[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 261-262]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          AMERICA'S BLESSINGS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DOUG BEREUTER

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 1999

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, this Member would like to commend to his 
colleagues this November 26, 1998, Omaha World Herald editorial. This 
extension would have been submitted earlier but the House was not in 
session. Of course, the sentiments expressed in the editorial are 
certainly worth sharing at the beginning of the new year and the new 
Congress.

            [From the Omaha World-Herald, November 11, 1998]

         America's Blessings Extend Beyond the Nation's Shores

       As Americans count their blessings on Thanksgiving Day, it 
     would be appropriate if they looked at the freedoms and 
     opportunities that have been handed down from the Founding 
     Fathers. It would be fitting if they gave thanks for family, 
     health and prosperity.
       However, they might also look beyond the borders of the 
     United States as they identify things for which to be 
     thankful. In this ever-shrinking world, global developments 
     have a sustained influence on life in America.
       The world has enough food. Indeed, surpluses are a bigger 
     problem than hunger in some places. Certainly international 
     relief efforts still must compensate for an inadequate market 
     system that fails to get food to some hungry people. But the 
     hunger that exists is not because the world's farmers have 
     failed to produce enough.
       Man is using less water. For many years, the prospect of 
     regional water shortages, harming agriculture and industry, 
     led to concerns about possible water wars in the next 
     century, as water-short nations attempted to take possession 
     of a neighbor's water supply. Now, with improved irrigation 
     techniques and widespread conservation methods, many 
     countries are demonstrating that existing water supplies can 
     be stretched much further.
       Negotiated agreements have produced a shaky peace between 
     the factions in Northern Ireland and between the Israelis and 
     Palestinians on the West Bank, raising hopes for a permanent 
     decline in hostilities. A cease-fire has held up in Bosnia. 
     Diplomacy has kept tensions in check on the Korean Peninsula. 
     India and Pakistan have backed away from a violent 
     confrontation over nuclear weapons.
       Researchers are learning more about AIDS, although the 
     epidemic still rages out of control in much of the world. The 
     fact that HIV-positive men and women are being kept alive 
     longer raises hopes of additional progress toward a treatment 
     or immunization that would be both effective and affordable.
       Because of declining birth rates in a number of countries, 
     demographers are backing

[[Page 262]]

     away from some of their more depressing population 
     projections, including the projection of a population doubled 
     to 12 billion by the middle of the next century. 
     Overpopulation is at the root of many other problems, 
     including deprivation, environmental degradation, illegal 
     immigration and disease.
       Even with the more optimistic projections of recent years, 
     the world could still have too many people, perhaps more than 
     it could feed.
       But a lowered birth rate is the best hope for dealing with 
     overpopulation. A prolonged slowdown in the rate of growth, 
     leading to a stabilized world population at a sustainable 
     level. Would be some of the best news that Americans could 
     hope for as they consider the prospects of their children and 
     grandchildren in the decades ahead.

     

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