[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 27540-27542]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 27540]]

             AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT--Continued

  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I will make a few comments because I have to 
say the vote just taken represents a sad day for America because it 
gives the wrong signal both to our people here at home and to those who 
were looking forward to this legislation as a means of beginning their 
country on a road of success and development.
  I have to say there is something wrong with the way this Senate 
operates when a majority on both sides of the aisle, Republicans and 
Democrats, are in support of these significant treaties.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Will the revered chairman yield for a question?
  Mr. ROTH. Yes.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Would he not estimate there are 75 votes for this 
measure in the Senate?
  Mr. ROTH. Absolutely, I say to my distinguished friend, at least 75.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. At least 75.
  Mr. ROTH. At least 75.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. And here we are.
  Mr. ROTH. What kind of signal are we giving to the rest of the world? 
People are talking about isolationism. What does this vote represent? 
Does it mean we can't act effectively when the welfare of thousands of 
people both here and abroad is at stake? I say to my distinguished 
colleague and ranking member of the Finance Committee, for whom I have 
the greatest respect, that we will not consider this to be a dead 
issue.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. No.
  Mr. ROTH. We shall continue to fight and assure that the opportunity 
arises for this Senate to take appropriate action, to have the 
opportunity to vote on this important matter. I lament we have spent 
more than a week of debate on this bill. We are ready to deal with the 
subject matter of this bill and relevant amendments. The vote, to be 
candid, is a victory for the few who oppose the bill and a vote against 
the interests of American workers who would benefit from this bill.
  I regret it, as I said before, because this vote blocks progress--
progress by the House, which passed this bill with a strong bipartisan 
majority. This vote blocks progress by the President, and this was one 
of his most important initiatives. This vote blocks progress by the 
Senate, which I know enjoys the support of strong majorities, as I have 
already said, on both sides of the aisle. Most importantly, this vote 
blocks progress that would mean new markets. I can't emphasize that too 
much. It would mean new markets for the American textile industry. It 
creates approximately 121,000 new jobs. It would have meant roughly 
$8.8 billion in enhanced business for the industry.
  I deeply regret the effort to say this is just the result of campaign 
contributions, or whatever. Nothing could be further from the truth. I 
don't know whether or not we have upstairs now the Ambassadors of the 
47 countries in Africa who would have benefited. They have been here 
day in and day out watching the developments; they are concerned about 
this legislation, which held out promise and hopes for them. As I said, 
this legislation is critically important because it promised jobs here 
at home. It promised the opportunity for the textile industry to better 
keep competitive in the local market. But not only here, I say to my 
distinguished friend from New York, isn't it true it would also help 
develop markets abroad?
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. That do not now exist.
  Mr. ROTH. That do not now exist. Exactly.
  So that, as I say, this is a sad day for the country, and it is a sad 
for Delaware as well.
  Let me say to the American workers, to our friends abroad, and our 
many supporters in the Senate gallery--I think I can include Senator 
Moynihan--that I will continue to fight for this bill.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Yes, sir.
  Mr. ROTH. Senator Moynihan and I will continue to fight for the 
benefits of this bill that extends to American workers and American 
industry. We will continue to resist the instincts of some who have 
fought to maintain protective walls and isolate America from the 
outside world.
  The thing that bothers me so much is that in addition to the negative 
impact it has on this industry and on American workers, it sends the 
wrong signal just as we are on the verge of a multilateral meeting in 
Seattle--a historic occasion that would enable us to provide the kind 
of leadership that is needed if we are to continue the direction of 
liberal trade policy.
  Yesterday, Senator Moynihan pointed out so eloquently how liberal 
trade policies from way back in the 1930s have benefited this country, 
have benefited American workers, and, indeed, have benefited the entire 
world. We cannot turn our backs on this record.
  We shall continue to fight and seek the opportunity to move forward.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, there are more than just prospective 
benefits for American workers in this legislation, on this Trade and 
Development Act of 1999. We now have 7 days before the Trade Adjustment 
Assistance program is ended, a program that goes back 37 years to the 
Trade Expansion Act that President Kennedy obtained in his first term--
the only real measure he did in his first term--37 years and as many 
Presidents as you can count, with 200,000 persons and their families 
eligible for benefits. The funding ends on Friday.
  More than that, we have put in jeopardy this morning--and it remains 
in jeopardy--trade policies of the last two-thirds of a century. In 
that two-thirds of a century, we have seen America rise to unknown and 
previously inconceivable levels of economic growth and stability.
  This very morning the press reports, I will read from the New York 
Times:

       Headline: ``Strong summer is likely to propel the economic 
     boom to a record.'' The story: ``The American economy turned 
     in its best quarterly performance of the year this summer, 
     virtually guaranteeing enough momentum to carry the nation to 
     its longest economic expansion in history early next year.''

