[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 119 (Thursday, September 10, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H7556-H7557]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          AMERICAN PEOPLE ON THE SIDE OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, the crisis that we are now facing here 
in the Nation's Capital is unfortunately obstructing the view of a 
historic struggle that is now going on in southeast Asia and China.
  So I believed tonight to be the night that I should, instead of 
getting up and talking about some of the problems and some of the 
crises and challenges we face here, point to this historic event that 
is taking place in Southeast Asia so people will understand that, yes, 
the forces of democracy are on the move, and there are positive things 
happening around the world as well as some things that may cause us 
great concern.
  Asia is at a turning point. Asia will have tyranny and deprivation in 
the long run, or it will have democracy and free markets. The people in 
various countries in Southeast Asia and also in China understand that 
they are at this turning point, and the choices that are being made 
today will impact on their countries and on this planet for decades to 
come.
  We can be grateful here in the United States that what we believe in, 
a democratic government, free enterprise, individual rights, are the 
type of ideals that are inspiring young people and are inspiring those 
folks who would change their systems in Southeast Asia.
  Although those folks are up against some incredible odds, people in 
various countries are showing admirable courage as we speak and as we 
meet. They are confronting dictatorship and cronyism in their countries 
and putting their lives on the line by doing it.
  In Indonesia, for example, young people are still in the streets, 
still facing off with the power structure. And Soeharto himself, the 
dictator, at long last may be gone, a man whose family looted that 
country of tens of billions of dollars, he may be gone, but his power 
structure remains, and the young people of that country are trying to 
eliminate cronyism and establish democracy for that country.
  In Cambodia, ordinary people, street vendors, taxi cab drivers, 
Buddhist monks, people of every stripe and from every walk of life are 
joining together to sit in front of the American embassy and also in 
the town square, reminiscent of what happened in the Philippines under 
Marcos, and telling the dictator Hun Sen, a man who was a trigger man 
for Pol Pot that he will not rob them of their free elections.
  This confrontation in Cambodia should have the attention of every 
freedom-loving person in the world, especially here in the United 
States. The United States stands with the people who are struggling for 
democracy in Cambodia, and they should understand that we are on the 
side of the people, democracy, and free enterprise, and we are opposed 
to Hun Sen and crooked elections and the use of force and violence.
  These young people in Cambodia are admirable. These Buddhist monks 
are people who deserve our admiration and deserve our applause.

[[Page H7557]]

  Similarly, in Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi and her democratic movement is 
at long last standing up to the SLORC dictatorship.
  Both in Cambodia and in Burma, those ruthless gangsters who run those 
countries who are tied in with drug lords and have made international 
deals with the Communist Chinese should understand that, if they commit 
murders in order to maintain their power, if Aung San Suu Kyi is hurt 
or hundreds of people are murdered in Cambodia, those individuals in 
those governments, like Mr. Hun Sen and the military leaders in Burma, 
will be held accountable, and they will be treated as war criminals in 
the United States and the other democracies.
  Because the struggle for freedom in Southeast Asia is reaching a 
crescendo, the Burmese people could free themselves. The people of 
Cambodia, if they remain courageous, could free themselves from Hun Sen 
and his dictatorship and his iron-fisted rule.
  The United States, those of us in Congress, while we are going 
through our own crisis at home, have not lost site of our ideals. And 
as we speak, we should send a message to the people in Southeast Asia 
struggling for freedom and the people in China struggling for freedom 
we are on their side. Have courage. The American people will not let 
you down. We are on the side of freedom and democracy and opposed to 
dictatorship just like you.

                          ____________________