[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 125 (Friday, September 18, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10582-S10583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 NEED FOR BIPARTISAN CONSENSUS ON FOREIGN POLICY AT A TIME OF DOMESTIC 
                                 CRISIS

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, this is a time of serious political turmoil 
in the United States.
  The House of Representatives is currently considering impeachment 
proceedings. The President of the United States has admitted to serious 
moral indiscretions.
  The public is divided on what punishment should be meted out to a 
President who has performed such despicable and indefensible actions.
  While the House of Representatives is considering impeachment the 
Senate is waiting to determine whether it may have to sit in judgment 
with respect to these actions.
  Clearly this is a difficult time for the nation domestically.
  It is a perilous time for the nation internationally.
  We have four weeks left in this Congress and to date we have failed 
to address some critical foreign policy issues.
  Notwithstanding that failure and the political disarray on the 
domestic front, there should be no disagreement as to the need to face 
up to these issues.
  This challenge, and our unfinished business, is the subject of my 
remarks today.
  Throughout our nation's history, Americans have understood that no 
matter what was happening in this country's internal political life, 
America's survival depends on presenting a strong, united front to the 
world. Now, in the middle of a domestic political crisis, we must 
overcome partisan differences to focus on urgent matters in United 
States foreign policy.
  Especially now, in the face of major world crises, we must not allow 
ourselves to be distracted from our task of protecting America's 
security, leadership, and credibility abroad.
  With time running short in the Congressional session, the ability to 
reach out to find the necessary consensus which could permit our 
country to speak in one voice is threatened by the entire debate over 
the future of this President.
  No matter how we feel about the actions of President Clinton and 
whether impeachment proceedings should begin in the House of 
Representatives, Bill Clinton is still President of the United States 
with constitutional responsibilities for the conduct of our foreign 
policy and national security.
  We in the Congress share that constitutional responsibility and I 
call on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together and 
work closely with the President and his national security team to 
address these issues together.
  The security threats facing us are urgent and complex: international 
terrorism; weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; nuclear weapons 
programs in India, Pakistan, and North Korea; a fragile Middle East 
peace; drug trafficking and international crime; the financial crises 
in Russia and Asia; and impending humanitarian disasters in Kosovo and 
the Horn of Africa.


                        Russian Economic Crisis

  The unfolding crisis in Russia, for example, could hold serious 
threats to the national economic and military security of the United 
States. An even greater danger than the economic meltdown is the threat 
of a total collapse of Russia's political system.
  With the Yeltsin era about to end, the only thing worse than an 
economically paralyzed Yeltsin government would be a coup d'etat that 
installed an authoritarian government.
  It takes little imagination to see the dangers of a new, extremist 
Russian regime that would have access to thousands of leftover Cold War 
missiles armed with nuclear warheads. Because of the deep structural 
problems in Russia's political and economic system, there is very 
little that the United States can do to turn this situation around 
quickly.
  But with thousands of former Soviet nuclear weapons experts out of 
work and rogue states such as Libya, Iran, and Iraq eager to offer them 
paychecks, we must keep our eye on the first priority of preventing the 
collapse of Russian democracy along with the economy if we want to 
protect our own national security.


                                 Kosovo

  In Kosovo, the Serbian special police are continuing their terrorist 
policy that has driven more than 300,000 Kosovo Albanians from their 
homes and into the forests and mountains. With the onset of the Balkan 
winter only one month away, a humanitarian catastrophe of enormous 
proportions looms. The West must compel the Serbs to cease military 
operations at once and provide unrestricted access to international aid 
organizations.
  The Administration must immediately formulate a policy on Kosovo and 
present it to the Congress so we can be united in strong action to 
address yet another Balkan tragedy.


