[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H5992-H5993]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THANKING COLLEAGUES FOR SUPPORTING HOUSE RESOLUTION 191

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington [Mr. Metcalf] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. METCALF. Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank my colleagues for the 
bipartisan 416-to-2 vote in favor of my bill, House Resolution 191, 
last week. This overwhelming vote was certainly a factor in the 
European Community's decision to accept Boeing's final offer.
  House Resolution 191 made clear that any European Community 
disapproval of the Boeing McDonnell Douglas merger would have 
constituted an unprecedented and unwarranted interference in a United 
States business transaction. It would have threatened thousands of jobs 
immediately and many thousands more if a trade war had resulted.
  Thus, their action raises a disturbing question: How did a foreign 
consortium get to the point that it felt it had the authority to tell 
two wholly owned U.S. corporations what they could or should not do?
  The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will hold a 
hearing on this whole issue on Friday to look into this specific 
foreign involvement; whether it was improper and what we must consider 
if such a situation occurs again. I hope the hearing will be in depth 
and complete, as these questions demand definite answers.

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