[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 157 (Sunday, November 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H10563-H10567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 1026, EXPORT-IMPORT BANK REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 
                                  1997

  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
conference report on the Senate bill (S. 1026) to reauthorize the 
Export-Import Bank of the United States.
  (For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of 
November 7, 1997, at page H10210.)
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Delaware [Mr. Castle] and the gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake] each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle].
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this important bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the 
Export-Import Bank of the United States, Eximbank, for an additional 4 
years.
  Reauthorizing Exim is critical to supporting America's ability to 
export and will help ensure that American businesses and American 
workers are able to compete and win against subsidized foreign 
competition in today's global market. This common-sense legislation is 
good for America; it advances the national interests, helps reduce the 
trade deficit, and enhances our export competitiveness.
  Briefly, the conference report provides for the following: First, a 
4-year extension of the bank's authority through September 30, 2001; 
second, an extension of tied-aid authority; third, an extension of the 
authority for providing financing for the export of nonlethal defense 
articles; fourth, a clarification of the President's authority to deny 
bank financing based on national interest concerns; fifth, creation of 
an Assistant General Counsel for Administration; sixth, authorization 
for the establishment of an Advisory Committee to assist the bank in 
facilitating U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa; seventh, a requirement 
that two labor representatives be appointed to the Bank's Advisory 
Committee; eighth, a requirement that the bank's chairman design an 
outreach program for companies that have never used its services; 
ninth, identification of child labor as a human right which can serve 
as a basis for a Presidential determination to deny applications for 
credit based on national interest concerns; and, tenth, the denial of 
export financing for sales to the Russian Government or military if 
that country transfers SS-N-22 missile systems to China, the President 
determines that such action represents a significant and imminent 
threat to the security of the United States, and the President also 
requests the Bank to cease that export financing.

                              {time}  2300

  At this time, I would like to extend my deep appreciation to all of 
the members of the conference committee and others who have worked so 
hard in support of Exim, beginning with the chairman of the Committee 
on Banking and Financial Services, the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Leach], 
as well as the gentleman from New York [Mr. LaFalce], the gentleman 
from Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter], and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. 
Manzullo].
  In particular, I would like to express my gratitude for the 
extraordinary help and cooperation of the gentleman from New York [Mr. 
Flake], not only on this legislation, but for the extraordinarily 
productive partnership we have shared in serving together on the 
Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy. It has been 
a privilege for me to serve with the gentleman on this subcommittee. 
Frankly, I cannot imagine how we are going to manage without the 
gentleman, or his first rate chief of staff Shawn Peterson. We will 
miss them both.
  In closing, I believe this is a noncontroversial conference report. 
It deserves enthusiastic bipartisan support. I urge its immediate 
adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise this evening in support of the conference report, S. 1026, the 
Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 1997. The gentleman from 
Delaware [Mr. Castle] and I are proud to preserve the ideas and efforts 
of the House in our deliberations with the other body. We both believe 
that this conference report is indicative of our good working 
relationship on the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary 
Policy.
  First, we instruct the State Department to expressly use the Chafee 
amendment process when it has national interest concerns with potential 
Exim deals. Moreover, this provision has been enhanced to explicitly 
include child labor abuses in recipient countries. We also preserved an 
advisory panel to counsel the bank on efforts to increase the U.S. 
exports to Sub-Saharan Africa. These efforts reflect a bipartisan 
commitment to increasing trade with Africa, and are indicative of and 
positive efforts by the administration, the Congressional Black Caucus, 
the Speaker, the trade-oriented leaders of Congress. I believe this is 
the right thing to do, and I am happy to have created this panel as I 
leave Congress.
  The conference report preserves a mandated ethics counseling unit 
within Exim. Consequently, we ensure that employees have the best 
possible ethical advice when major financing decisions are made.
  The conference report also adopted modified provisions of the House 
bill that experience the labor communities' representation on the 
bank's advisory panel, a provision that instructs the bank to reach out 
to small businesses and language which clarifies the bank's role in 
expanded job opportunities and economic growth within the United 
States.
  Let me expand my remarks by stating that we need the Export-Import 
Bank. The need was always in mind during the rather difficult 
negotiations with the other body with respect to most of the House 
amendments that had been adopted on this floor. I am pleased to state 
that the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Leach], the gentleman from New York 
[Mr. LaFalce], the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle], the gentleman 
from Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter], and I were never in disagreement on these 
issues. Accordingly, our belief in bipartisan solidarity, our belief in 
the necessity of the bank, and our duty to preserve the House 
provisions are reflected in this conference report.
  It is in this spirit that we reached a very difficult agreement on 
prohibiting export financing to Russia, should it export SS-22 missile 
systems to China. This provision clearly identifies a major policy 
concern of the Congress and still cedes to the executive branch the 
flexibility to use its expertise in the areas of intelligence and 
threat assessment.