                         Iraq Sanctions Policy

  Iraq's decision last month to prevent U.N. inspections reminds us of 
the continuing threat posed by Saddam Hussein to our national interest. 
At that time, U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter resigned his post 
because he believed that the U.N. Security Council and the United 
States were unwilling to use force against Iraq to compel it to 
cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors.
  Ritter's resignation has forced both the Administration and Congress 
to decide on a clear Iraq policy: do we rely on the immediate, 
unilateral use of force to back U.N. inspections?
  Do we seek to maintain consensus on the Security Council before using 
force? Do we abandon the threat of the use of force and rely on 
sanctions to contain Iraq? These are tough choices, but we need to make 
a decision and be prepared to stick with it. And we need to remember 
that big nations can't bluff.


                            The Middle East

  Another test of United States leadership abroad is our continued 
support for the delicate peace process in the Middle East. My recent 
visit to the Middle East has reconfirmed my belief that both the 
Israeli and Palestinian leadership are committed to the success of the 
peace talks. It is important that Congress support the President's 
intensive efforts to revive a process that has remained stalled for 
much too long.
  Continued drift in the peace process benefits no one but the 
terrorists and extremists.


                             India/Pakistan

  Equally critical is our support of the Administration's continued 
diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the nuclear tensions between India 
and Pakistan. In the wake of their nuclear tests, the President was 
forced by existing sanctions law to impose sweeping economic penalties 
against these countries, even though this made resolution of the crisis 
more difficult.
  The Senate quickly moved to repeal part of the sanctions law to make 
exceptions for food and other humanitarian supplies. The Senate 
Sanctions Task Force, which I co-chair with Senator McConnell, also 
recommended changes in the existing sanctions regime to give the 
President flexibility in negotiating with India and Pakistan.
  The Senate adopted these changes as an amendment to the Agricultural 
Appropriations bill. We need to complete

[[Page S10583]]

action on this legislation before we adjourn.
  These are only some of the foreign policy issues we face together, 
the Congress and our President, in this dangerous world of borderless 
threats and transnational security challenges.
  Our foreign policy initiatives could have tragic consequences--as 
we've seen in the past--if the President, Congress, and the American 
people fail to forge a common consensus on our foreign policy goals.
  As I said at the outset, Bill Clinton is President of the United 
States. The situation requires a bipartisan effort to address these 
issues.
  We have failed thus far in meeting that responsibility with respect 
to several very specific issues. Working with the President, we must 
act on these issues before we adjourn.


                            Embassy funding

  First among these is consideration of emergency embassy security 
legislation, which the President is expected to submit to the Congress 
this week. The embassy bombings in East Africa were tragic reminders of 
the long-term war against terrorism. They were also a reminder that 
maintaining a strong diplomatic presence around the globe cannot be 
done on a shoestring budget.
  I believe the Congress will act quickly on the Administration's 
request for emergency funding to rebuild the destroyed embassies in 
Kenya and Tanzania and to meet urgent security needs of our other 
diplomatic facilities around the world. As the world's leading 
superpower, we cannot afford to pinch pennies in countering the new 
breed of international terrorist.
  Under the leadership of the Chairman of the Foreign Relations 
Committee, Senator Helms, and the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member 
of the Appropriations Committee, I am confident that this issue will be 
acted upon in an expeditious and bipartisan manner.
  Engaging in a debate about whether Congress or the Executive had 
failed to provide adequate security funding would distract us from 
working together in a bipartisan manner to provide the funds needed to 
protect our people serving abroad.


                              IMF Funding

  America's own economic security may also very well depend on 
Congress's ability to provide strong international leadership at this 
critical time for the international economy. The Asian financial crisis 
has sent shock waves as far as Russia and Latin America. To protect our 
economy and to keep the crisis from spreading, Congress must act 
quickly to help replenish its share of the IMF's resources, which now 
have reached dangerously low levels.
  But while the Senate has supported full funding for the IMF in a 
strong bipartisan manner, the House yesterday voted to provide only a 
fraction of our total share of the IMF's emergency funds.
  With the outcome of the financial crisis still to be determined, 
Congress must act decisively before we adjourn to maintain both the 
financial strength of the IMF and to help end the global economic 
crisis before our own interests are jeopardized.


