[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 76 (Thursday, June 5, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5340-S5341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-123. A resolution adopted by the Mayor and Council of 
     the Borough of Ship Bottom, County of Ocean, New Jersey 
     relative to the Mud Dump Site; to the Committee on 
     Environment and Public Works.
       POM-124. A resolution adopted by the Borough Council of the 
     Borough of Tinton Falls, New Jersey relative to the Mud Dump 
     Site; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
       POM-125. A resolution adopted by the Mayor and Council of 
     the Borough of Fair Haven, New Jersey relative to the Mud 
     Dump Site; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
       POM-126. A resolution adopted by the Romanian Community of 
     Sacramento, California relative to the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
       POM-127. A resolution adopted by the Board of Commissioners 
     of the Metropolitan Knoxville (Tennessee) Airport Authority 
     relative to the National Spallation Neutron Source; to the 
     Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
       POM-128. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Michigan; to the Committee on Finance.

                        Senate Resolution No. 20

       Whereas, The federal unified gift and estate tax generates 
     a minimal amount of federal revenue, especially considering 
     the high cost of collection and compliance, and in fact has 
     been shown to decrease these federal revenues from what they 
     might otherwise have been; and
       Whereas, This ``Death Tax'' has been identified as 
     destructive to job opportunity and expansion, especially to 
     minority entrepreneurs and family farmers; and
       Whereas, The ``Death Tax'' causes severe hardship to 
     growing family businesses and family farming operations, 
     often to the point of partial or complete forced liquidation. 
     This deprives state and local governments of an important, 
     ongoing source of revenue; and
       Whereas, Critical state and local leadership assets are 
     unnecessarily destroyed and forever lost to the future 
     detriment of the community through the relocation and 
     liquidation associated with the tax; and
       Whereas, Local and state schools, churches, and numerous 
     other charitable activities would greatly benefit from the 
     increased employment and continued family business leadership 
     resulting from the repeal of the tax; now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate, That we memorialize the Congress of 
     the United States to repeal the federal unified gift and 
     estate tax; and be it further
       Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the President of the United States, the Speaker of the United 
     States House of Representatives, the President of the United 
     States Senate, the Secretary of the Treasury of the United 
     States, and the members of the Michigan congressional 
     delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-129. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Michigan; to the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations.

                  Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 25

       Whereas, Since its establishment following World War II, 
     the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has played a key role 
     in helping to bring stability to the world. In addition to 
     its strategic significance, NATO has fostered economic and 
     social benefits through increased communications and various 
     programs. This success is built on the commitment of its 
     member nations to ideals of democracy and opposition to 
     oppression; and
       Whereas, The role that NATO plays in encouraging peace and 
     progress is especially apparent to the Baltic nations of 
     Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The Baltic states, through 
     their individual histories, especially their common 
     experiences in this century, are well aware of the need for 
     unity among people devoted to self-determination. The 
     irreversible commitment to democracy in Estonia, Latvia, and 
     Lithuania is among the many conditions that are the 
     foundation of NATO; and
       Whereas, While much has changed in Europe over the past 
     decade, there remain many reminders of threats to security in 
     the region. Situations in several areas illustrate the role 
     for NATO and the need for it to include the nations of the 
     Baltic states; now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That we memorialize the President and the 
     Congress of the United States to work for the admission of 
     Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania into the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization; and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the President of the United States, the President of the 
     United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House 
     of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan 
     congressional delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-130. A resolution adopted by the House of the General 
     Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky; to the Committee on 
     Foreign Relations.

