I am very pleased that so many of my colleagues, in a bipartisan 
effort, made this trip. I would like to begin very briefly, until I am 
joined by the Speaker and other Members.
  First of all, I would mention as an overview a few things about the 
countries that we visited.

                              {time}  1345

  First, the Republic of Korea, which we know, of course, is South 
Korea, this is our fifth largest trading partner. Our exports to the 
Republic of Korea exceed $30 billion with a trade surplus of about $3.9 
billion during 1996.
  Our meetings in Seoul, South Korea, oriented Members regarding the 
problems of instability and deep economic and food problems in North 
Korea and the nature of North Korea's military threat to South Korea. 
We had top level access to South Korean Government officials, including 
an hour with President Kim Yong-sam, who took all of our questions and 
then honored our visit with a subsequent luncheon in the Blue House.
  We visited the demilitarized zone, a very unusual place, I must say, 
on this planet and participated in military briefings by the commander 
of all United States forces in Korea. The Speaker also had an 
opportunity to visit the officers and troops of the U.S. Army 2d 
Division in their forward sector on the DMZ. We have about 37,000 
American military personnel in Korea, most of them forward based along 
the DMZ. And that, of course, does not include military dependents and 
civilian members of the U.S. Government.
  I will also briefly mention our trip to Japan before we proceed to 
discussion of China, even though it is out of order. In Japan we also 
had access to top leadership, including a breakfast and question and 
answer period with Prime Minister Hashimoto. He assured us that in the 
next few days, at that time, he would lead an effort to proceed with 
the extension of leases for the reconfigured United States bases in 
Okinawa, even if it jeopardized his government.
  The trip reemphasized the fact for all of us that Japan is our most 
crucial military ally in East Asia. The fact that it has the second 
largest economy in the world by a wide margin and the fact that the 
state of our military and political relationship with Japan is 
excellent. However, we continue to have major trade difficulties with 
Japan, and several of us raised trade issues with the Ministry of 
International Trade and Industry.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Gingrich].
  Mr. GINGRICH. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter] 
is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and was a 
tremendously important part of our trip.
  It was a very important, I think, congressional delegation to Asia. 
We had a very strong membership of that delegation and representing 
both key Democrats and key Republicans here in the U.S. Congress. 
Overseas we had no partisanship. It was entirely one team functioning 
as Americans. In fact, on issues such as market widening, giving 
Americans more access to sales in other countries, we would have both a 
Democrat and a Republican making the case to make sure that people 
understood that we were united as one country in insisting on economic 
opportunity for Americans.
  Let me just say for my part that I thought there were a number of 
lessons to be learned. First, we visited South Korea and visited the 
fine young men and women of the 2d Division who are protecting South 
Korea and who are risking their lives on the North Korean border and 
who are spending a year away from their families in order to defend 
their country and our allies.
  It was very clear to me, first of all, that Seoul is now a capital of 
13 million very increasingly prosperous people in an increasingly 
democratic society with a free press, free elections and all of the 
turmoil and challenges of freedom, and that that is true in large part 
because it stands behind the shield of American defense.
  So one of the lessons I took out of this trip was that we need to 
make sure that our young men and women in uniform have the finest 
weapons that science and engineering can develop so that those weapons 
and that training gives those young men and women the best possible 
chance to survive in combat and that we who are here at home owe it to 
those who risk their lives and spend their courage to invest in the 
kinds of defense which will make it effective and save their lives.
  Second, that it is very clear that we need missile defense systems, 
both ballistic missile defenses and cruise missile defenses, because 
the greatest threat to the lives of our young people and the lives of 
our allies come from missiles that could be launched from North Korea 
or elsewhere. And unless we have systems to defend against those 
missiles, I think we have a problem.
  I will say, in terms of my recent commitments on economic growth and 
my discussions of eliminating the death taxes and eliminating taxes on 
savings and job creation, one of the things which impressed me when we 
were in Korea was that they were worried about growth declining to 5.8 
percent a year. That was a drop to 5.8 percent a year. We went to Hong 
Kong, where we saw 6.5 million people, possibly the highest per-capita 
income in the world, an island, some peninsulas, no natural resources, 
no automatic reason to be successful, but the courage, the hard work, 
the entrepreneurship, the intelligence of the people of Hong Kong had 
given them a tremendously vibrant system.
  And part of the reason was because they were in a situation where 
their tax code and their structure of government gave them the best of 
both low

[[Page H1421]]

interest rates and low taxes. People in Hong Kong pay a top rate of 15 
percent. Only 40 percent of the people pay that top rate of 15 percent. 
They have had a balanced budget for about 30 years. They have a $19 
billion surplus, their rainy day fund, which is actually paying 
interest.
  They insist that their public services be lean and effective and that 
they have civil servants rather than bureaucracies. And they insist, 
for example, that their mass transit actually pay for itself. And it is 
in that kind of a framework that it was very impressive to see the 
commitment that they had made to an economically vital future.
  We saw similar vitality in China where we were in Shanghai and saw 17 
percent of the world's construction cranes, according to the World 
Bank, literally 1 out of every 5 construction cranes in the entire 
world is in Shanghai and its major economic development in an area 
called Pudong. Interestingly, the Pudong region, which is right across 
the Huangpu River in Shanghai from the original city, was farmland 8 
years ago.
  We were able to look out. We went up a tower and looked out and saw 
150 highrise buildings simultaneously under construction. The reason is 
simple, they have very low taxes, tremendous incentives for investment. 
They are committed in the Shanghai area to the world market. And this 
is the great dilemma I think the entire delegation found in dealing 
with Hong Kong and in dealing with the People's Republic of China.
  On the one side there was great economic growth, increasing economic 
freedom, increasing commitment to the world market. On the other side 
there was a dictatorship in Beijing which still has many of 
the unfortunate repressive police-state characteristics of a classic 
dictatorship. And so we were faced with a challenge of encouraging the 
Chinese Government in Beijing to understand that Hong Kong works 
because of freedom. The freedom is indivisible. Economic freedom, 
religious freedom, and political freedom are connected together.

