[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 7 (Friday, January 12, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H440]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CHAVEZ BEGINS THIRD TERM IN VENEZUELA

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Venezuelan president invoked 
Fidel Castro as the premier socialist model which, in his theory, is 
the economic model for not only Venezuela but the entire world.
  Mr. Speaker, my observation about his speech is that it represents a 
defining illustration of the dichotomous philosophies of ownership and 
freedom that free markets versus state-owned markets present. For 
example, Chavez demonstrates this with his continued move to 
nationalize electrical and telecommunications companies.
  Here in Congress with the new majority, they are starting to hammer 
with this heavy hand of the Federal Government down on small 
businesses, pharmaceutical companies, energy companies, health 
insurance and telecommunications industries. I hope that we will 
carefully examine the consequences of these decisions before repeating 
the mistakes of socialism. State-owned enterprises are never the 
solution

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