[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 69 (Wednesday, June 7, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO ARLENE E. WILSON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. PHILIP M. CRANE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 7, 2000

  Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, today I want to praise the work of Arlene E. 
Wilson, a Specialist in International Trade and Finance at the 
Congressional Research Service. Dr. Wilson is retiring after 23 years 
at CRS, where she conducted major studies, briefings, and seminars on 
international trade and financial issues for Members of Congress and 
Congressional staff. Dr. Wilson's knowledge of trade and international 
finance is so broad and deep and her communication skills so excellent 
that she is able to explain the European Monetary Union and make U.S. 
antidumping laws understandable.
  Dr. Wilson holds a B.A. in history from St. Lawrence University in 
Canton, New York, an M.A. in economics from the University of Michigan, 
and a Ph.D. in economics from New York University. Prior to coming to 
CRS in 1977, Dr. Wilson was a research associate at the New York Stock 
Exchange and a lecturer in economics at Marymount College in New York 
City, and at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
  Over the years, she has written 72 reports for Congress, many on 
international finance issues such as trade and payments balances, the 
international banking system, and the European Monetary Union. Eight of 
her reports appeared in committee prints; six others were published by 
the Fund for Public Policy Research in Studies in Taxation, Public 
Finance and Related Subjects--A Compendium.
  Dr. Wilson has proven to be an authority on foreign trade as well as 
one on international finance. During one of the most intense trade 
debates in recent memory, Dr. Wilson led the CRS team covering the 
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the early 1990s and has 
written on many aspects of NAFTA: the broad economic perspective; 
economic comparisons of the United States, Mexico, and Canada; U.S. 
jobs at risk; the peso-dollar exchange rate; the Mexican peso 
devaluation; and the impact of NAFTA after it went into effect.
  Before NAFTA, Dr. Wilson coordinated the CRS efforts on the U.S.-
Canada free trade agreement. She led a workshop and wrote up 
proceedings on the potential effects of the agreement on the United 
States and coordinated the work of 16 CRS analysts on the agreement's 
possible effects on U.S. industries. Her study examining the U.S.-
Canada agreement after one year was printed in the Bulletin of The 
Atlantic Council of the United States.
  An expert on almost every aspect of the World Trade Organization, Dr. 
Wilson has written on the antidumping and services agreements reached 
during the Uruguay Round, on trade and the environment, and on fast-
track trade negotiating authority. She had principal responsibility of 
analyzing future negotiations in the WTO. Even after she leaves, her 
work on the WTO will continue to assist Congress as we face a decision 
on our participation in the WTO.
  From 1983 to 1987, Dr. Wilson served as Head of the International 
Section in the Economics Division. She participated in the U.S. 
Congressional Task Force for Interparliamentary Cooperation in 1995 and 
1996, and spoke on the European Monetary Union for the USIA Germany 
Speaker Program in 1997 and at the Foreign Service Institute of the 
Department of State in 1998, 1999, and 2000. She coauthored a course 
guide entitled ``International Economics'' for a course sponsored by 
the University of Maryland.
  Dr. Wilson is without question an expert in her field. She has served 
the Congress at the highest level of expertise and has assisted us on 
virtually every major trade issue of our time. We wish her well on her 
retirement and thank her for her outstanding service.

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