[[Page H10564]]

  So while we keep what most conferees consider to be a difficult and 
dangerous precedent with respect to Exim's role in foreign policy, we 
arrived at this consensus position, which, in my opinion, will work for 
both the bank and the author of this amendment.
  I close by noting that there are detractors of the agency, and we 
certainly are cognizant of corporate welfare arguments. This line of 
reasoning, however, ignores the fact that 81 percent of Exim's 
financing deals go to small businesses. It also ignores the reality 
that for the 19 percent of deals that Exim does with large enterprises, 
it inherently still maintains the operations of small businesses as 
contractors and suppliers. These enterprises operate throughout the 
Nation and employ thousands of Americans. Thus, if we examine the 
institution's impact on American employment, we cannot come to the 
conclusion that Exim is the exclusive concessional window of credit to 
corporate America. Rather, it is the lender of last resort, and is 
successful in financing billions of dollars in U.S. exports for a 
rather small budget. In short, we need Exim, and I intend to support 
its reauthorization and I ask my fellow colleagues to please join me in 
doing so.
  I am grateful to the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Leach], the gentleman 
from New York [Mr. LaFalce], the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Gonzalez], 
and particularly to the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle], who I 
have had the privilege of working with over the last 3 years as he has 
served as chairman of this committee with judiciousness, with balance, 
and with a bipartisan spirit. I would pray that whoever replaces me as 
the ranking member of this committee will approach the gentleman from 
Delaware [Mr. Castle] with the same spirit that he will approach them. 
That is as a gentleman, as a person who really understands what it 
means to do legislation in a fashion where there is a degree of comity.
  I would also like to thank Mr. John Lopez of his staff and Mr. Shawn 
Peterson of my staff, for without them we would not have been able to 
be as successful as we have been over these last 3 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments of the gentleman from New York 
[Mr. Flake]. I hope that whoever his successor is in the position as 
ranking member approaches it with at least 50 percent of the spirit he 
has for what we do and we will be well served.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Iowa [Mr. Leach], the distinguished chairman of the Committee on 
Banking and Financial Services.
  Let me just say that he is a wonderful individual to work with on 
these issues, a man that truly understands international financing, as 
well as international relations, and it made a big difference on this 
legislation, and we appreciate it.
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the distinguished chairman of 
the subcommittee and say in behalf of the House what a wonderful job he 
has done in leading this Congress on this issue, and also what a 
wonderful job the gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake] has done. I 
think, speaking for this side, it is pretty self-apparent we are going 
to miss the gentleman very badly, and we hope in prayerful consultation 
he will figure out another way to rejoin the public fray at some point 
in the future.
  Let me make a couple of process observations and then go to the 
substance.
  First, I know of no issue that has been addressed in a more 
bipartisan, bicameral, biinstitutional way, bipartisan symbolized by 
the gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake] and the gentleman from New York 
[Mr. LaFalce], who has been so thoughtful in his additions to this 
subject matter, and frankly who, in an amendment that did not prevail 
and I am hopeful that in the next year will, because it is one of the 
most thoughtful amendments that I think has come up on this subject 
matter in recent years.
  Second, it is interesting, because the time this is being considered 