  By February--that is not very long--we shall have had the longest 
expansion in the history of the Nation.
  Sir, I want to stand alongside my chairman and say this is not over. 
It cannot be over.
  Do we have any idea what is at stake? Can you imagine going to 
Seattle having denied the President--not this President, whoever, the 
next President--having denied the Executive the power to negotiate 
trade agreements at the Seattle Round--as it could be commonly called--
and the fast track is not in the President's court?
  And then the matter that we took up today. It is a great effort on 
sub-Saharan Africa. We had the President of Nigeria here yesterday. We 
have had ambassadors from all over sub-Saharan Africa. The Caribbean 
Basin Initiative, President Reagan's initiative, sir--the new benefits 
that we ought to put in place--are gone. The representatives of at last 
democratic regimes in Central America came up, sir, at your 
invitation--gone. Trade Adjustment Assistance is gone. The Generalized 
System of Preferences--how old is that? A quarter of a century of the 
Generalized System of Preferences is gone, emptyhanded.
  The chairman and I were planning to spend a few days in Seattle just 
meeting with people. We were not going to speak. Dare we go? I suppose 
Ambassador Barshefsky is required to go. I don't want to show my face. 
But that need not be. We are still in session. The bill is still on the 
calendar.
  Let us hope what we have done this weekend we can move to change it, 
and move on as we were moving.
  I thank you, sir. No one could lead it better than the chairman did--
events over which he has no control. The tangle we can get into with 
people who sometimes think one issue is more important than others.
  We have to rise to this, sir. I hope we will.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. ROTH. I thank the Senator for the gracious remarks. I assure him 
I will work closely with him to make certain this matter is acted upon 
by this Senate.

[[Page 27541]]