  And when you start breaking down one of those freedoms, the other two 
are not far behind. And I must say that I am very disappointed today, 
and I understand my colleague from Florida is going to spend more time 
on this, but the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Foley] and I were just 
discussing the article on page 1 of the New York Times, quote, right to 
protest in Hong Kong to be cut back, close quote, is exactly wrong. It 
is exactly what this delegation urged the Chinese Government not to do. 
It is exactly what this delegation urged Mr. Tung not to do.
  And I must say, I am very disappointed by this initial proposal and 
regard it as a step away from freedom and a step away from what they 
called two systems in one country. They did not talk about 1\1/2\ 
systems. They talked about two systems. The system of Beijing and the 
system of Hong Kong. And we kept trying to tell them, for Hong Kong to 
truly be a unique system, it must have freedom of speech. It must have 
a free news media. It must have free elections. It must have an honest, 
independent judiciary. It must have the rule of law. And it must have a 
law abiding and incorrupted Civil Service.
  This is, I think, a very sad day for us to be looking at this report 
from Hong Kong. I hope it is wrong. I hope that Mr. Tung will withdraw 
these proposals, because I think they are destructive of our 
understanding of where Hong Kong should go.
  We were quite candid about that. We hope that the reversion will 
work. We understand why the Chinese Government is excited. It is 
legitimate for China to want Hong Kong back. It is their national 
territory. But if they, in the process of reversion, destroy freedom, 
they should not be surprised to see the West react negatively. And they 
should not be surprised to see difficulties in Hong Kong. So I hope 
they will reconsider what we learned today.
  Let me say also that in Japan we were very impressed with the 
Japanese Government and the Prime Minister. Their commitment to a 
continued Japanese-American military relationship I thought was very, 
very important. And I think that all of us left Japan with a feeling 
that we have a very good friendship and that that is truly the base of 
our policies in Asia and that the Japanese-American alliance is strong 
and sound and both sides understand its importance.
  I must say that on the economic front, we were probably as aggressive 
with the Japanese as with any government we met with, in saying that 
now that they are the second largest economy in the world, that they 
have an obligation to open up their society, to have the kind of open 
markets that are legitimate, that for many, many years the United 
States has been generous to the world, for many years we have been the 
most open market in the world, but there is some reciprocity that is 
required. And I must commend the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Dingell] 
in particular, who made a very impassioned and very aggressive speech 
in favor of Japan being more open in its markets.
  We had a very good meeting in Taiwan. Taiwan is an illustration of 
the changes we are trying to encourage. We met with the first 
democratically-elected President in the history of China. We met with 
the speakers of the yuan and the upper house in a democratically-
elected free legislative body. There is free news coverage, and we had 
a press conference that certainly indicated they had a free press in 
Taipei. That is the situation that we faced, where we saw that freedom 
is possible and that we hope that the mainland Chinese will decide that 
Taiwan and Hong Kong are the wave of the future, not repression and 
dictatorship.
  We indicated clearly, both in Beijing and in Taiwan, that we favor a 
continuation of the bipartisan one China policy.
  I did say, on behalf of the House, which had voted 369 to 14 last 
year that we would defend Taiwan against unprovoked aggression, that 
the People's Republic of China has an absolute obligation to pursue the 
dialogue about one China with the people of Taiwan in a peaceful manner 
and that the United States would not accept an attempt to conquer 
Taiwan. We were also candid in Taiwan in emphasizing our commitment to 
a one China policy and that no one should engage in unilateral 
activity.
  I want to thank my colleagues for working with us on this tremendous 
trip and say to the House that in three speeches, one in Hong Kong, one 
in Beijing and one in Tokyo, I tried to speak for the House about the 
centrality of freedom in understanding America, that we truly believe 
our Declaration of Independence, that we truly believe that these are 
truths that are self-evident, not propositions, not debating points, 
but truths that are self-evident, that we truly believe that we are 
endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that means 
frankly that the rights Americans have and the rights that all human 
beings have across the planet are rights that come from God, not from 
politicians, not from lawyers, not from bureaucrats, not from the 
military or the police but from God, and that those rights, among which 
are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, mean at their heart 
that the right of free speech, the right of religion, the right of 
assembly, the right of a free news media, the right of free election, 
the right to the rule of law, the right to expect your government Civil 
Service to be honest and uncorruptible, that these are at the core of 
what we believe in.
  We tried to say to the Chinese, yes, we understand how excited you 
are at getting Hong Kong back, but you have to understand that we have 
the same emotional excitement about freedom, that to discuss freedom is 
to define being an American. And to ask an American to come to China 
and not talk about freedom is to ask an American to not be talking 
about America and to not talk about the values that make us the country 
we are.
  We also felt that while that discussion should be respectful, should 
be positive, should be pleasant, that plain truth, spoken honestly, was 
a legitimate goal of friendship, that we had an obligation to talk 
openly and candidly about exactly what we thought was going on and to 
represent the values and the beliefs that we share.
  Let me close my part of this by saying two things about dedication. 
First, as an Army brat whose father served in the Korean war and served 
later in Korea during his military career, to me it was very 
meaningful, whether it was at airbases or with the infantry of the

[[Page H1422]]

2nd Division, to see these young men and women who are prepared to 
train every day to be on the demilitarized zone with the special units 
and, again, today is the day when we have heard there has been an 
incident involving the North Koreans, to recognize that just north of 
them is a country that we frankly do not know very much about. I think 
it is very important for my colleagues to understand this.

