[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22801]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 ARUBA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TRENT FRANKS

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 6, 2004

  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, one of the core principles on 
which our nation is founded is the belief in an individual's God-given 
right to pursue happiness without government interference. 
Traditionally this has been understood as an endorsement of the 
quintessential entrepreneurial spirit and of free-market economics. The 
great, late president Ronald Reagan liked to talk about America as a 
city on a hill, a light that offers guidance to the nations of the 
world.
  I rise today to pay tribute to a small island nation that has been a 
shining example in a sometimes troubled region of the world. Under the 
capable leadership of Prime Minister Nelson Oduber, the government of 
Aruba has led the way in exemplifying stable and democratic good 
governance and in creating an ownership society with a growing, 
prospering private sector. Most of us understand the vital role a 
lively private sector plays in a nation's success.
  During Mr. Oduber's terms in office, a long list of government owned 
companies were either fully or partially privatized. Among them were 
water production facilities and power plants, the public transportation 
company, the seaport and the airport, the national telecommunications 
company and the postal services. Many of these former government 
agencies today are 100 per cent privately owned. The government has 
demonstrated that its belief in a free market with a plethora of 
empowered stakeholders is much more than lip service.
  The companies on their part showed that they were well able to get 
the capital from the financial markets without help from the 
government. Today, not one of these companies' employees is on the 
taxpayer funded government payroll. In addition, the companies can 
quickly and proactively respond to market forces without any government 
interference.
  While it sometimes seems easier to criticize countries that are doing 
things wrong, I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to pay 
tribute to a small nation, a stable ally of the United States, that has 
put into practice the principles we believe are essential in creating a 
better, freer, more prosperous and more secure world.

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