is 8 or 10 hours before this Congress is about to be divided, divided 
philosophically and divided by interest groups. Labor and the business 
community really have their dukes up on what is called the fast track 
bill.
  In this bill, the organized labor community of the United States and 
the business community is in total concert, with thorough support. I 
would like to give an example.
  When I recently spoke at a group in my home area in the Quad Cities 
in East Moline, Illinois, on the other side of the Mississippi River, 
the United Auto Workers and the leadership of Deere & Company came 
together to express their thanks for what the Eximbank had done to be 
able to provide them the resources to in effect send a large number of 
combines to the Newly Independent States, the former Soviet Union. If 
there was a greater example of swords into plough shares, I do not know 
it, all made possible by the Export-Import Bank.
  Sometimes it is important to use examples, and let me use a couple of 
others from my congressional district. In River Dale, Iowa, is the 
largest Alcoa processing plant for the development of aluminum that 
goes on the wings of every single Boeing aircraft sold. In Cedar 
Rapids, also in my congressional district, is the Collins Radio 
Division of Rockwell, which makes instrument panels of the vast 
majority of aircraft exported from the United States of America. 
Without the Export-Import Bank, literally in my congressional district, 
we would have thousands fewer jobs. What should be stressed is that 
these are fewer jobs of the highest, best kind in my district.
  So from a district perspective, this makes good sense. But we have to 
look at things first from the national perspective. And here I think 
this country, as we look around the world and look at the export versus 
import equation, which is running against the United States, not to 
give the benefit of the doubt to those programs that advance exports 
would be a major mistake.
  In terms of cost, there is a modest cost in this bill. On the other 
hand, over the last several decades, the Export-Import Bank has 
approximately broken even on the ledger sheet, but more importantly, if 
one combined the income from the taxes to corporations and individuals 
based upon jobs that are created, the country is running well ahead of 
the game. So this is a very cost-effective program.
  Finally, let me just say with regard to an observation of the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake], I want to commend the leadership 
of this Export-Import Bank under the Clinton administration for moving 
more impressively towards the small business community. And even 
though, if we take an order for combines that might come from Deere & 
Company, there might be foundries that are small business, seat 
manufacturers that are small business and other suppliers that will be 
small business. There are also small business ventures themselves that 
are getting increasing attention from the Export-Import Bank, and I 
think that is a very fine trend.
  So let me just say in conclusion, I believe this is a good judgment 
of the Members, a good judgment of the administration, and good policy 
for the United States.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. LaFalce].
  [Mr. LaFALCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the adoption of the 
conference report to accompany Senate 1026, the Export-Import Bank 
Reauthorization Act of 1997.
  Mr. Speaker, 63 years ago the Congress chartered the Export-Import 
Bank to support the financing of United States exports when private 
sector financing was not available to support those exports for sale in 
overseas developing markets.
  The United States economy in 1934 was quite different than today's 
financial good times, but the need for export financing is as necessary 
in 1997 as it was in those post-depression days. For small businesses 
alone in fiscal year 1996, there were almost 2000 Export Bank 
transactions valued at $2.4 billion, and the volume of Export Bank 
business grows daily.