                              {time}  1400

  Despite 44 years of studying North Korea, despite the fact that 
37,000 of our young men and women and their families are at risk, the 
simple truth is that we do not know very much about this dictatorship, 
and it should remind us why it is important to be militarily prepared 
for capabilities and not simply diplomatically prepared for intentions, 
because the truth is, we do not know what Kim Chong-il's intentions 
are, we do not know what makes his government work, we do not know what 
their values or their plans are, and so we must be prepared for worst-
case situations.
  So I want to praise those who risk their lives and serve their 
country, because that dedication at the demilitarized zone and across 
not just South Korea but we met with young men and women also in Japan 
serving at air bases at Misawa and Yokota, a tremendous sense of 
commitment; the young men at Elmendorf living here at home in Alaska 
but nonetheless part of the same team; the young men and women of the 
Air Force team who went with us and who carried us across the region.
  I also want to say a word on behalf of the Members and staff who went 
on this visit. This was a long, hard-working delegation. We had many, 
many meetings. In one day in Beijing, we had six major negotiating 
sessions, just in one day.
  We sought to represent America. We had coordinated with the Clinton 
administration. We had talked with the National Security Council. I had 
talked with the Vice President and the President and the Secretary of 
State, and we saw it as one unified team to represent America. And I 
was very proud of my colleagues and the work they did and the way they 
stood up for our values, they stood up for our economic opportunities, 
and they made clear our commitment to peace and freedom and security in 
the region.
  And now under the unanimous consent, as was previously agreed to, I 
am going to yield back control of this, if I might, to the chairman of 
the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, the gentleman from Nebraska 
[Mr. Bereuter], and ask him to recognize various Members.
  Mr. BEREUTER. I thank the Speaker for that excellent summary and 
inspirational discussion of really what he, as leader of this 
delegation, and what this delegation attempted to achieve while we were 
on our Asia visit.
  With the indulgence of my colleagues, I am going to go back to take 
another 4 or 5 minutes to try to set the stage as I did with respect to 
Korea and Japan, and then I will call on Members. I think we have 
sufficient time. In fact, the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Dingell], 
has a special order hour as necessary.
  But let me now go briefly to Hong Kong, the PRC, and Taiwan, and 
discuss them as a whole. The economists refer to this today as a 
greater economic China.
  Certainly a major focus of our trip was a cluster of issues related 
to Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan. We intentionally visited Hong Kong 
first among these elements of greater economic China because of the 
imminent reversion of Hong Kong from British rule on July 1, 1997, to 
China, where it will become a special administrative region within the 
People's Republic of China.
  American interests in Hong Kong are huge. With more than 1,100 
American businesses located there, 450 of them are regional 
headquarters. In fact, it is the largest American Chamber of Commerce 
abroad in the world. With more than $14 billion of American investments 
there and about $14 billion in American exports to Hong Kong last year, 
we actually had a surplus with Hong Kong of $4.1 billion. Therefore, 
the United States Government and the American people are very concerned 
about the Chinese keeping their promises under the Sino-British accord 
of 1984, which assured Hong Kong's autonomy from the PRC in all matters 
but defense and foreign affairs.
  In short of Deng Xiaoping's policy, China has had a two-systems-in-
one-country arrangement. This will be an important but very challenging 
task for the Chinese even though they understand the importance of Hong 
Kong to their economy, and especially with their trade to the outside 
world.
  We discussed these and other important issues with Hong Kong Chief 
Executive Tung Chee-hwa, American and Hong Kong business interests, 
human rights activists, representatives of the news media, a diverse 
panel of religious leaders, and the critics of China on the existing 
legislative council. We also met with British Governor Chris Patton at 
considerable length and had a very candid and informative discussion.
  We made it clear to all interested parties in Hong Kong and to 
Chinese leaders in Beijing that we want the Chinese to keep their 
promises of a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong and that we wish 
them every success in implementing their two systems/one country 
concept. This will be an important precedent for the eventual peaceful, 
noncoercive unification of Taiwan with mainland China, an outcome that 
is consistent with our long-standing bipartisan, one-China policy.
  In Beijing, we expressed the same interest and concerns about the 
Hong Kong autonomy issue. We made it clear that we would be observing 
their progress in keeping their promises and that the Congress of the 
United States in the 1992 Hong Kong Policy Act authorized the President 
to modify United States law with respect to Hong Kong if these promises 
were broken.
  We indicated our willingness to assist the Chinese in understanding 
the importance of ensuring that second system within China for Hong 
Kong which preserves the rule of law, freedom of press, civil 
liberties, free and fair elections for the legislature, and what is 
thought to be the most advanced state of economic freedom in the world.
  Also in Beijing, Speaker Gingrich spoke for the entire delegation in 
reconfirming our support for a one-China policy. He stressed that 
unification with Taiwan must be by peaceful means and reiterated the 
formal United States House position and congressional viewpoint that 
the United States would defend Taiwan against an attack and that 
unification would only take place by peaceful means. This direct 
statement was delivered in a nonhostile manner by Speaker Gingrich and 
actually was surprisingly well received by the Chinese leadership, 
including President Jiang Zemin. Rather than the usual anti-Taiwan 
tirade, the key leaders said only that they had no intention of 
attacking Taiwan, and we went on to other productive items of 
discussion.
  We also made it clear to both sides, including the Taiwanese, that 
they should avoid provocative actions. In Taipei, these comments were 
reiterated, and in fact it was specifically mentioned that Taiwanese or 
Taiwanese American campaigns for United Nations membership for Taiwan 
are provocative and serve no useful purpose since China would veto such 
an initiative in the Security Council. I found it particularly 
interesting that President Li said to us that his government would not 
push for independence, they had no intention of doing so.
  Speaking personally, I would say that I believe it is clear to the 
Chinese and to the world community that making the two systems/one 
country policy work in Hong Kong can be an important precedent in the 
reunification of Taiwan with China.

  Also, I would note that this Member encouraged President Li of Taiwan 
to proceed energetically to make the changes necessary to come into the 
World Trade Organization, the WTO, as soon as possible, changes that 
would include reductions in tariff and market access changes. I 
specifically urged them to reduce the tariffs on processed foods so 
that American exporters can exploit this Taiwanese market, and 
Taiwanese consumers will benefit from lower food prices and a greater 
selection of goods.
  Additionally, I stressed my own view that Taiwan should be allowed 
WTO membership before the PRC if the

[[Page H1423]]

changes it makes satisfy WTO membership. That possibility also gives us 
increased leverage to succeed and to successfully demand changes from 
the PRC for WTO membership.
  In summary then, and in conclusion of my comments, in my view, our 
meetings with the Chinese officials on the mainland in Beijing and 
Shanghai were amazingly positive and productive, particularly in view 
of the fact that Speaker Gingrich and the bipartisan congressional 
delegation would subsequently visit Taiwan, and they knew we intended 
to, and thus he would be the highest-ranking official and we would be 
the highest-ranking delegation ever to visit Taiwan since the Taiwan 
Relations Act was enacted in 1978.
  The Chinese Government gave us top-level access and gracious, 
nonbelligerent meetings, even expressing their interest in initiation 
of an interparliamentary exchange between the United States House and 
the National People's Congress.
  I would now be very pleased to yield on a seniority basis to the 
distinguished gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Livingston], the chairman 
of the Committee on Appropriations, and I yield such time as he may 
consume.
  Mr. LIVINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding and 
apologize to my colleagues for intruding, but since the Speaker has 
asked me to be at another meeting right now, I appreciate your courtesy 
for letting me proceed briefly at this point.
  I also want to identify myself with the gentleman's comments and with 
the comments of Speaker Gingrich. The fact is, Mr. Speaker, that this 
delegation was the highest-ranking delegation ever to appear not only 
in Taiwan, but it is the highest ranking one that I have ever been 
engaged in where the Speaker of the House, the dean of the House, Mr. 
Dingell, and various committee chairmen, ranking subcommittee chairmen, 
and ranking members all gathered together to go to these five sovereign 
areas, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Taiwan.
  It was an extraordinary sequence of events. In each country we met 
with the very top leaders, and in many instances we had several 
separate meetings with top leaders, and in each country, under the 
leadership of the Speaker of the House, I think our delegation 
presented a cohesive, coherent, and articulate view of American policy.
  I was extraordinarily proud of the way that Speaker Gingrich and the 
gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Dingell, and all the other Members 
conducted themselves throughout this entire process. It was exhausting. 
We worked all day long every day throughout the trip. No sooner had we 
recovered from several days of jet lag than we were engaged in more 
meetings. Then it was time to come home, picking up jet lag on the way 
home as well.
  But the delegation, under the leadership of Speaker Gingrich, spoke 
out on behalf of free speech, freedom of religion, the right to 
assemble, and a free press. We stood up for the real democratic values 
now embodied in Hong Kong and did everything possible in all of those 
countries to assert the American viewpoint that democracy should be 
maintained in Hong Kong after the transfer to mainland China.
  We held steady with that message all the way through the trip, not 
only in Hong Kong but through Beijing and Shanghai and beyond. We stood 
fast for American presence in the Pacific, the prerogatives of America, 
the remaining superpower, to maintain its policy as a strong Pacific-
oriented nation.
  We stood strong concerning the relationship between Taiwan and 
mainland China, saying that if there was provocation, we are going to 
be there; we are going to defend our friend, Taiwan; so there should be 
no provocation, and that should not be misunderstood. The messages were 
not blurred and they were very clearly reported by the press. 
Regardless of whether the press was friendly, antagonistic, or cynical, 
invariably the reports from the trip came out positive.
  And I just want to say that as a Member of this Congress for almost 
20 years, I have never seen as productive a congressional delegation as 
this one was, nor have I seen as cohesive a delegation, between 
Republicans and Democrats alike, majority and minority, working 
together steadfastly, going to meetings and expressing what, in my 
view, was a united viewpoint of American policy in the Pacific.
  It was a privilege to have been on the trip and a special privilege 
for me to watch the Speaker of the House in action. This man is 
tireless. He never slept for more than 5 hours a day, and yet he was 
constantly reading, absorbing, thinking, meeting, speaking, 
strategizing, synergizing, and synthesizing. He was a whirlwind of 
activity, and in every instance he represented our delegation and our 
country with remarkable agility in an articulate fashion.
  So I am pleased to associate myself with the remarks of my friends 
and colleagues who will speak after me on the positive results of this 
trip. It was a significant opportunity to have been in this delegation 
and on this trip to these Pacific countries, and I really, really do 
think that it did a lot of good.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his great 
comments, and I know that I speak for all of my colleagues in thanking 
him for his role in this delegation. And the gentleman did not mention, 
but the Speaker called meeting after meeting after meeting, including 
at 9 o'clock at night or later.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Foley] 
for any remarks he may wish to make.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and would say, of 
course, that the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Livingston], spoke 
eloquently about the Speaker's great presentation on behalf of the 
United States of America, our ideals, our goals, our vision for this 
world we live in, but it did not hurt to have the chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. 
Bereuter] along; the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, the 
gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Livingston] the ranking Democratic Member 
of the House, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Hastings]; and the 
chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, the gentleman from California 
[Mr. Royce].

