[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1715-E1716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEARS 2006 AND 2007

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                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my concern 
with the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2006 and 
2007. While this bill authorizes I numerous commendable programs that 
strengthen U.S. efforts to advance foreign policy interests and 
America's role in the world, I am very concerned that this bill has 
become a vehicle for an extremist agenda which harms our Nation's 
global leadership role.
  Having started working on this reauthorization in the International 
Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International 
Operations, I would like to express my appreciation to Chairman Smith 
for accepting language to conduct a report on the issue of child 
marriage around the world. Child marriage, often involuntary and far 
too frequently intergenerational, puts girls as young as 8 and 9 years 
old at severe physical, emotional and health risk. The transmission of 
HIV, complications from early pregnancies and diminished economic and 
social power are common consequences of this harmful tradition practice 
that undermines U.S. development efforts in many African and Asian 
nations.
  My principal opposition to the final version of this bill is the 
result of the inclusion of the Hyde amendment to impose an onerous set 
of mandates on the United Nations. This amendment will hold the U.N. 
hostage to the whims of Republicans in the U.S. Congress. The Hyde 
Amendment is virtually identical to the Henry J. Hyde United Nations 
Reform Act of 2005 (HR. 2745) which I voted against on June 17, 2005. 
This legislation is opposed by the Bush Administration and eight former 
U.S. ambassadors to the U.N. Sadly, this amendment taints a bill that 
could have otherwise been generally acceptable.
  Finally, I would like to comment the amendment offered by 
Representative Tom Lantos, ranking member on the International 
Relations Committee, requiring the State Department to develop a 
strategy to counter perceptions among international students they are 
no longer welcome to study at our institutions of higher education. 
While national security is our top priority, if we are serious about 
reaching out to the international community and repairing damaged 
credibility in the world, we must be

[[Page E1716]]

open and accommodating to foreign scholars and people wishing to come 
to the United States to further their education and contribute to the 
great wealth of intellect in this country. I commend Ranking Member 
Lantos for his efforts in this area.
  The U.S. role in the world is critically important at a time in which 
we are confronting terrorism as well as the human challenges of extreme 
poverty and global pandemics like HIV. This re-authorization should 
provide an opportunity for the House to provide meaningful policy 
direction to the executive branch. Instead an all too familiar 
unilateral approach to foreign policy has reemerged by demanding the 
withholding of the United States' contribution to the U.N. If the 
intent is to create an expedited process to destroy the U.N. and 
diminish U.S. credibility in the world even beyond the extraordinary 
efforts of the Bush Administration, this bill has succeeded. I strongly 
oppose this abrasive, ineffective and counterproductive tactic.

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