[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 27 (Thursday, March 4, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2177-S2178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CHALLENGES FACING THE UNITED STATES IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, later this week, President Bush will host 
Mexican President Vicente Fox for 2 days of meetings in Texas.
  Three years ago, in the months after President Fox's historic 
election ended seven decades of one-party rule, we were all very 
hopeful that the United States and Mexico were prepared to move beyond 
decades of mistrust and miscommunication.
  In the aftermath of 9/11, the Bush administration chose to relegate 
improved relations with our neighbor to the bottom of its priority 
list, unfortunately.
  The meeting this week represents a long overdue but welcome step 
toward regaining the lost momentum in United States-Mexico relations.
  I hope the President will use the renewed public focus on Mexico this 
week not just for a photo opportunity but also to revive the 
administration's efforts to address many of the pressing challenges 
throughout this hemisphere.
  The need for such a revival is clear. Early last month Secretary 
Powell told a House committee that the United States ``had higher 
priorities'' than Latin America. The fact that the United States has 
important priorities in the rest of the world is indisputable.
  Hundreds of thousands of our young men and women are deployed 
throughout the Middle East. North Korea is adding to its nuclear 
capability, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction 
presents us with a chilling specter that terrorist groups could get 
their hands on the world's worst weapons.
  But the sad truth is that we do not have the luxury of worrying only 
about the crises of the day. If we fail to attend to emerging threats 
today, they will quickly become tomorrow's crises. Rather than relying 
on diplomatic means, we will be forced into a situation so dire that 
only the deployment of U.S. troops--already stretched far too thinly--
can stabilize the situation. For an example of this phenomenon, we need 
look no further than recent events in our own hemisphere.
  Statements from administration officials leave the impression that 
the administration was caught off guard and unprepared to respond to 
the evolving crisis in Haiti, just 600 miles off the coast of Florida.
  On February 17, Secretary Powell had this to say about Haiti:

       We cannot buy into a proposition that says the elected 
     president must be forced out of office by thugs and those who 
     do not respect law.

  But just over a week later, the White House released a statement that 
said:


[[Page S2178]]


       This long-simmering crisis is largely Mr. Aristide's 
     making. . . . We urge him to examine his position carefully, 
     to accept responsibility, and to act in the best interests of 
     the people of Haiti.

  The administration's initial lack of attention and subsequent 
response left us with no policy levers to pull and no Haitian 
institutions to call upon to quell the crisis. In that situation--faced 
with violence and instability that threatened to lead to a refugee 
crisis--we deployed American Marines.

  Emerging crises in the rest of the hemisphere are potentially as 
dire, but the administration still appears no more engaged.
  Take, for example, Venezuela. Political turmoil and mismanagement 
have had a serious and adverse impact on economic growth in that 
country. In 2003, real GDP shrank by nearly 10 percent--after 
contracting 9 percent the year before--and inflation was the region's 
highest at 27.1 percent. All of this in a country that has the largest 
oil reserves outside the Middle East--providing the United States 14 
percent of its oil--and increasingly sizable natural gas stores.
  Moreover, slow economic growth may be the least of Venezuela's 
problems. The country is caught in a political crisis over a recall 
referendum that could bring the Chavez government to an abrupt end.
  The situation was exacerbated by clear missteps on the part of the 
administration in April of 2002, when the administration overturned 
decades of American policy in the hemisphere by seeming to endorse, 
however briefly, an unconstitutional change of government. Former 
President Carter has done us proud by stepping in to pick up the pieces 
in order to ensure that the problems of this democracy can be resolved 
democratically.
  But with deepening polarization and new developments in Venezuela 
each day, there is no substitute for official American leadership in 
pushing for the respect of democratic institutions over personalities 
and power.
  As in Haiti, if we wait for others to take the lead in Venezuela, we 
will have waited too long.
  There are other emerging threats to stability and democracy in the 
region--from Peru to Bolivia to Argentina. Economic growth is down, 
poverty and drug trafficking are increasing, and corruption is rampant.
  Perhaps most alarming are observations from recent public surveys 
that anti-Americanism is approaching all-time highs while respect for 
democracy is reaching an all-time low.
  Such a precarious time demands engagement and leadership from 
America. Instead, the administration has decided to limit American 
investments in the region this year, arguing, as I noted, that we have 
other priorities.
  As one leading expert pointed out:

       Relations between the United States and Latin America have 
     acquired a rawness and a level of indecorum that recall 
     previous eras of inter-America strain and discord.

  It is not too late, and I hope the meeting tomorrow in Texas marks 
the administration's renewed interest in the hemisphere. If it does, we 
are prepared to work with the President and our friends in Mexico and 
in Argentina and in Venezuela and in Peru and in Bolivia, and in 
Colombia to build the institutions needed for peace, prosperity, and 
stability.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sununu). The clerk will call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Will the Senator withhold?
  Mr. DASCHLE. I will.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant minority leader.

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