                              {time}  1415

  What I noticed was that the leadership of all the countries took 
extremely seriously this visit because of the fact that the leadership 
of Congress had taken time out to visit them and discuss the issues 
that face us. One issue we raised on behalf of the environment was 
Taiwan has contemplated sending its nuclear waste to North Korea. North 
Korea is in desperate need of financial assistance, if you will, to 
prop up their rogue regime. Seventy million is the number that is 
bandied about that they will receive in order to accept nuclear waste.
  What assurances do we have that that nuclear waste, once brought to 
North Korea, will be properly disposed of? None. President Lee, upon 
the notification from the Speaker that we were deeply concerned with 
the environmental consequences to South Korea and to our entire planet, 
took due note and suggested he would revisit that issue and carefully 
consider it, because he did not want it to be a geopolitical problem, 
he did not want it to be a stress on relations with the United States.
  Again, I want to enter into the Record the fact that we raised the 
issue, we will continue to pursue the issue, we do not want to see 
Taiwan send its nuclear waste to North Korea under any circumstance.
  We also had an opportunity to raise issues of trade. We were 
fortunate in being joined by Congressman Jefferson and Congresswoman 
Dunn, both on Ways and Means, to talk about issues that are important 
to Congressman Hastings and myself from Florida: The introduction of 
citrus from our State to the People's Republic of China which has 
currently been banned; the protection of our intellectual property 
rights; our copyrights; our enforcement of the things that we hold 
dear, the movies, the CD's, the technology, software that is being 
pirated and sold on the streets for 1/1,000 of its value, depriving 
both the owners and creators of their due payment for those rights.
  So we raised those issues. But I think, more than ever, we raised the 
consciousness of the people that we visited. We found a people in China 
wanting to be free, that will propel what I believe is their own 
democracy, with

[[Page H1424]]

some nudging by us, to seek free elections as they have had in Taiwan.
  But I will again go back to what the Speaker urged caution on and I 
will obviously suggest, as many newspaper articles have suggested 
recently, that MFN, most-favored-nation status, is not guaranteed, is 
not guaranteed business-as-usual in this Congress; and that when you 
read in the New York Times, in a severe blow to civil liberties, the 
man appointed by China to run Hong Kong announced plans today to impose 
more stringent controls on the right of public protest and free 
associations, certainly is not a reflection of the meeting we attended, 
where he stressed it would be an open affair country, that things would 
be smooth, that the process of coming back into the fold in China would 
be orderly and observing the rule of law.
  So again I would send that caution as well, that we made some 
valuable points. We hope that the lessons and the things that we tried 
to share with the Chinese Government and others is not lost, and we 
would sincerely urge Mr. Tung to evaluate his recent comments and 
ensure the democracy of this country.
  I was proud, as an American, to be on the trip. As was mentioned, the 
Speaker, I do not think he got 5 hours of sleep. I think it was 3. One 
of the things that I think most impressed our hosts was his tremendous 
grasp of the historical occurrences that happened in Japan, in China, 
Taiwan, Korea. He was able without note to speak extemporaneously about 
events that had occurred in their country, not just in the last 10 or 
20 years but the last 1,000, 2,000 years, and was able to bring that 
reflected history forward in analogies and examples.
  I think when I watched the faces of the Presidents of those 
countries, saying, this man has not just come here with a printed text 
to give us; he understands our culture, he understands the dynamics in 
which we have operated, he knows that it is stressful when you change 
governmental policies or governmental operations; but he came with such 
authority and such strong presence that the mission was that much more 
successful because of his being there, obviously as Speaker of the 
House, third in line to the Presidency, but more importantly, that he 
was so phenomenally prepared to debate with leaders of other countries 
the urgent things that we feel important.
  I thank the gentleman for allowing me time under the special order.
  Mr. BEREUTER. I thank the gentleman from Florida especially for his 
mentioning the fact that we did bring up the low-level nuclear waste 
issue on Taiwan aggressively, firmly, clearly, and conveyed our 
concerns and those of the Republica of Korea.
  The Speaker has asked if I would yield next to the distinguished 
gentleman from Michigan, and I will return then to the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Royce].
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan 
[Mr. Dingell], the dean of the House, the senior Democrat on the 
Speaker's codel, and the ranking minority member of the Committee on 
Commerce.
  Mr. DINGELL. I thank my good friend for yielding. I want to commend 
him for having this special order. I think the product of the work of 
not only the delegation but also this particular special order is going 
to be valuable to the country. I want to commend the gentleman. I want 
to commend the Speaker for the work which was done. It was done in a 
thoroughly bipartisan fashion, and it focused on a number of issues of 
enormous moment to the United States and to the people of this country. 
More importantly, it addressed the issues of security and trade in 
Korea, Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China, and in Taiwan as well 
as in Japan.
  Our interest in Hong Kong was, of course, the question of reversion 
to Chinese sovereignty which will take place shortly. We met with 
Governor Chris Patten, with Mr. Tung who will serve as Hong Kong's 
chief executive officer after the reversion, the financial secretary of 
the colony, senior legislators, human rights activists, leadership of 
the Hong Kong Christian Council, members of the United States and Hong 
Kong business communities, ordinary citizens and large numbers of 
others.
  In China the delegation reviewed a whole broad range of issues with 
the entire top leadership of the People's Republic. I must say in these 
two, and in all of the other activities in which the delegation 
functioned, it functioned in a thoroughly and completely bipartisan and 
proper fashion.
  The delegation's focus in Japan was economic, again, and security 
issues. We met with the Prime Minister, the Foreign and Defense 
Ministers, the Minister of International Trade and Industry, and the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as Japan's most 
wealthy and successful business leaders and the Chamber of Commerce 
there. Our discussion related to trade, unfair trading practices, 
opening the markets with regard to all kinds of American exports and 
the need for achieving a fair and more evenhanded trading relationship 
with that country. Similar discussions were held, of course, in Korea, 
which is an area of major concern, as we also discussed these matters 
in the People's Republic of China.

