[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 72 (Wednesday, June 5, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E959]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CODEL WELDON, OBSERVATIONS AND DIRECTION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 4, 2002

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues tonight to talk 
about what we have seen in a part of the world that has vexed American 
policy makers for generations.
  First I want to commend Chairman Weldon for his high-energy, 
unyielding approach to seeing as much as possible on these delegation 
trips. Our focus is always on bringing back information that will 
enlighten and inform U.S. policy makers, both in the Congress and in 
the Administration.
  At this difficult moment in the world, our trip was a good 
opportunity to speak to our legislative colleagues in the Russian Duma. 
We arrived in Moscow in the wake of the historic signing of the 
strategic arms reduction treaty by Presidents Bush and Putin. While we 
were there, NATO nations met in Rome to agree to limited membership for 
Russian in NATO, India and Pakistan danced dangerously close to a 
nuclear confrontation, the cycle of violence continued between the 
Israelis and the Palestinians, and the war on terrorism continued in 
Afghanistan. So there was a great deal on our plate with which to deal.
  We last went to Russia in September 2001, after the attacks on the 
United States and after the war began, and came away with a real 
partnership with many of our colleagues in the Russian Duma. We began 
then to talk about areas of commonality through which members of our 
respective legislatures (the U.S. Congress and the Russian Duma) could 
work. In our last visit, we presented a document entitled: ``U.S.-
Russia Partnership.''
  In our visit this time around, we were told that our document's 
recommendations were the basis for the Russian initiatives presented to 
President Bush during his recent visit in Russia. Discussions in Russia 
generally followed concerns such as: combating international terrorism, 
using academics and science to address political problems, joint 
environmental--and economic--efforts, and engaging young people of both 
countries in issues of mutual interest (such as sports and cultural 
events).
  Russia is an important strategic partner for the United States and 
for NATO. After entering the 21st Century through columns of fire, our 
relationship with Russia is on a considerably stronger foundation. For 
the first time, there is mutual agreement on goals and values, and on a 
shared vision for the security threats we both face in this world.
  When we met with Uzbekistani President Karimov, I was impressed with 
the geopolitical environment of the region. He, too, supported Chairman 
Weldon's proposal to establish a joint U.S. Congress-Uzbek 
parliamentary working group, based on the success of the U.S. Congress-
Duma work of last year.
  The best part of being in Uzbekistan was seeing the satisfaction on 
the faces of the young men and women serving in support of Operation 
Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. They are the ones carrying our battle 
to our enemies, and they are gung-ho about their mission. We got a good 
deal of intelligence on the ground--literally--intelligence about the 
daily activities of our troops and how they see their jobs every day. 
We had the privilege of distributing homemade cookies baked by people 
here at home for these brave men and women. They very much enjoyed the 
special gifts from home.
  As always, I saw a host of Texans stationed in Uzbekistan doing then-
duty for the United States, including Specialist Harwig from Corpus 
Christi, Texas.
  We also went to Beijing, China, to talk with senior officials about a 
host of defense-related and economic-related topics. With China, as 
always, the topic of Taiwan was paramount in the minds of the Chinese. 
They continually expressed the importance of the ``one-China'' policy. 
We emphasized the wide breath of things on which the United States and 
China agree, and urged both nations to find agreement rather than 
disagreement.
  Several members of our delegation surmised that the issue of Taiwan 
will diminish as a divisive issue over time due to the large--and 
increasing--investment by Taiwan interests in mainland China.
  India and Pakistan are adjoining neighbors, and the nuclear saber-
rattling in the subcontinent is unnerving all the nations of the world 
. . . most noticeably the Chinese. Both nations are China's neighbors, 
and they continue to hope the difference over Kashmir can be solved 
peacefully. This is no place for a hair-trigger on a nuclear weapon.
  The CODEL also met with members of the government of the Republic of 
Korea (ROK, South Korea) and thanked the ROK for their prompt and 
significant support for the United States after 9-11. The ROK stepped 
up quickly to support our war against the Taliban and al Queda in 
Afghanistan, providing shipping, aircraft and a field hospital to 
support U.S. operations in the area.
  We were particularly disappointed that the North Koreans refused to 
meet with us. The ROK, we were told by the foreign ministry, continues 
to talk of peace with North Korea, but the pace of discussions was 
extraordinarily slow.
  Chiefly, discussions with the ROK centered on trade, U.S. forces in 
Korea in the DMZ, our war on terrorism, political and military 
stability on the Korean Peninsula, and the strong desire--on their 
part--for reunification. We even had significant discussions about 
internet voting in the ROK, ``E'' government initiatives, and the 
digital divide in the ROK.
  There are also a number of Texans serving in uniform as we visited 
the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The DMZ never ceases to amaze me . . . it 
stands as a tribute to the standoff between ideologies along the 
Pacific Rim, and on the south side of it is the best reason for the 
conflict in the first place: democracy and free commerce in the highly 
developed south, with the north side practicing communism and starving 
their citizens and their economy.
  Our trip proved, once again, the importance of going beyond our 
borders to see first hand, and hear first hand, the particular 
situations in the nations of our friends and those whom we hope to make 
our friends.

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