[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 157 (Sunday, November 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12288-S12289]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   1997: A BANNER YEAR OF WORK FOR SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, this past week, the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee held its final business meeting of the 1st session 
of the 105th Congress. At that meeting, the committee approved 50 
nominations as well as three pieces of legislation. This was the 
culmination of an ambitious 1997 agenda which included 97 committee 
meetings--the first on January 8 when the committee convened to 
consider the nomination of Madeleine Albright to be Secretary of State.
  With this past week's business meeting, the committee had approved 
and sent to the Senate, in 1997, 119 nominations, approved 1,004 
Foreign Service promotions and reported out 37 pieces of legislation, 
while approving 15 treaties. Among the nominations were the Secretary 
of State, numerous Assistant Secretaries of State, and Ambassadors to 
the United Nations, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Greece, Korea, 
Israel, and Egypt.
  But this, Mr. President, does not begin to tell the full story. 
Thanks to the able members of the committee staff, hard work of the 
committee members--the subcommittee chairmen and ranking members--and 
thanks to the bipartisan spirit which we, all of us, have worked to 
establish, we have--all of us together--succeeded, in the opinion of, 
at least, two former Secretaries of State, in returning the Foreign 
Relations Committee to top-drawer relevancy for the first time in 
decades. I believe it is fair to say that, thanks to the joint efforts 
of so many, the committee is today a force to be reckoned with in terms 
of U.S. foreign policy.
  Mr. President, the most concrete evidence of this rejuvenation came 
in May and June, when the committee wrote and approved sweeping 
bipartisan legislation to reorganize and revitalize the

[[Page S12289]]

U.S. foreign policy apparatus, and reform the United Nations. This bill 
passed the Senate by an overwhelming 90 to 5 vote stipulating the 
abolishment of two antiquated temporary Federal agencies--the U.S. 
Information Agency and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency--and 
brings another--the Agency for International Development--under the 
authority of the Secretary of State.
  And, just as importantly, it strikes a grand bargain regarding the 
United Nations, paying $819 million in so-called U.S. arrears in 
exchange for deep-seated and meaningful U.N. reforms.
  In addition, since the August recess, the full committee, and its 
various subcommittees, have convened literally dozens of hearings on a 
wide range of foreign policy matters. During the fall months, the 
committee began hearings on what will surely be next year's most 
important foreign policy debate: The expansion of the NATO alliance.
  The committee has already held six hearings--beginning with testimony 
from Secretary of State Albright--hearings which I believe will have a 
real impact in ensuring not only that NATO expansion is approved by the 
Senate next spring, but that the plan presented to the Senate for its 
advice and consent is done the right way, taking into account the 
legitimate concerns various Senators have presented.
  It is difficult for me to express in any adequate way my gratitude to 
the members of this committee for all their efforts this past year. The 
chairmen and ranking members of the various subcommittees have done 
splendid work in the consideration of all the nominations, the 
bilateral tax treaties that are so important to American industry, and 
to hold oversight hearings on so many important matters.
  It is because of their work--not Senator Biden's nor mine--that this 
committee has been restored to the world stage as an important player 
in American foreign policy. I am proud of them and, it has been a 
privilege to serve with them on the Foreign Relations Committee.

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