  As a result of the trip, I have come home more firmly convinced than 
ever that the United States has enormous political, economic, and 
security interests in east Asia, interests which we are safeguarding 
and on which we are pledging our interest and determination for the 
maintenance of peace by having some 37,000 of our fine young men and 
women standing watch along the most dangerous and heavily fortified 
border in the world. We spent considerable time inquiring, I would 
observe to the gentleman as he has already observed, into not only the 
relationship between the United States and the countries there, but 
very specifically the situation with regard to North Korea, a curious 
closed nation which is witnessing with great distress the economic 
collapse of its economy, with a continued annual decline in economic 
activity of about 7 percent.
  Again, we discussed not only the question of our security but the 
situation with regard to the North Korean country and what is happening 
in that unfortunate place and what its meanings are. Does it mean 
implosion, does it mean explosion, does it mean invasion to the south, 
does it mean democratic change or some kind of soft landing? The answer 
is no one knows the answers to these questions.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend, the gentleman who has 
gotten this special order, for the outstanding work that he is doing 
and does do and for his leadership in this particular matter.
  I have recently returned from a 10-day trip to Asia led by Speaker of 
the House Newt Gingrich. The bipartisan delegation, on which I served 
as ranking Democrat, visited South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and 
Taiwan.
  In South Korea the delegation focused on security and trade issues. 
We met with President Kim Young Sam, Gen. John Tilelli, who commands 
United States Forces Korea, Foreign Minister Yoo Chong-Ha, Korean trade 
officials and senior legislators, and representatives of the United 
States business community in Korea.
  In Hong Kong our primary interest was in Hong Kong's reversion to 
Chinese sovereignty, due to take place on July 1, 1997. We met with 
Gov. Chris Patten, C.H. Tung, who will serve as Hong Kong's chief 
executive after the July 1 reversion, the Hong Kong financial 
secretary, senior legislators, human rights activists, leaders of the 
Hong Kong Christian Council, and members of the U.S. and Hong Kong 
business communities.
  In China the delegation reviewed a range of issues on the United 
States-China bilateral agenda, with particular emphasis on Hong Kong, 
Taiwan, human rights, and trade. While in Beijing we had meetings with 
President Jiang Zemin, Premier Li Peng, Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji, 
Foreign Minister Qian Qichen, and other senior Chinese officials. The 
delegation also spent 1 day in Shanghai, where we attended Easter 
morning services and met with Shanghai's mayor, the chairman of China's 
Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, and the American 
Chamber of Commerce.
  The delegation's focus in Japan was on economic and security issues. 
We met with Prime Minister Hashimoto, the Japanese foreign and defense 
ministers, the Minister of International Trade and Industry, the 
speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives, and some of Japan's 
wealthiest and most successful business leaders, as well as the 
American Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo.
  The delegation's final stop was in Taiwan, where we met with 
President Lee Teng-hui, Vice President and Premier Lien Chan, and 
Foreign Minister John Chang. Relations between Taiwan and the People's 
Republic of

[[Page H1425]]