[[Page H10565]]

  The conference report we consider today extends the authority of the 
Export Bank and its Tied Aid Credit Fund through September 2001. For 
the most part, each of the amendments adopted in the House are 
reflected in the conference report. The conferees worked diligently, 
however, to ensure that the thrust of the House amendments be reflected 
in the overall policy and practices of the Export Bank. Yet, we made 
sure that there would be no provisions in the report which would impair 
the bank's ability to function effectively to support the export 
market.
  So on balance, this conference report is very good public policy and 
deserves the bipartisan support of the entire House.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would be very remiss if I did not 
recognize the support of the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Leach], the 
chairman of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and the 
extraordinary work of the chairman and ranking member of the 
Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy. The 
gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle], the subcommittee chairman, led 
the reauthorization fight, despite the fact that Members in this body 
might have been pleased to see the work of the bank abandoned.
  Also, the tremendous work of the gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake], 
the subcommittee's ranking member, has been widely discussed because he 
is leaving the House shortly. There are many things for which he can be 
remembered, but now the 4-year extension of the Export Bank can remain 
as another visible reminder of the outstanding quality of Congressman 
Floyd Flake's contributions to the United States Congress and to the 
American public.

                              {time}  2315

  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter], another gentleman who has a 
strong understanding of international finance and the importance of it 
to America.
  (Mr. Bereuter asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time and for his kind words.
  Mr. Speaker, I was in my office, turned on the TV, and realized that 
the conference report was on the floor and hurried over here quickly. I 
am extremely pleased to see that the House and the Congress will have a 
chance to complete its work on the reauthorization of the Export-Import 
Bank. I think it is a very good step for America.
  I am very pleased that the House conferees have also been able to 
take the sense and the spirit and the wording and the dramatic impact 
of what the House had earlier voted upon. I feel that the five 
conferees in the House have stood together and brought a very good 
result to the House. Everyone should feel comfortable and enthused, in 
fact, about passing this legislation. I do appreciate the words of 
commendation and join in them for the chairman, the gentleman from Iowa 
[Mr. Leach], who gave us the support to get this legislation through 
conference and to the floor here tonight.
  I particularly, however, want to concentrate my remarks on the 
gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle] and the gentleman from New York 
[Mr. Flake], who have worked in excellent fashion, and in tandem and 
individually have done a tremendous job on this legislation as it came 
to the floor, as it was crafted in committee and in the conference.
  The gentleman from New York, of course, as mentioned, is leaving, but 
whether or not he was leaving, he should be commended for the kind of 
work that he has done on the Committee on Banking and Financial 
Services over the years.
  I did not get a chance to join in those commendations on the House 
floor earlier, but his work on urban development, housing, and exports 
has been really extraordinarily positive for the country, and for his 
constituents as well.
  So we are going to miss him, I say to the gentleman from New York 
[Mr. Flake], and we wish him very great success in his continued work 
with his religious flock and for the development activities he is so 
much involved in in his own State.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to say that I think that the work we 
have done to refine the Chafee amendment, the work we have done to 
extend the provisions for the sale of, the financing of the guarantees 
of dual use technology, especially as it relates to the air control 
system, have proven to be a very important step as the nations of 
Eastern and Central Europe have moved from communism to embrace 
democracy.
  This has been good for our national interest, for our defense, and 
for our industrial base. Likewise, we have seen those kinds of benefits 
come to American industry with respect to sales in Latin America.
  So Mr. Speaker, I urge strongly support for this legislation. It is 
in the best interests of this country.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say to the gentleman, I thank him 
for his remarks. If I had any second thoughts about it, when I finished 
my sermon about 1 o'clock this morning, I was up at 5 o'clock to preach 
my 6:30, 8:30 and 11 o'clock services, I was on the shuttle at 2 
o'clock and on the floor at 11:20, so any second thoughts I had, the 
Lord removed them today with this schedule.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Texas [Mr. Ken Bentsen].
  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this conference report. I want to 
commend the chairman of the subcommittee on which I served and the 
ranking member, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake], as well as the 
chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Banking and Financial 
Services for the work they did, and the other conferees.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a terribly important bill that we are passing. 
Sometime later tonight or perhaps early tomorrow morning, we may or may 
not take up the issue of fast track. There will be a lot of debate held 
about trade and what the United States ought to be doing in trade. But 
the bill that we are considering right now is terribly important 
because markets are not always efficient. We know in the finance market 
and in the export market that we have many allies who heavily subsidize 
their exports, some to the extent of 20 or 30 percent of their export 
market.
  What we do in the United States through the Export-Import Bank is to 
provide in effect a matching subsidy for the banks and the other 
financial institutions where the private market will not go. It only 
makes up, I believe, about 2 percent or so of our export market, but it 
is a very important part, because without it, many U.S. companies would 
just simply not be able to participate in these world markets. 
Therefore, we would lose any competitive advantage we might have, and 
ultimately we would lose jobs in those industries.
  So regardless of how Members intend to vote, either later tonight or 
sometime tomorrow, whenever we do this, however long we keep the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake] here for that particular debate, I 
hope that they will support this bill, because this is very important. 
This is not corporate welfare.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, let me also add my support and accolades for 
the ranking member, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake]. I think it 
is important to note, and it was not mentioned in great detail, that 
the gentleman from New York, while a Representative from New York, has 
only been there on assignment from a higher authority and will return 
there, but he and I are both from Houston, Texas, originally. At some 
point we hope that he will return.
  He is often back in Houston and in my district, and I look forward to 
seeing him in his other and now to be his main or only capacity in 
preaching. He has a great number of followers in Houston, not just for 
his religious activities, but was in Houston recently and met with a 
number of fellow ministers from my district, all of whom are very eager 
to come up and see the model which he has built in his district. We 
look forward to doing that. I appreciated the opportunity to have 
served with the gentleman in the Congress, and I look forward to 
working with him later on.

