[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 101 (Friday, July 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H6423-H6424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE NEED FOR AN ASIAN STRATEGY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, today this Member will introduce 
legislation that requires the administration to establish a $100 
million assistance and food security initiative for Indonesia and 
Southeast Asia in fiscal year 1999. I would say it very much happens to 
compliment what the gentleman from Minnesota just said about coping 
with our own farm crisis or difficulties at the same time that we are 
reaching out to help for a food shortage problem which is expected to 
be severe this year in Indonesia.
  This legislation, in the works for several weeks by this Member, is 
consistent with recent urgent proposals or suggestions by distinguished 
Indonesian experts in America, like Ambassador Paul Wolfowitz of the 
Brookings Institution, and the former Ambassador, Robert Zoellick, 
President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International 
Studies, for a prompt Congressional response to the Asian financial 
crisis, and, more specifically, to Indonesia's current plight.
  In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post on July 23, 
1998, Mr. Zoellick, former Undersecretary of State during the Bush 
Administration, eloquently argues that now is a definitive moment in 
the lives of a generation of Asians, and that America's response to the 
current crisis could be as important as America's response to Europe 50 
years ago.
  Because Ambassador Zoellick makes the case for a coherent foreign 
policy strategy better than anyone so far, I would say, this Member 
would include excerpts from his op-ed piece entitled ``An Asian 
Strategy.'' I would like to read two paragraphs from it at this point.
  He says as follows: First, Congress should enact a major humanitarian 
package for Indonesia. The need is urgent. The combination of drought 
and economic collapse has not only impoverished half of the world's 
fourth-most populous country, but raised the real danger of famine. 
Indonesia's new president already is urging his 200 million citizens to 
fast twice a week to conserve supplies. All the talk of IMF packages 
and economic recovery will be only chatter until there is political 
stability in Indonesia, and there will be no stability if people cannot 
eat. Indeed, Indonesia's ethnic peace, even its very coherence as a 
Nation is at risk. And if Indonesia sinks further, the rest of 
Southeast Asia will bear the burden of its dead weight.''
  ``America has a proud tradition of humanitarian relief for people in 
need; it also has farmers who would welcome a boost in prices. If 
Congress expands the administration's recently announced grain 
purchases into a full-fledged relief plan, it can draw in Japan, the 
European Union and even some private U.S. business people who have 
signaled a willingness to contribute. This initiative would send a 
powerful, symbolic and practical message about America's concern for 
the plight of average Asians, not just bankers and magnates.''
  That is what Mr. Zoellick has to say.
  Mr. Speaker, now is not the time, I would say, for the United States 
to balk at its responsibilities as the world's only superpower. The 
United States fought a Cold War and spent hundreds of billions of 
dollars, perhaps trillions of dollars, to advance our ideology of 
global capitalism and democracy.
  In Asia, capitalism was adopted with an enthusiasm that has proven so 
strong that authoritarian leaders found democracy following right 
behind. From Taiwan to the Republic of Korea and Indonesia, for 
example, our most important principles are being embraced and tested by 
people willing to put their lives on the line.
  As Mr. Zoellick rightly states, we have an important choice to make 
that will affect an entire Asian generation's perception of us and what 
we stand for. We can tell hard working Indonesians that they can sell 
their products here, or we can close our markets. We can join the rest 
the world in providing humanitarian assistance, or we can turn our 
back. We can send our experts to help them rebuild their economy, or we 
can wait until it is too late. We can pool resources and share risk 
with the world's industrialized countries to the regional capital 
markets or we can let them dry up.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States can pay now or it can pay later. If 
the U.S. Congress and the president agree to develop a proper response 
to the current crisis in Asia, the costs will be minimal and the 
rewards unfathomable. Can one put a price on democracy in Indonesia or 
stability in the Asia Pacific region? Or, we can wait and see how the 
troubled Asian economies do own their own without our assistance.
  Perhaps they will recuperate in several years through excellent 
management and astute decision making. But what if they do not? What 
will be the costs if we do nothing and find the region still in crisis 
in five years? How much will it cost us to maintain our security 
umbrella in an insecure region? What will happen to the U.S. economy if 
the Asian Pacific region slips into depression? Most importantly, will 
Asians continue to look to the United States for leadership if they do 
nothing?

[[Page H6424]]

  Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to cosponsor this new Indonesian 
assistance legislation, which will also be very important to our export 
base and to our entire economy and foreign policy.

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