[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 80 (Monday, June 17, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5628-S5629]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         GAO REPORT ON CAMBODIA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the conclusion of the General 
Accounting Office's, GAO, recently released report on Cambodia is 
deeply troubling--but comes as no surprise to those of us who have long 
followed developments in that country.
  While GAO has noted some progress by the Royal Government of 
Cambodia, RGC, to implement public finance, military, and land 
management reforms, the lack of headway in other areas--including legal 
and judicial, public administration, anticorruption, and forestry 
management--is glaringly absent.
  Until the RGC fully implements legal reforms and embraces the rule of 
law, the international community has no choice but to consider any and 
all progress in Cambodia as limited and impermanent.
  The obstacles to good governance in Cambodia are many, but the lack 
of political will by the ruling Cambodian People's Party, CPP, to 
implement much needed reforms poses the single greatest challenge to 
meaningful democratic, economic and social development.
  The abuses of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the CPP are legion, and it 
is past time that the international community holds them accountable 
for their repressive actions. This Senator has not forgotten the many 
innocent Cambodians killed and injured in the March 1997 grenade attack 
in Phnom Penh, or the Prey Veng farmers who continue to gather in the 
capital following massive floods caused by the Cambodian military's 
rampant illegal logging.
  The international community would be wise to hold the RGC accountable 
not for what it says, but for what it does. In this respect, donors 
should aggressively and relentlessly push for

[[Page S5629]]

credible parliamentary elections next year, through which the Cambodian 
people can freely choose new leadership.
  In the post-September 11 world, America can no longer afford to turn 
a blind eye to authoritarian and lawless regimes. Just as Cambodia has 
become a haven for the Asian underworld, America should be concerned 
that terrorists and their finances will seek refuge in that lawless 
country.

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