China, Hong Kong's reversion, the proposed sale of Taiwanese nuclear 
waste to North Korea, and the WTO dominated the discussions.
  As a result of this trip, I have returned to the United States more 
firmly convinced than ever that the United States has substantial 
political, economic, and security interests in East Asia, including the 
maintenance of peace on the Korean Peninsula, where 37,000 American 
troops stand watch along the most dangerous and heavily fortified 
border in the world. These interests can be protected only by an active 
American engagement in the region. The United States is a Pacific power 
today, and should remain so for the foreseeable future. This will 
require active and imaginative diplomacy, backed by the presence of 
approximately 100,000 American troops in the region. I had the 
privilege of visiting with many of these men and women who represent 
the United States armed services in East Asia, and I am pleased to 
report to you that they are an impressive lot--dedicated, serious, 
committed professionals whom the Nation owes a great debt of gratitude.
  China and the difficult United States-Chinese relationship figured 
prominently in our discussions at each of our stops. We found 
widespread agreement among the Asian leaders with whom we met that the 
Clinton administration's policy of constructive engagement toward China 
offers the best means of safeguarding our interests and pursuing our 
political, security, and economic objectives in East Asia. Our 
relationship with China will inevitably be a rocky one for many years, 
for we are divided by profound differences. But we also share important 
interests in common--a desire for peace and stability throughout the 
region, a prosperous, open global economy, a nonnuclear North Korea 
that does not threaten its neighbors or disrupt the strategic status 
quo, a successful Hong Kong reversion process--and it is very much in 
our interests to remain engaged with this prickly but important 
country.
  During each of our stops, I raised difficult trade issues and 
preached the need to break down barriers to American products and 
services. In South Korea I focused on Korean restrictions that block 
the import of United States automobiles--the government's frugality 
campaign, tariffs and taxes on automobile imports, vehicle 
certification procedures, matters relating to financing, and 
politically motivated tax audits and other forms of harassment--and 
arranged for meetings outside the delegation's official program with 
South Korean trade officials and representatives from the Big Three 
United States automakers. If Korea persists in refusing to open its 
trading system, I warned, the United States would be forced to 
reconsider its options, which might include placing Korea on the watch 
list or initiating a complaint before the World Trade Organization.
  In China I emphasized the need for China to accept more United States 
goods and to take other steps to reduce Beijing's sizable trade surplus 
with the United States. American support for a policy of engagement, I 
cautioned, will evaporate unless China treats American business fairly. 
Opening up China's vast markets, I told economic czar Zhu Rongji, will 
set up a win-win situation. Not only will such actions strengthen the 
bilateral relationship; they will also help both countries address 
their domestic economic problems.
  While in Tokyo, I spent considerable time looking into why the import 
of U.S. autos, while slightly higher in 1996 than 1995, was still so 
sluggish. I was told that in addition to Japan's well-known trade 
barriers, the weak yen was now making foreign autos more expensive for 
Japanese consumers. Tokyo, I warned, must avoid the temptation to deal 
with its current economic difficulties by aggressively promoting 
exports that create an even larger trade imbalance with the United 
States. Japan, we repeated at every opportunity, must do more to open 
its markets to American goods. While we do not seek special treatment, 
we have a right to expect the same treatment from Japan that we afford 
Japanese companies doing business in the United States.
  As a result of this trip I have a renewed understanding of how the 
prosperity and well-being of Americans, including the people of the 
16th District of Michigan, is inextricably linked to an active and 
enlightened American presence in East Asia. Equally important, our 
delegation was able to spread the word that if the peoples of East Asia 
desire the fruits of American engagement, they will have to help us 
shoulder the burdens as well--politically, militarily, and not least in 
importance, economically.
  Mr. BEREUTER. I thank the distinguished gentleman from Michigan for 
his comments. As my colleagues well know, when the gentleman made his 
contributions on our trip, it was always speaking from authority and 
speaking with a complete knowledge of the issue, and it will not 
surprise his constituents in Michigan to know that among other 
important economic issues and trade issues he brought up, autos and 
auto parts in Korea and especially before the Minister of International 
Trade and Industry were high on the agenda and were articulately 
addressed by the gentleman from Michigan, in which I joined him.
  Mr. DINGELL. If my good friend would yield, with his full support, 
cooperation, and also with that of the Speaker and the rest of the 
delegation, for which I thank the gentleman, the Speaker and the other 
members of the delegation.
  Mr. BEREUTER. I thank the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Dingell]. 
Indeed he did have the full support of the delegation in that respect 
and in all others.
  Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield to the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Royce], my colleague from the Committee on 
International Relations, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa. As 
Speaker Gingrich reminded everyone on the trip, he is also the 
Republican who has the district which contains more Asian-Americans 
than any other Republican member.
  Mr. ROYCE. I thank my good friend for yielding. I want to thank 
Speaker Gingrich for putting together this delegation. The Congress 
plays a key role in making our country's foreign policy and a trip like 
this gives us a much better understanding of the important issues we 
decide each year. We worked hard, it was grueling and we made the most 
of our time, and the Speaker of the House deserves our thanks.
  It is important to me that this was a bipartisan delegation. America 
stands tallest when its foreign policy is widely supported. One of the 
things all of the members of the delegation agree on is the importance 
of Asia. There is no question the security and the prosperity of the 
United States is on the line. We saw this in North Korea when we 
visited some of the 37,000 American service men and women in Korea. 
These are Americans who believe passionately in their mission. Their 
mission is maintaining peace and helping to run out the clock on one of 
the last vestiges of the cold war, the last Stalinist regime there in 
North Korea. As we talked to the young men and women of the Second 
Division, many of them from California, from my home State, doing the 
job that they do in this most difficult of conditions, it was a great 
honor. It was a great honor for us. We owe these Americans our 
strongest support, including, in my view, the best missile defense 
system that we can give them.
  We saw the importance of Asia when we visited the American business 
men and women in Hong Kong who are the center of Asia's pounding 
economic heart there in Hong Kong. They are bringing America's economic 
prowess and our exports to this booming region. We saw it when we 
visited Taiwan, which has moved now to democracy. Asia in general has 
made strides toward economic prosperity and political freedom, and 
America is stronger and safer because of this. But I think the stakes 
are high. We would suffer great damage if we decided that the world's 
greatest Nation should disengage in the Pacific. That is no course for 
us to take.
  Some of the lessons learned on this trip. We learned that America is 
viewed as the world's greatest nation. Our Government is respected the 
world over. Our economy has produced amazing prosperity. But there are 
lessons to be learned from the countries we visited, and the Speaker 
stated, I think yesterday, he said, ``I believe our economy can do 
better.''
  Well, our economy runs at a rate of less than 3 percent growth. That 
is what we are stuck with a year. And here we are viewing these Asian 
economies, South Korea where the growth rate was 9 percent last year. 
Taiwan at 7 percent. These are growth rates 2 and 3 times the rate of 
growth in the United States.
  Our delegation visited Hong Kong. Many consider Hong Kong the freest 
economy in the world. Hong Kong has a far lower tax rate than the 
United States Fifteen percent is their top tax rate. Hong Kong is free 
of the excessive regulation that shackles our economy. And in many 
ways, Hong Kong is much more encouraging of the entrepreneurial spirit 
our country celebrates. I think the United States needs to take notice 
and lower our taxes and cut our redtape.

[[Page H1426]]