  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I hope--from the exchange we have just 
witnessed--that the two wise men will take their trip to Seattle 
without government gifts. But as they say, the fight will continue.
  I am not at all sanguine about the recent vote. Be that as it may, it 
was a majority vote.
  The Senator from Delaware says he knows--rather he estimated, 
estimated. The bipartisan majority has just stated what they would like 
to do, and that is to discuss this further because we are reading in 
the morning paper exactly what is going on. You know and I know what is 
going on in this country. The money boys have taken over.
  For the distinguished Presiding Officer, mark it down. The money boys 
said this Christian right fundamentalist crowd, Gary Bauer, be gone. 
Mr. Buchanan, with your abortion, be gone. The rest of you with your 
fundamentalist stuff, be gone. We have taken over the party, and we are 
putting $60 million in with George Bush, and the selection process is 
over. They don't even have to attend the debates. That is what is 
expected in politics. Otherwise, they have a good friend in the White 
House--the soft money President, and he is on the money side. I had to 
fight him with NAFTA. And I am fighting him now, and I will continue to 
fight and to speak for jobs.
  Don't give me anything about jobs. How can they talk? It ought to be 
ashes in their mouths.
  Since they passed NAFTA promising 200,000 jobs, the textile industry 
alone has lost 420,000. We know about their promises. We put it in the 
Record. ATMI, and everybody else who said they wouldn't move, they all 
moved. They have to move. We are the ones who have caused the problem. 
We put in clean air, clean water, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, 
plant closing notices, parental leave, and safe machinery. Before you 
open up your manufacturing you have to comply with the high standard of 
American living, bipartisan agreement on both sides. Instead, now you 
can go down to Mexico for 58 cents. Maybe it is up to one dollar in 
some places. And you don't have to have any of those requirements. If 
the competition leaves, other companies have to leave to stay in 
business.
  They say: Let's spread it to the African nations; we have the 
ambassadors in town. I have been in Africa. Don't tell me about 
sympathy for Africa. I lost friends in North Africa during the War who 
were helping to bring freedom there. We finally helped Mandela get out 
of prison. We have been the friends of Africa. We traveled there and we 
helped.
  If we have so much to give, why don't the other industries give to 
Africa? The textile industry has given at the store, so to speak. Now 
we have lost two-thirds of our industry. We have a competitive one-
third left, but it is going away. That is why I stand here.
  It is a dark day. I am reminded of Jesse Jackson, who said keep hope 
alive. We still have hope as long as we can get the attention of a 
majority of Republicans and Democrats. Several Republican friends came 
over and said: I agree with you; I'm going to vote with you. Look at 
the record. I don't know how many Republicans, but it was a bipartisan 
vote. They are embarrassed with the Farley escapade. It is a one-way 
street.
  Come on, trade is trade. Don't give me this whine and fail stuff.
  We need not just a new agricultural assistance over there with the 
special Trade Representative. We need Nancy Reagan to replace 
Barshefsky--``Just say no.'' That is what we need. We know how to 
bargain. This is not foreign trade; this is foreign aid. It was good 
for 50 years to revive the different economies of the world, but it 
isn't any longer. We are in trouble. This boom they are talking about 
in the stock market is the information society; it doesn't create the 
jobs. Farley has already transferred nearly as many jobs offshore as 
Bill Gates has created with Microsoft. The Time magazine article says 
Microsoft has created 22,000 jobs. We already shipped off, job-wise, 
Microsoft. We have gotten rid of it, and we want to give them a $50 
million prize for doing it, according to the Washington Post this 
morning.
  Talk about a dark day. Maybe someday we will simmer down in this body 
and forget about the Presidential election and act like Senators--work 
on the minimum wage, health care, the Patients' Bill of Rights, 
bankruptcy bill, and other bills we have been trying to bring up.
  My caucus is meeting now. I know I belong in there to try to protect 
my rights, but I will object to anything other than the regular order 
of business. Regular order is my vote. We can keep on moving. Let them 
vote against the minimum wage. They couldn't care less about the 
workers; they just want the vote. It is all politics. It is all 
applesauce, as Will Rogers said.
  We cannot break the syndrome around here. The media is just pell-mell 
and fancy-free with the politicians. We got a break this morning. I 
bless whoever wrote that story and the one in Time magazine because I 
have been alone in this situation.
  I am tired of this berating, when we are trying to do the work of the 
voters and the middle class people of America--the economic strength of 
this democracy--and the money guys are trying get rid of the middle 
class. Money is taking over the Republican Party, and now money is 
taking over the Democratic Party. That is what it is. It is just money. 
That is all.
  When we started the leadership council--that crowd, our own friends--
I remember it well, it was after the 1984 race. We got together all of 
the southern Senators, save one. We found out that the trouble was we 
had too many caucuses. We had the NAACP, the AFL-CIO, the women's 
caucus, this rights caucus and that rights caucus. So their solution 
was to form a caucus. They had the arrogance to call them the 
leadership council. They talked at the caucus yesterday, everybody 
bowing and scraping. They said: Hollings, you got out of the 
Presidential race, but you head it up. I said I can't in good faith ask 
the Democratic Party to be there for me and then, when I get beat, say 
the trouble is with the party, not me. I supported Paul Kirk, and we 
worked and stayed in the party.
  I have never been to a meeting in the leadership thing. I watched the 
money take over. A lot of what Buchanan said about the parties is 
right, there is not a dime's worth of difference. You can't get 
anything here for working America. It is money, money, money. They 
ought to be ashamed to say I am continuing to fight for this. It would 
shame me with those contributions.
  I was looking for the distinguished leader, and I was going to tell 
him confidentially as a friend: Let the bill die; you don't want to 
bring it up. I have done you a favor.
  We were headed with a symbol to the world. I am worried about the 
country. Don't give me symbols about Seattle and ambassadors in the 
gallery. We should stay here to do our work. They can make any 
agreement, but it had better not be unanimous because I object. I 
expect the regular order.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. I don't intend to get involved in the debate involving the 
merits of this bill, but the problem with this legislation is not the 
legislation itself; the problem is the majority has not allowed the 
minority, the Republicans have not allowed the Democrats, to treat this 
bill as the Senate should treat any bill.
  We started this bill last Thursday. It is now Friday. Eight days we 
have spent on this legislation. We have spent no time on a single 
amendment on this legislation.
  The proper way to handle this is to allow the Senator from South 
Carolina, the Senator from Minnesota, and others to bring their 
amendments forward and have a debate. The Senators who want to offer 
amendments have all agreed to time agreements. The Senator from South 
Carolina desired 10 minutes on an amendment, 5 minutes per side.
  Our leader, the minority leader, has also agreed, even though it is 
probably

[[Page 27542]]

not in his best interest, but he believes in this legislation. He knows 
how important it is to the President. He has said he will offer to go 
along with the majority leader and table amendments not germane.
  We should treat this body as it has been treated for over two hundred 
years: Bring a measure before the floor and let the debate proceed. We 
would have completed this legislation some time ago. There is no 
question this legislation now before this body has at least 75 
supporters, maybe 80. I think this should give the majority all the 
backing they need for this legislation. I think it is a shame we are to 
the point we have not had a good debate on this legislation; in fact, 
probably the legislation will be pulled down. That is too bad.
  We as the minority will have to continue protecting our rights, 
whether it is the CBI, this bill now before us, whether it is 
bankruptcy. Whatever the legislation that is going to be brought 
forward, we must have our input. That is all we are asking. We are not 
asking we win every amendment. Some amendments we recognize the 
majority does not want to vote upon. But that is not the way you 
conduct a legislative body, just avoid all issues that are tough votes.
  We need more tough votes. We would all be better off, individually, 
in our respective States and the country, if we had more tough votes.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative assistant proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Frist). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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