[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 30 (Thursday, February 25, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H810-H811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               UNITED STATES NEEDS TO FOCUS ON INDONESIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, one aspect of livable communities is the 
global connections that we are facing today as trade interrelates our 
economies, world peace is affected as one destabilized area can have 
serious consequences for others, how environmental exploitation has 
global consequences for us all as we have increasingly destructive 
capacity in an increasingly smaller world.
  There is need for people who care about livable communities to focus 
on Indonesia, focus across four time zones, over 15,000 islands, and a 
population of over 210 million people. It is a spectacular, diverse, 
and extremely vulnerable region. It is one in political transition, 
moving from three political parties and really no Democratic election 
in the last 40 years, to approaching over 150 and its first election in 
two generations this June.
  We have seen in East Timor, home of tragic violence, as it was 
invaded by the Indonesian military 25 years ago, we have seen the death 
of over 200,000 people in an island that still has only perhaps a 
population of 800,000 and a situation that cries for a peaceful 
resolution.
  Indonesia is a nation of great financial turmoil today. Less than 2 
years ago, it was one of those successful Asian financial tigers, so 
successful that we were on the verge of withdrawing our aid programs. 
Today, it is now an economic basket case, with half its population at 
or below the Indonesian poverty level and virtually not a single 
solvent financial institution in the entire country.
  We have seen long simmering racial, ethnic and religious tensions 
bubble to the surface, aggravated by the serious economic difficulties 
that have led to the death of hundreds of its citizens. Indonesia was 
the backdrop for the movie ``The Year Of Living Dangerously'' a third 
of a century ago when Sukarno lost power to Suharto.
  Today, in the post-Suharto era, Indonesia is still living 
dangerously. We have serious potential for violence even as the ray of 
hope dawns on East Timor and the government is talking about a 
potential for independence. Yet at the same time there is pervasive 
evidence that the military has provided weapons to paramilitary agents 
on the island, and there could be the potential for bloodshed upon 
their withdrawal.
  There continues to be the potential for violence in Indonesia's urban 
centers, and there is definitely violence that is being visited upon 
its ecology as the nation struggles to get economic gain at the expense 
of its forests, fishing stock, coral reefs and endangered species.
  I sincerely hope that my colleagues will put Indonesia on the radar 
screen. It will be on the radar screen for the administration and for 
the American public. It is time for the United States to take a strong 
and aggressive action to help resolve the situation in East Timor so 
that the potential news of the military withdrawal is not an open 
invitation for greater bloodshed against the Timorees.
  It is important that our Secretary of State, who is due to visit 
Indonesia

[[Page H811]]

after a China visit later this month, is prepared to put the full force 
of American attention into this area. It is important that we be 
thoughtful in terms of our economic assistance so the world environment 
does not suffer as a result of this economic collapse.
  We need to press for as much support, monitoring, and observation as 
possible for these critical elections taking place in June spread 
across over 100,000 polling places in a country that has no election 
infrastructure.

                              {time}  1215

  It may be a little effort, a little time, it may be a little trouble 
for the United States to be involved in Indonesia during these troubled 
times, but I can think of no place in the world where our investment 
would have more impact on the global economy and on the lives of 
ordinary men and women.

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