[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 107 (Friday, July 27, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




EXPLANATION REGARDING H.R. 2506--THE FOREIGN OPERATIONS APPROPRIATIONS 
                                  ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. C.L. ``BUTCH'' OTTER

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 27, 2001

  Mr. OTTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to provide an explanation of my 
vote against H.R. 2506, the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act.
  I voted against H.R. 2506 because of my concerns about the level of 
federal spending and the dangerous assumption that federal tax dollars 
belong to the federal government and not the taxpayers in the states. 
This bill, which contained the vital economic and military aid our 
close allies deserve and which I support, became a vehicle for passing 
all manner of spending inconsistent with the principles I was elected 
to represent. I would like to name but a few of the multiple programs 
which, although good in themselves, do not justify the expenditure of 
taxpayers dollars.
  For example, this bill contained more than $100 million each for the 
Asian and African development funds. As an international businessman I 
have engaged in extensive business ventures in both these continents. I 
do not see the need for my constituents to underwrite those ventures at 
the cost of their own well-being.
  $35 million is appropriated for the European Bank for Reconstruction 
and Development. The people of Idaho should not be forced to pay their 
taxes into an institution that European governments certainly can 
afford to maintain themselves. $95 million was appropriated for the 
Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization. I would suggest that 
Korea, one of the worlds largest economies, has the resources to fund 
this organization.
  Thomas Paine once wrote that ``What we obtain too cheap, we esteem 
too lightly.'' I hope my colleagues will join me in showing more esteem 
for the taxpaying men and women for whom the cost of this bill, along 
with the rest of the federal budget, is anything but cheap.

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