                                  CWC

  In a world beset with many dangers, the threat posed by weapons of 
mass destruction is also among our greatest concerns. Chemical weapons, 
among the world's oldest weapons of mass destruction, are truly 
horrific--as we learned when Iraq's Saddam Hussein gassed whole 
villages of his own people.
  Partly in response to Saddam Hussein, the world has moved to adopt 
the Chemical Weapons Convention, or CWC, to outlaw chemical weapons and 
to verify compliance with the Treaty. In May of last year, the Senate 
passed bi-partisan legislation necessary to implement the Treaty. But 
the CWC remains in limbo. Why?
  Because House Republicans failed to act on the Senate's CWC 
Implementation Act for six months, finally choosing to attach it to 
unrelated, vetoed legislation in a political confrontation with the 
President. Failure to act has put our country in violation of this 
treaty leaving us unable to demand compliance by others.
  If the CWC implementation bill is not passed by the House in the next 
four weeks, we will continue to be in violation of the CWC Treaty and 
have to start all over again in a new Congress. It is time for the 
House of Representatives to step forward and put the national interest 
above political considerations.


              U.N. Arrears/State Department Reorganization

  The issue of United States arrears to the United Nations is another 
challenge we have yet to resolve. Chairman Helms and I worked hard to 
craft a bipartisan plan to pay $926 million in our arrears if the 
United Nations agreed to make reforms. Those plans are contained in the 
State Department Conference Report that has yet to be sent to the 
President.
  Unfortunately, our payment to the UN has been weighed down with an 
unrelated, controversial abortion provision. We need to come to grips 
with this problem before we adjourn. Our arrears are harming our 
interests at the United Nations, where other countries are raising the 
issue at every opportunity to curtail U.S. influence on other matters.
  Our failure to resolve serious differences over the Mexico City 
abortion language--or agree to strip it from this conference report--is 
also holding back additional legislation in the conference report 
authorizing the reorganization of the U.S. foreign affairs agencies--a 
long-awaited plan to help the Department streamline its operations to 
increase our diplomatic effectiveness.
  We need to take a fresh look at the continuing impasse over this 
conference report. We in the Congress and the President need to set out 
a new road map to get these issues signed into law. As I said, we need, 
together, to resolve our differences over the Mexico City language or 
strip it off and fight that issue again next year.
  Mr. President, at this point I would like to say a few words about 
the Committee on Foreign Relations, where I serve as Ranking Minority 
Member.
  During this Congress the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, 
Senator Helms, and I have worked together to address serious and 
difficult issues. We have not always agreed, though I am sure many have 
been surprised at the large number of issues the Chairman and I have 
come to agreement on.
  Overriding all the issues, however, has been a strong commitment, 
equally shared, to our responsibility to discharge our responsibilities 
on the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Consequently it is no surprise that the Chairman, immediately upon 
our return in September, initiated plans for the Committee to act on 
over thirty legal assistance treaties and a large number of nominations 
important to the conduct of our foreign policy.
  I applaud the Chairman for his commitment at this time of political 
crisis.
  I regret, however, that the Committee has not been able to consider 
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty this year. The Chairman and I 
disagree on the importance of this treaty and he has indicated a need 
to address other treaties first.
  Although we will be unable to act before we adjourn, we do need to 
consider how and when the Senate will be able to take this treaty up 
next year.
  Mr. President, as I said earlier, our time is short. We must work 
together to resolve these outstanding foreign policy issues.
  Most important is the need for a bipartisan commitment to work with 
our President at this time of crisis, as he leads our country as 
Commander-in-Chief.
  If ever there was a time for a President to provide leadership, 
overseas and the Congress to rise above a serious domestic political 
crisis to support the President, now is that time!
  Mr. President, John F. Kennedy once remarked that ``our domestic 
policy can defeat us, but our foreign policy can kill us.''
  He was right, of course. And in the coming weeks, Congress and the 
President have the responsibility to step up to the plate and address 
our unfinished foreign policy business--or risk allowing these 
neglected issues to jeopardize our national security interests.

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