[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    VARIOUS FOREIGN POLICY SUSPENSION BILLS AT THE END OF THE 109TH 
                                CONGRESS

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                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 6, 2006

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my concern about the 
House of Representatives at the last minute rushing to the floor dozens 
of bills spending tens of millions of dollars and interfering in the 
affairs of foreign countries. Mr. Speaker, we woke up this morning with 
the surprise announcement that we would face at least 35 of these 
suspension bills. Suspension bills are customarily noncontroversial--
naming post offices and the like. I can hardly think of anything more 
controversial than sending tens of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars 
overseas to interfere in the affairs of foreign countries.
  The suspension calendar is being used to pass the reauthorization of 
the Export-Import Bank, which funnels millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars 
to foreign governments. For example, through the Export-Import Bank, 
Americans are forced to subsidize China's economic growth with some $4 
billion dollars per year. Is this not controversial?
  Additionally, today's suspension bills will turn an additional 52 
million dollars in foreign aid over to the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo. Is this not controversial?
  Possibly more damaging in today's ``noncontroversial'' suspension 
bills are the several bills that seek to meddle in the affairs of 
foreign countries. Today's suspension bills, whether they regard 
Lebanon, Iran, Congo, or Nepal, make it clear that we still have not 
learned the lessons we should have learned from Iraq and all of our 
previous interventions that have gone awry. Mr. Speaker, it is bad 
enough that Congress acts as if its jurisdiction extends across the 
entire globe, must we add insult to injury by treating this as simply 
run of the mill, noncontroversial legislation?

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