[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 16, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H7320-H7321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 2159, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT 
        FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1998

  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 2159) making appropriations for foreign 
operations, export financing, and related programs for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1998, and for other purposes, with a Senate 
amendment thereto, disagree to the Senate amendment, and agree to the 
conference asked by the Senate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Alabama?
  There was no objection.


                Motion to Instruct Offered by Ms. Pelosi

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Ms. Pelosi moves that the managers on the part of the House 
     at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses 
     on the bill H.R. 2159, making appropriations for foreign 
     operations, export financing, and related financing for the 
     fiscal year 1998, be instructed to insist on the provision of 
     the House bill with respect to providing $650 million for the 
     Child Survival and Disease Programs Fund, including $50 
     million for combatting infectious diseases.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California [Ms. Pelosi] and the gentleman from Alabama [Mr. Callahan] 
will each be recognized for 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi].
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
Mr. Speaker, I have chosen to make the Child Survival and Disease 
Programs Fund the subject of my motion to instruct on the foreign 
operations appropriations bill because of its vital importance and to 
reinforce a top priority of the House with respect to this bill.
  The House, under the leadership of Chairman Callahan, included $650 
million for the Child Survival and Disease Programs Fund in order to 
emphasize that child survival and its programs to reduce infant 
mortality and to improve the health and nutrition of children in the 
poorest nations of the world should be our highest priority in our 
foreign assistance programs.
  This year's bill contains an increase of $50 million over the amounts 
provided last year specifically to combat infectious diseases around 
the world. These funds will add to the funds already planned to combat 
diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, polio, yellow fever, malaria, 
and measles. The Senate bill does not segregate these funds in a 
separate account, and provides for only $30 million to combat 
infectious diseases.
  The passage of this motion, which I am confident the Chairman will 
support, will strengthen the position of the House as we go into 
conference. I look forward to working with Chairman Callahan in 
securing conference approval for this funding in a separate account, 
and at a full amount of $650 million.
  In addition, I look forward to working cooperatively with Chairman 
Callahan, as we have so far, in achieving a conference agreement on 
foreign operations which funds all the programs in the bill at a level 
which will allow for sufficient resources to preserve the U.S. role of 
the world's only remaining superpower.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I have received broad bipartisan support for the 
appropriations account I created several years ago for child survival 
and disease programs. This funding is intended to help protect the 
children of the world and to help stem the tide of infectious diseases 
that threaten both our children and ourselves.
  We provided funding of $600 million for these activities in fiscal 
year 1997. Although the administration proposed to slash these funds by 
$44 million in 1998, we rejected that cut. In fact, we added $50 
million, for a total of $650 million, to the child survival and disease 
programs fund, in order to focus on the growing problem of infectious 
diseases throughout the world.
  Even before this year's initiative, the Subcommittee on Foreign 
Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs launched an effort 3 
years ago to wipe out polio throughout the world. We are providing $25 
million a year to assist Rotary International to fulfill its noble goal 
of eliminating this disease in Asia and Africa. That goal is within our 
grasp, and I am pleased that the subcommittee has been able to assist 
Rotary Clubs from around the Nation in this program.
  But that is not enough. Tuberculosis continues to strike young people 
and children throughout the world. In fact, up to 30 million people may 
die from this disease in the next decade. In addition, health experts 
now realize that acute respiratory infections kill more children than 
any other disease. While these diseases are a threat to children 
everywhere, they are also a direct threat to the United States, due to 
the huge increase of international travel and migration in the last few 
years.
  In addition, there have been confirmed reports of malaria and yellow 
fever in our own country. These diseases infected millions of 
Americans, and caused untold misery early in our history. We need to 
try to prevent outbreaks from these diseases from occurring again.
  The committee has recommended an increase of $50 million for 
activities to detect, control, and to prevent the spread of these and 
other communicable diseases. I regret that the administration does not 
consider child survival and disease programs to be a high priority. I 
am pleased that the Senate has turned its attention to this problem by 
providing an increase for infectious disease, but I am disappointed 
that they could not provide the protection of a separate appropriations 
account for child survival.
  However, with the support of my good friend, the ranking Democrat on 
my committee, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi], and with 
strong support of our subcommittee and strong support of the House, I 
am most certain that we will this year, as we did last year, prevail 
once again in Conference.
  I thank very much the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi] for 
her motion to instruct the conferees, which I wholeheartedly support, 
and I urge the House to adopt her motion.

[[Page H7321]]

                             General Leave

  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on the motion to instruct the conferees on H.R. 2159, making 
appropriations for foreign operations, export financing, and related 
programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Alabama?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to our chairman for his support for this 
motion, for what some of us call the Callahan child survival account. I 
just want to remind our colleagues there is nothing new in what this 
motion to instruct calls for. Members have already voted for this 
dollar amount and this separate account. The purpose of this motion to 
instruct is to make this a priority in the conference and support the 
leadership of our chairman, the gentleman from Alabama [Mr. Callahan] 
on this.
  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. PELOSI. I yield to the gentleman from Alabama.
  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, since this provision has been dubbed the 
Callahan amendment, Mr. Speaker, we have still been unsuccessful in 
convincing the administration of its importance. So maybe we ought to 
change the name of the Callahan amendment to the Pelosi amendment.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, maybe it should be the Clinton amendment.
  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, it still remains unpopular on Pennsylvania 
Avenue, and I am certain if we dub it the Pelosi amendment, then in 
next year's request they indeed would include it in their request. Or 
maybe we could do better. Maybe we could ensure that if someday there 
might be a Republican President, maybe we could name it the Pelosi-
Callahan amendment, and thus ensure its inclusion in any bill submitted 
to this Congress.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his most generous 
remarks. I do not accept his characterization of what name would be 
preferred in order to have this accepted by the administration.
  Mr. Speaker, I do wish to say that the Clinton administration indeed 
has a strong interest and places a high priority on child survival. We 
think this is the better way to go about it, but we look forward to 
working with them as, again, the only remaining superpower in the world 
to assume and maintain our leadership in this humanitarian cause.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to support the motion to instruct, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi].
  The motion was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the Chair appoints the 
following conferees: Messrs. Callahan, Porter, Wolf, Packard, 
Knollenberg, Forbes, Kingston, Frelinghuysen, Livingston, Ms. Pelosi, 
Mr. Yates, Mrs. Lowey, and Messrs. Foglietta, Torres, and Obey.
  There was no objection.

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