[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 42 (Thursday, March 21, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             HUNGARY TODAY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 21, 2013

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, less than a month ago I chaired 
a hearing on ``Anti-Semitism: A Growing Threat to All Faiths.'' One of 
the witnesses was Tamas Fellegi, a former minister in the Orban 
government, who is himself Jewish. His testimony was impressive, as was 
the long list of significant actions the Orban government has taken to 
combat anti-Semitism in Hungarian society.
  Mr. Fellegi admitted frankly that anti-Semitism is a serious social 
problem in Hungary. Fortunately, the Orban government is on a clear 
upward trajectory here, and gives every sign that it will continue to 
be part of the solution rather than the problem. I'm confident it will 
particularly take on the persistent attempts to rehabilitate Holocaust 
perpetrators and vicious anti-Semites, both from the 1930s and 1940s 
and today. I will certainly continue to urge it to do so.
  We all know that many NGOs and a few governments, including our own, 
have been vocal in criticizing the Hungarian government on various 
grounds touching on democracy and human rights--and that the Hungarian 
government and its supporters have rejected these criticisms 
vigorously.
  Having reviewed material on both sides, I must say that I believe the 
Orban government is right when it says that many of the criticisms are 
unfair, involving double standards, misrepresentations, and inaccurate 
information. The Hungarian government has carefully documented this, 
for example in its ``Open Letter to Freedom House.''
  For another example, the administration, in criticizing the Orban 
government's adoption of a new constitution, claimed in its written 
testimony to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe this 
week that in ``fundamental'' matters, ``the process must lead to a 
consensus built from a cross-section of society, rather than reflect 
only the opinions of the ruling coalition . . . the lack of serious 
consultation with different sectors of society, did not honor the 
democratic spirit . . .'' Anyone familiar with the passage of the 
Obamacare legislation might well question whether this is a message our 
government is ideally situated to deliver. Certainly it should have 
avoided the rude insinuation about democracy.
  Yet we need to continue delivering these and similar messages to a 
number of foreign governments--we must not give in to the cynicism 
induced by our own or any other government's failings.
  But we should be a lot more humble--especially when we are dealing 
with a country like Hungary, where the system of constitutional checks 
and balances is alive and well, where a democratic party with an 
unprecedented supermajority and a mandate for dramatic change, gained 
in a free and fair election, passed a democratic constitution and shows 
itself open to working with others to amend and improve the flaws in 
its new laws. This is a conversation between equals, and there is a lot 
we can learn from Hungary. I'm thinking particularly here of the 
constitutional cap on public debt and the statement that life will be 
protected in the womb.
  I'd like to congratulate the Hungarian government for the many 
laudable things in the new constitution--many things that advance human 
rights, including the prohibition of human trafficking, reproductive 
cloning, and its promotion of the culture of life. And for the rest, I 
look forward to a continuing conversation with the Hungarian government 
about their and our constitutional traditions and how they can both be 
improved.

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