                              {time}  1430

  I think we need to heed the words of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan 
Greenspan when he said that we should at the very least index capital 
gains for inflation taking the inflationary bite out of investments. I 
have a bill to do this, and having seen Hong Kong's miracle, I am more 
committed than ever to give American taxpayers this relief.
  Other trade issues that we should discuss: You know, many of our 
allies in Asia need to look at Hong Kong also because Hong Kong has 
become an economic powerhouse because of trade, and that means they 
have no trade barriers. The people of Hong Kong are free to purchase 
goods and services from whenever they want to. They buy the best goods 
at the best price. It is no secret that the U.S. economy is the most 
competitive in the world. We are the world's biggest exporter. We are 
selling more and more goods to Asia. These exports support over a 
million jobs in my State of California alone. But we should be selling 
more in Asia, and the problem is that too many Asian countries are 
shutting out too many U.S. goods and U.S. services.
  So our delegation pressed and pressed every government that we met 
with to open their markets to American goods and services. I serve on 
the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and in China American 
insurance companies are shut out, they simply cannot operate, and we 
raised that issue with China. The message was that we on this 
delegation gave, we said trade, including trade in the ever more 
important service sector, is a two-way street. We talked with South 
Korea who is shutting out California agricultural products, and we 
said, well, if South Korea wants to sell autos and electronics in the 
United States, then American companies should be allowed to sell grapes 
and oranges and autos and electronics in South Korea. This is right for 
the American worker, it is right for the Korean consumer who should, 
after all, have a chance to buy the best goods at the cheapest possible 
price. And right now in South Korea the government hassles Koreans who 
buy American cars. It actually sends the tax auditor after Koreans who 
buy American cars. That practice has to go, and we told that to the 
South Korean Government.
  But it is more than trade. Trade is important, but it is not all the 
United States is about. Our delegation has focused on democracy. On 
this trip we focused on human rights, too. Our country has always taken 
its values seriously and our foreign policy. It matters to us how other 
governments treat their citizens. This meant confronting the Chinese 
leadership about its terrible treatment of its citizens. I presented 
the Chinese Government a list of 75 political prisoners, and locking up 
people because of their beliefs is intolerable.
  And I hope that the White House begins to understand that when it 
comes to China, yes, trade matters, but so do human rights and nuclear 
proliferation and Taiwan. The administration would like to treat trade 
as being above these issues.
  My view is America is a superpower, not a salesman. The 
administration's willingness to stand up for American values will be 
tested as Hong Kong falls under Beijing's control in the next 2 months. 
Already there are signs that China may not honor its one country, two-
systems pledge. Just yesterday, as we heard, it announced that it would 
severely restrict fundamental political rights to publicly meet. 
Beijing's future ruler for Hong Kong, Mr. Teng-hui, who we met with, is 
touting Asian values. This is shorthand for the idea that universal 
democratic and civil rights norms are inappropriate for Asia, as if 
Taiwan and even Hong Kong itself, where these values are honored, are 
not in Asia.
  The world will be watching Hong Kong, and the world will be watching 
Washington's response. Acting on human rights concerns is just; it is 
not idealism, it is justice. The reality is that the United States will 
never be fully at peace with a government that is not at peace with its 
own people, and to the extent that the United States encourages change 
by raising these concerns, especially with the Chinese people, through 
efforts like Radio Free Asia, we strengthen our security while honoring 
our values.
  Again thank you, Mr. Speaker, for making this so very important trip.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much, and I am 
now very pleased to yield to another of my colleagues on the House 
Committee on International Relations, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. 
Hastings], who is a particularly valuable Member for this trip because 
of his knowledge as a lawyer and a jurist, and I am pleased to yield to 
him.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from 
Nebraska for yielding, and I thank him for perpetuating this particular 
special order. We are all indebted to the extraordinary work that was 
done by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and, as one Member 
of the House of Representatives, I was honored and privileged to have 
the opportunity to travel with this delegation to the areas of Asia 
that we traveled. A lot has been made about this particular trip, and I 
was asked when we were in China why it was that I had visited China 
twice in three months. I had the good fortune of going to China in 
January with Congressman Kolbe from Arizona and the delegation that he 
led of 22 Members of the House of Representatives, and in each instance 
we had a variable type program that allowed for further information. I 
am going to come back to that, but I would like to answer the media by 
saying what I said, and that is that China is a happening.
  Now that could be construed as China is a party. That is not the 
happening that I was speaking of. The happening that I was talking 
about is the fact that China is the vortex of the dynamism that is 
going on in economic development in that area of the world, and 
assuredly what our trip did was underscore the principles and values of 
this great country, and as I look about this gallery and I see children 
that are here on this day as this special order is being held, I cannot 
help but think that many of us will long have since passed, and yet we 
laid the groundwork for their future in the various delegations and 
those that have preceded us in this rather extraordinary work that 
Congress does in international relations.
  The vortex of dynamism does not mean that China is old. We visited 
Korea, we visited Taiwan, we visited Japan, and of course Hong Kong and 
Shanghai inside China as well as Beijing. In each instance in a 
bipartisan fashion those things that have been said by my colleagues 
can be underscored with the fact that all of us supported the values 
and principles that are enunciated in our great democracy.
  And you know the Speaker made the comment often that America is a 
Pacific nation, and some folks would quarrel with that, but I ask 
anyone that wishes to quarrel with that, ask the citizens of California 
or Oregon or Washington or Hawaii or Alaska, ask them where they live. 
And speaking of Alaska, let us just compliment the extraordinary 
military people that handle all of our security matters as it pertains 
to that area of the world in a more than admirable fashion.

  Travel further into the demilitarized zone where speakers before me, 
the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Livingston] and the gentleman from 
Michigan [Mr. Dingell] and others, have pointed out the 37,000-plus 
troops that are in that demilitarized zone, many of whom we had an 
opportunity to see, all of whom are extremely sharp, well commanded, 
young individuals, and they have a slogan that says in front of them 
all it means simply that in the deteriorating posture of North Korea, 
if some insanity prevails and war occurs, they will be the first ones 
to see it. We need to support those individuals.
  And what I came home with, as we get ready to talk about foreign aid 
authorization, and you lead us in that effort as you so ably do, and 
the Chair of the Africa subcommittee, my friend, the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Royce], does so with Africa, is I came home with 
legislation. People say these trips sometimes are useless and we are 
criticized for taking them.
  I now know about the need for 4-way talks in Korea in a meaningful 
way. I know now more about nuclear proliferation in a meaningful way, 
in the dumping that was about to take place or still may contractually 
with Taiwan and North Korea, and the potential dangers not only to the 
environment but to the security of that area of the

[[Page H1427]]

world. I know now about the reversion of Hong Kong in a meaningful way 
that I think I can stand with any American with the same background and 
argue forcefully why it is that we have to insist that there be no 
sedition provision in China's law, that they do not revoke the civil 
liberties and civil rights of those that for 99 years now have had that 
opportunity.
  I know more about Taiwan, its democracy, how it has managed its 
economy. I know about the interrelated areas of economic and political 
and human rights, and all of that will lead me to three pieces of 
legislation that I plan to offer during the authorization process in 
addition to legislation that will support our military in a meaningful 
way, since many of them pointed out the horrors that they have visited.
  And I want to say one final thing and thank you again for the time. 
The staff that accompanied us are unrivaled on either the Republican or 
the Democratic side, and they are effusively to be complimented by 
those of us that had the opportunity to work with them.
  In addition thereto, I think it is abominable that the foreign 
services of the United States of America are in the critical posture 
that many of them are. In spite of the fact that we have these enormous 
financial constraints that all of us know about, it is pitiable to 
leave our children and our adults who work in the foreign services in 
circumstances where they do not have electricity, they do not have 
water, the embassies are run down, such as the one in Beijing, and I am 
not here to apologize for anybody in that regard. I take full 
responsibility for my remarks and say that this is an observation that 
I think is a mistake for us.
  Those children in this gallery need to learn languages, and they will 
be very wise to learn the languages of Asia since Asia is going to be a 
coming.
  As regard freedom and my final remarks, Mr. Speaker, as you well know 
we had an opportunity to go to church in Shanghai. That was a moving 
experience. Some of us went to Catholic services, others of us went to 
Protestant services. But the fact is that we went to services and 
symbolically it let China know that we are going to stand for religion 
as we said and were told by those persons that are in Hong Kong with 
whom we met that are the religious leaders of that area.
  I want to say to the world, I want to say to China, I want to say to 
America and say to all of my colleagues that freedom marches to a 
steady beat. China cannot stop freedom. Freedom once tasted is sweet 
enough to cause individuals to rise above oppression.


                Announcement by The Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hastings of Washington). The Chair would 
remind Members to refrain from referring to occupants of the gallery in 
their remarks.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Florida 
[Mr. Hastings] for his moving and accurate summary of what he saw there 
and particularly for his compliment to the staff which we had not 
mentioned previously.
  I now have one Member and perhaps another one who may come back in 
time, but I am pleased now to yield to the distinguished gentleman from 
California [Mr. Kim], and his hometown, his former hometown where he 
was born, is the first place we visited. I am pleased to yield to the 
gentleman.
  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, I was a little concerned about this article 
this morning, and I had a good feeling when I come back from the trip 
from Hong Kong and China. I thought that they understood clearly where 
we stand on the Hong Kong issue. This morning's article says that they 
are going to be curtailed, certain rights, public assembly rights and 
public gathering rights, and that is a guarantee by the first amendment 
in our Constitution.
  Now that is not the impression I got from the trip. Very, very 
concerned. Is that the signal we are getting, the more to come?
  I remember, Mr. Speaker, I have to have a colloquy with you. Remember 
that they said that it is two system one country will succeed and not 
to worry about it? But very disappointed. I hope this is not the true 
story, this morning's article. But if it is, we should watch closely, 
very closely because I am deeply concerned of what is happening in Hong 
Kong versus what they told us. Do you not agree with that?
  Mr. BEREUTER. I do agree, and as the Speaker said, it is not one 
system and one and a half. It is two systems, and this agreement of 
autonomy to Hong Kong carries with it the need to have free assembly 
and an opportunity to peacefully demonstrate. So I hope they reverse 
their actions if in fact this is their proposal.