                            House Resolution

       Whereas, the noble people of Ethiopia have developed and 
     nourished a proud and distinguished culture that has endured 
     for three millennia; and
       Whereas, Ethiopia has had a long and productive friendship 
     with the United States of America; and
       Whereas, the people of the United States have responded 
     generously and magnificently to the plight of Ethiopian 
     famine victims through the provision of humanitarian aid; and
       Whereas, the winds of democratic change have blown 
     dramatically and ferociously across the former Soviet Union, 
     Eastern Europe, Latin America, many parts of Africa, and now 
     to Ethiopia; and
       Whereas, Ethiopia is poised at a crucial juncture in its 
     history because it is making a regression toward non-
     democratic one-party rule of Ethiopian People's Revolutionary 
     Democratic Front (EPRDF); and
       Whereas, the ascendance of the Ethiopian People's 
     Revolutionary Democratic Front and its policy of promoting 
     ethnic federalism have engendered animosity among 
     nationalities of Ethiopia; and
       Whereas, such governmental policies and practices have 
     contributed to the severity of strained relations in Ethiopia 
     by misdirected bureaucratic cleansing, arbitrary arrest, and 
     detention of the prominent physician professor Asrat Woldeyes 
     and many other prisoners of conscience, recognized as such by 
     Amnesty International and the indigenous Ethiopian Human 
     Rights Council (EHRC); and
       Whereas, the people of Ethiopia are aspiring to resolve 
     their complicated problems through the formation and 
     utilization of democratic institutions and maximum citizen 
     input; and
       Whereas, the basic underpinning of democratic institutions 
     in the new Ethiopia should be the supremacy of the will of 
     the people and the guarantee of the rule of the people; 
     and
       Whereas, the Ethiopian government should adhere to the 
     United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which 
     encourages freedom of speech, assembly, religion, and press, 
     guarantees all basic rights, and discourages ethnocentric 
     politics and ethnic reservations; and
       Whereas, it is crucial that the diverse voices, opinions, 
     and philosophies of the people be expressed in promoting 
     political, economic, and social progress and justices in 
     Ethiopia; and
       Whereas,, a multiparty government may be the most 
     egalitarian, feasible, and productive political arrangement 
     in providing suffrage and in overcoming monumental obstacles; 
     and
       Whereas, the President Bill Clinton and the Congress of the 
     United States will play a crucial role in promoting the 
     peaceful resolution of the immense problems of war ravaged 
     Ethiopia; and

[[Page S5341]]

       Whereas, the implementation of a democratic, multiparty 
     government in Ethiopia should be a long-range foreign policy 
     goal of the United States Government;
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives of the General 
     Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
       Section 1. That the Honorable House of Representatives 
     continue to encourage the formation of democratic 
     institutions, multiparty participation, progressive social 
     change, and respect for fundamental human rights in Ethiopia, 
     including freedom of association and expression.
       Section 2. The President and the Congress of the United 
     States should be encouraged to use every possible means at 
     their command to examine the policy, that recognizes and 
     evaluates the political conditions that exist in Ethiopia 
     with a view to ensure the prevention of the shocking 
     brutality of ethnic warfare elsewhere in Africa from 
     spreading to Ethiopia.
       Section 3. The Clerk of the House of Representatives is 
     hereby directed to transmit a copy of this Resolution to the 
     Honorable Bill Clinton, President, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 
     Washington, D.C. 20500; the Honorable Albert Gore, Vice 
     President, Old Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C. 
     20510; the Honorable Madeleine K. Albright, 2201 ``C'' 
     Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20520; His Excellency Berhane 
     Gebre-Chrispof, Embassy of Ethiopia, 2134 Kalorama Road, 
     N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008; the Honorable Newt Gingrich, 
     Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2428 Rayburn House 
     Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515-1006; the Honorable 
     Wendell H. Ford, 173A Russell Senate Office Building, 
     Washington, D.C. 20510; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, 361A 
     Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; the 
     Honorable Ed Whitfield, 236 Cannon House Office Building, 
     Washington, D.C. 20515; the Honorable Ron Lewis, 412 Cannon 
     House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; the Honorable 
     Anne Northup, 1004 Longworth Office Building, Washington, 
     D.C. 20515; the Honorable Jim Bunning, 2437 Rayburn House 
     Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; the Honorable Harold 
     Rogers, 2468 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 
     20515; and the Honorable Scotty Baesler, 113 Cannon House 
     Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515.

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