March 19, 1998 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E429 important that the trade unions want to It’s not the first time that Paraga has Oree only two short months, I felt that I had change policy through their demonstrations. sought congressional help in his freedom known him all my life. fight. He first came to our attention nearly I had the opportunity to visit Oree and his a decade ago, in 1989, when Croatia was still CROATIAN SEEKS TO END HUMAN-RIGHTS wife, Jean, at the invitation of CASHA Re- part of communist Yugoslavia. Then a 28- ABUSES year-old dissident, he had already been in source Home Health Services. This was one (By Jack Anderson and Jan Moller) five prisons for a total of four years, the first of several home health visits that I made dur- When Dobroslav Paraga rallied his fellow time being when he was only 19. ing our winter break. I have long been a sup- Croatians for change in 1991, he could get In 1980 he and his friend Ernest Brajder porter of home health services as a member only a few hundred supporters to publicly were thrown in jail for circulating a petition of the Health and Environment Subcommittee protest Croatian President Franjo Tudjman’s opposing torture in Yugoslavia. Paraga came of the Commerce Committee, and it was good regime. out alive, but Brajder did not. After three Seven years later, close to 15,000 of to see how much these services meant to days in jail, he was dead in what the U.S. Oree. Oree had experienced continued health Paraga’s countrymen routinely crowd the State Department admitted were ‘‘mysteri- city squares in discontent over the civil ous circumstances.’’ problems during the past two years and had rights violations and declining economic for- Back in 1989, Paraga made the rounds on been a home health patient for two months tunes that have befallen Croatia under Capitol Hill, as he has this month, explain- when I met him. He and Jean had high praise Tudjman’s watch. One-fourth of all Cro- ing the plight of those who dared stand up to for this service and were grateful to have this atians are currently unemployed. the Croatian authorities. The Senate be- health assistance during Oree's recuperation ‘‘Before, people were afraid to speak out lieved Paraga and passed a resolution with period. against the government,’’ Paraga told our plenty of ‘‘whereas’’ and ‘‘therefore’’ lan- associate Kathryn Wallace. ‘‘Now they are Oree was a World War II veteran and a life- guage. It had no binding effect on anyone, time member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. hungry.’’ but it nevertheless made headlines in Yugo- Conditions were supposed to improve when slavia. He served for three years as Mayor of Sadler, the communist government toppled in 1990 One again, Paraga is hoping that a con- was a retired metal lather, and was a member and democracy prevailed. gressional resolution will help prod the Cro- of the First Baptist Church. He was married to But Paraga tells us the new government is atian government into loosening its iron- his wife, Jean, for 57 years, and they have a still communist, albeit disguised as a social fisted grip on power and information. He told son, Kimsey Woods, a daughter, Karen democracy. us that his party, disbanded by the govern- Whitmire, two grandchildren and three great- A 1997 State Department report agrees ment, nonetheless has the support of as with this assessment, referring to the gov- grandchildren. much as 80 percent of young people in Cro- Because of home health care, I was able to ernment as ‘‘authoritarian’’ and Tudjman’s atia. recent re-election as ‘‘fundamentally After nearly a decade of war and political visit with Oree and Jean in the comfort of their flawed.’’ turmoil, it’s high time that Croatia gets home, where we swapped many stories about ‘‘The president serves as head of state and back on the road toward free markets and re- family, childhood escapades, school, World commander of the armed forces, chairs the spect for human rights. If a congressional War II experiences, and health care. I came influential National Defense and Security resolution can help bring this about, we urge away from our visit feeling that I had truly had Council, appoints the prime minister who Congress to act without delay. leads the government, and approves senior a chance to get to know OreeÐan experience appointments in local government,’’ the re- f that I think would not have been possible out- port states. side the home environment. ‘‘Government influence circumscribes and INTRODUCTION OF A BILL TO AD- Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me weakens the judiciary. This, combined with JUST THE BOUNDARIES OF THE in recognizing the importance of home health the extensive constitutional powers of the LAKE CHELAN NATIONAL RECRE- services in enhancing the quality of life for presidency, the overwhelming dominance of ATION AREA AND THE thousands of patients throughout our nation. the (Croatian Democratic Union, Tudjman’s WENATCHEE NATIONAL FOREST party), its absolute control of television, and As we adjourn today, it is a privilege for me the continuing concentration of power with- to pay tribute to the late Oree Lea WoodsÐ in the one-party central government, makes HON. DOC HASTINGS a man who lived his life in devotion to his wife, Croatia’s nominally democratic system in OF WASHINGTON his family, his community, and his country. reality authoritarian.’’ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES f It also grants the government the ability to violate human rights as it sees fit. Thursday, March 19, 1998 ANNOUNCING THE INTRODUCTION The tall, rumpled Paraga doesn’t look the Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speak- OF LEGISLATION TO REDUCE part of a patriot or a politician. Yet in the er, I have introduced a bill today that would THE MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY last decade he’s been arrested and jailed in MARCH 19, 1998 his own country as well as in Austria and correct a mistakenly drawn boundary between Canada for what the Croatian government the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and calls ‘‘high treason’’ and ‘‘terrorist acts.’’ the Wenatchee National Forest. HON. JIM McDERMOTT Paraga’s offense? He was the president on This measure would move the boundary OF WASHINGTON the Croatian Party of Rights 1861, espousing that divides one land owner's property into two IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES such radical views as freedom of the press different federal jurisdictions, the National Park Thursday, March 19, 1998 and an equitable separation of powers be- Service and the National Forest Service. While tween the judicial, legislative and executive the land owner was originally assured that his Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, today Rep- branches of government. A 1993 visit to resentative KLECZKA and I are introducing leg- Washington to raise awareness of human property was located completely within the rights violations in his homeland led to his Wenatchee National Forest, it is now apparent islation to reduce the marriage tax penalty for removal from the legislature. The govern- that due to an error in the original boundary most Americans. ment’s reason: ‘‘Dissemination of false infor- designation, that only part of his property is so The marriage penalty reduction legislation I mation’’ to incite rebellion. designated. This bill would retroactively am introducing with Representative KLECZKA ‘‘Our neighbors have freedom, but we stay change this oversight to the original intent. (D±WI) simply would increase the standard at the same place,’’ Paraga told us. ‘‘I have f deduction for joint filers so that it equals twice lost 28 friends in car bombs and assassina- that of single filers. The standard deduction in tions, (and) I have been imprisoned. I have IN MEMORY OF OREE WOODS tax year 1997 is $6,900 for joint returns and lost fear.’’ While Paraga has been outspoken of the of- $4,150 for single returns. Two singles get a fenses of his government—assigning respon- HON. RALPH M. HALL combined standard deduction of $8,300 com- sibility for the assassinations of 28 officials OF TEXAS pared to $6,900 for a coupleÐthus penalizing of his party to Tudjman’s group—he dis- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES the couple for getting married. In my view, in- avows any violent or terrorist activities. creasing the standard deduction for joint filers He is in the United States now at the invi- Thursday, March 19, 1998 is the simplest, fairest, easiest, and most fis- tation of recently retired Rep. Ronald V. Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise cally responsible way in which to address the Dellums, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House National Security Committee, to today to pay tribute to someone I had the structural marriage tax penalties within the help draft a human rights resolution—which, privilege of meeting just last NovemberÐOree code. if passed, would be the first official policy Lea Woods of Sadler, TexasÐwho died on As you can see from the attached charts to statement by the United States about the January 19 at his residence after a long ill- be inserted into the record, the fix I proposed government of Croatia. ness. He was 79 years old. Although I knew last Congress would have eliminated virtually