                              {time}  1445

  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the North Korean 
situation. Remember I mentioned this particular issue several times in 
China.
  I was concerned about China's vague position in North Korea. 
Remember, I asked the question. Even this morning I understand that 
shots have been fired, shots have been exchanged, and remember when we 
went to the DMZ in Korea, we were scheduled to stop on the bridge, we 
were scheduled to get out of the bus and walk halfway.
  Mr. BEREUTER. The Bridge of No Return.
  Mr. KIM. The Bridge of No Return, and we had to abruptly change our 
schedule because they had assembled AK-47's, all of the weapons 
assembled together, so we had to change at the last minute and we did 
not get out of the bus, we just simply made a U-turn and came back. 
That is disgusting, that is totally unwarranted, and I feel very 
offended by this hostile action.
  Yet, in China, of course North Korea is totally unknown to us, and 
all of this hostile action. Let me give my colleague an example, that 
every country denounced and condemned the hostile action, except China. 
China has kept silent; they did not say anything. So we asked the 
question, why is it? Why is it that China has not said anything about 
this hostile action, and what is China's official position? What is the 
policy toward North Korea?
  The answer I got was, look, I think they are trying to walk a fine 
line. If everybody pushed North Korea against the wall, then we are 
afraid they might do some irrational action. Therefore, we have to show 
some friendship, something like that. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleague, 
is that not the answer we got, some kind of vague answer?
  Mr. BEREUTER. I think so, absolutely.
  Mr. KIM. We are still not sure of China's policies in terms of North 
Korea. I think our country should demand what their policy is. Are they 
with us or against us? I am very disappointed at such a timid answer.
  Then when we went to Taiwan, remember I asked the question about 
nuclear waste dumping that is generated by the Taiwanese power company. 
We are talking about 270 drums of nuclear waste, dumping it into North 
Korea because they are going to buy it, pay $100 million or $120 
million, I do not remember, buy this nuclear waste.
  I remember the gentleman's summation that we are setting up a 
dangerous precedent, that I think countries should keep their own waste 
in their own country, whether they are shipping overseas, which I 
totally agree.
  My concern is, my God, pretty soon we are going to stop buying and 
selling this nuclear waste all over the country and bidding on it, I 
mean this is really ridiculous. We have to stop this from happening.
  Also, my concern is, it is not the Taiwanese, it is North Korea. 
North Korea has no ability to manage its nuclear waste. Besides, they 
refuse to invite any IAA member team to inspect the nuclear waste 
dumping procedure, so God knows what they are going to do with it. I do 
not know what they are going to do with it. Perhaps they might 
contaminate our groundwater system. Then what is going to happen? It is 
only 24 miles from Seoul.
  We have 37,000 young troops out there in Korea, plus their families, 
plus civilians, all 120,000. They are only 24 miles away from the DMZ. 
I am just afraid for not only the Koreans' lives in danger, but our own 
troops, our own families' lives could be in danger. So we have to stop 
this.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I would ask of my colleague to reclaim my 
time and to compliment the gentleman for all of his contributions 
throughout this trip. Frequently the Speaker pointed out the gentleman 
as an example to our Asian friends of an immigrant who succeeded 
remarkably in this country as so many have from various parts of the 
world.

[[Page H1428]]

  I wonder if the gentleman would indulge me in yielding the remaining 
5 minutes to our colleague who has not had a chance to speak. If the 
gentleman will stand by, we may have a chance for a concluding 
colloquy.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from 
Washington [Ms. Dunn], a member of the Committee on Ways and Means who 
made invaluable contributions on this trip.
  Ms. DUNN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I must say it has been with 
great interest that I have listened to my colleagues' discussion about 
our very important trip to Asia and how proud I am to have traveled 
with them on this trip and to have watched in action some very powerful 
Members of the U.S. Congress who care a lot about our relationships 
with those nations over there, but who are not willing to make a trip 
such as this, with the rights of our constituents in our hearts, 
without being very, very candid in all of our conversations about some 
of the problems that we must deal with over in that part of the world.
  My responsibility as a member of the Subcommittee on Trade of the 
Committee on Ways and Means dealt with trade issues in the Asian 
nations, and I would say that thanks to the Speaker and to other 
members of the delegation, I was able to inquire about specific 
policies that deal with our relationship with Asia. Certainly I come 
from a State, the State of Washington, that is very, very export-
oriented.
  One out of four jobs in my State are related to trade. As 
constituents in my State and as you know, Mr. Speaker, Boeing, the 
aircraft company that is the largest exporter in this Nation that does 
great business now with the nation of China, and we will see that 
nation as probably 20 percent of its future market.
  There were questions about market access that we brought up over and 
over again. For example, in Japan, what about access, as the gentleman 
from Michigan [Mr. Dingell] was interested in, in American autos? How 
about apples that come from our orchard, Mr. Speaker, in your part of 
our great State of Washington, that we are not allowed to export to 
Japan, the apples they want to eat, not just the Red and Golden 
Delicious, but the Fuji and the Gala apples, and why not provide to 
them the items that will be useful to the people that live in their 
country and also will help our export industry.
  So we did not get good answers on some of those issues, Mr. Speaker, 
but we continued to try. In China we have serious problems having to do 
with intellectual property piracy, a rate that someone said is as high 
as 98 percent, market access to wheat for one thing in the State of 
Washington. We have terrible human rights violations. We have very 
serious problems there, but we were given a very warm welcome by the 
people in Beijing and Shanghai, because they want to do business with 
us and they want to work with us.
  I believe that there is an openness there to a great degree that will 
allow us to expand on our trade relationships, that will allow the 
debate to begin on whether they should be able to accede to the WTO if 
they follow the road map that has already been laid out by our very 
effective ambassador-to-be of the USTR.
  Taiwan, we had candid conversations in that nation as we did in all 
of the nations. It was a very effective trip. We were treated with 
great welcome, and I think that we were able to contribute a great deal 
to the work of the U.S. foreign policy, certainly reflected that, and I 
am very grateful, Mr. Speaker, to have been a colleague of yours on 
this important trip.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her excellent 
contributions on the trip and her comments, and I thank the gentlewoman 
from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton] for allowing us this time.

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