[[Page H10566]]

  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments, and I 
yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. 
Vento].
  (Mr. VENTO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this conference 
committee report on the Export-Import Bank. I want to thank the 
subcommittee and committee chairmen for their work in conference, as 
well as our friend and colleague, the gentleman from New York, Mr. 
Floyd Flake, and to add my positive recognition of his work and their 
work, his work throughout his service in Congress, and the work 
especially in this conference committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I had added an amendment on the floor, an important 
amendment to me, one that I think built on the protocols in terms of 
some of the strictures in the export administration law with regard to 
child labor, and I am appreciative of the fact that the Members did go 
to conference and keep the spirit if not the letter of that particular 
provision within the bill. I really appreciate being consulted upon 
that matter while it was in conference, and the work that was done to 
in fact keep it within the context of this conference.
  This is an important tool that we have in terms of export. 
Historically, of course, it has been used by some of the larger 
manufacturing concerns in the U.S. in the jobs that they create. Some 
of the companies and institutions have been mentioned this evening. We 
have some, certainly, from Minnesota. But more importantly, it has in 
recent years been the focus on smaller- and middle-sized businesses 
that are moving into the export market.
  While we will have a big debate on trade tonight, I think all of us 
recognize we are going to be involved in the global economy. These 
tools that provide the type of direct credit, the guarantees and credit 
insurance, are enormously important in order to facilitate that 
process.
  I would point out to my colleagues, certainly the members of the 
committee on which I serve, the Committee on Banking and Financial 
Institutions, are aware of it, but so often this credit is put in place 
and these newly emerging nations, for instance, the nations of the 
former Soviet Union, the newly emerging states, where in fact the type 
of financial underpinning and structure is not in place, and they need 
the additional credit in order to facilitate the purchase of U.S. 
products or other products. We could do it with subsidies; we could do 
it with other types of assistance. This has been an effective and very 
efficient way to do it, which capitalizes or builds and leverages our 
private sector banks and financial institutions to accomplish this.
  But in any case, Mr. Speaker, this is a good measure. It has been an 
especially difficult year to deal with it, because of the climate with 
regard to this type of institution. For that, I think the gentleman 
from Delaware, Mr. Mike Castle, subcommittee chairman, and Chairman 
Leach and others that have worked in this really did a masterful job in 
terms of advocating this on the floor, and through the Congress to 
enactment or to the President, and final enactment today hopefully will 
be successful.
  I certainly support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) 
Bank Reauthorization bill. Typically, this authorization is an exercise 
that receives scant attention and afterthought. Granted it has its 
detractors that denounce its practices as corporate welfare, but the 
criteria of Ex-Im assistance has remained relatively intact. I am 
pleased that this bill breaks with tradition, and includes an amendment 
I offered to the House bill that denies U.S. Ex-Im assistance to 
companies that violate child labor laws. For the first time child labor 
violations will serve as the basis for a determination to deny 
companies U.S. Ex-Im assistance.
  By directing loans, loan guarantees, and credit insurance, Ex-Im Bank 
fills an important niche in our sales abroad, especially in 
environments where financial institutions are not stable. That could be 
the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union or any other 
region where the economy is developing anew. This is a sound program 
that speaks to American jobs and U.S. businesses. It is a partnership 
with the federal government that works. Clearly, in the context of 
extending these specific credit assurances of opportunities, we should 
be certain that worker rights, environmental issues, and intellectual 
and financial property rights are safeguarded. As we move forward to 
reauthorize the Ex-Im program for an additional four years, and as we 
continue to push for smaller business export loans and benefits, we 
should initiate new policy guidelines to enhance our efforts and goals. 
The Vento child labor amendment is one such important effort.
  Child labor practices today reveal an unprecedented tragedy of a far 
greater magnitude than what transpired in a less global economic 
marketplace. The International Labor Organization estimates that over 
250 million children worldwide under the age of 15 are working instead 
of receiving basic education. That is 250 million reasons to ensure 
that U.S. Ex-Im guarantees, insurance, and loans take the extra step to 
protect against the exploitation of child labor by U.S. companies and 
partners. Because we neither investigate nor know the child labor 
practices of the companies we assist, this language is essential in 
drawing attention to the child labor practices. It also presents the 
potential for increased involvement on behalf of Non-Governmental 
Organizations to discover and publicize specific child labor abuses.
  I realize no single nation or single agency can eradicate the child 
labor problem. However, we should deliberately pursue each opportunity 
in order to turn the tide on the inappropriate employment of young 
children. If we help these U.S. companies, then we should expect that 
they and their partners reflect and follow fundamental U.S. values and 
laws. Both symbolically and substantively, the U.S. must set an example 
as we advance and engage in the global marketplace.
  There is no other practice so universally condemned, yet so 
universally practiced as the exploitation of child labor. Crimes 
committed against children around the world, that this Congress is so 
adamant to speak out against, should not be encouraged or tolerated by 
our own government policies. We all recognize the depth of this 
problem, yet as a nation we do little to protect children from 
exploitation. For example, one of the most important measures of the 
105th Congress, fast track negotiating authority, does not recognize 
child labor protections as a legitimate negotiating objective. Foreign 
investment, intellectual property, both made the list of trade 
objectives. We have always gone to great lengths to enhance and protect 
the profits and rights of companies at home and abroad, while ignoring 
the rights of working people, particularly children. Are the world's 
children not deserving of the same support? For those that want to keep 
child labor protections out of trade agreements, child labor is merely 
a harsh reality that makes good economic sense.
  I hope that this language will help make the invisible visible and 
generate the significant public pressure that is necessary to make 
political progress on child labor protections. Our trade policy must 
promote progress in wages, living standards, and human rights here in 
the U.S. and around the globe. It should not undermine progress in 
these important areas or legitimatize the status quo. This language 
ensures that there will be more U.S. responsibility in the strategy for 
the eradication of exploitative child labor. It gives each of us the 
opportunity to stand up for children, who even marginally, may be 
contributing to a subsidized U.S. export product.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to include among our thanks Mr. Jamie 
McCormick of the staff of the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Leach], because 
without the cooperation of the full committee chairman and the 
cooperation of his staff, much of what the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. 
Castle] and I have been able to achieve could not have happened.
  I thank again all of those who have offered remarks, and certainly I 
look forward to, as I leave this place, remaining in relationship and 
friendship with all of the Members.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would, too, like to thank all the great staff. I 
mentioned Sean Peterson before, but Jamie McCormick and John Lopez of 
our staff, they all did really a wonderful job on that. I would like to 
thank all those who spoke tonight who are very thoughtful, from the 
chairman, the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Leach] on down. These are people 
who have thought a lot about this, and do, I think, a wonderful job of 
handling these difficult and complex issues.
  Mr. Speaker, obviously, in final words for our friend, the gentleman 
from New York, Mr. Floyd Flake, I thought it was just me for a while 
who thought he was an exceptional individual to work with, and then I 
began to

[[Page H10567]]

realize that a lot of people in this House thought that.
  I missed the tribute on the floor. I got there when he was actually 
speaking. I came back to my office from actually being down and meeting 
on this particular bill. I realized later what everybody said about 
him. I guess we always say nice things about each other, but I do not 
know of anyone in this House who is truly more respected, liked and 
admired than the gentleman from New York, Mr. Floyd Flake. He has done 
an exceptional job, not just in this subcommittee, but in general, and 
it is with a great amount of sadness that, while it may not be, we 
still have a coin bill coming along, but it may be the last bill we are 
going to handle, and I would like to add my homage to what everybody 
has said about him.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle] that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the conference report on S. 1026.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the conference report was agreed 
to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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