S5980 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 26, 1999 Press story about India launching air- of the snowcapped hills, looking down at In- In the Commonwealth of the North- strikes into Kashmir against infiltra- dian army convoys, 2,700 feet below. ern Mariana Islands, foreign workers tors. I think we have a lot to learn yet Their command of the heights handicapped have been imported in mass to assem- Indian soldiers trying to evict them, officers about what specifically took place. told The Associated Press. ble goods for export to the United Those details are sketchy and not com- Army officers in the area said the infiltra- States. Taking advantage of loopholes ing in at the present time. tors must have taken months to occupy the in our immigration and labor laws, for- I ask unanimous consent that this ar- posts. They said Indian forces could take eign businessmen use the Mariana Is- ticle be printed in the RECORD. three to six months to clear them. lands as a base to export garments to There being no objection, the article The attacks were carried out within In- the United States. These foreign busi- was ordered to be printed in the dian-occupied regions, Indian Brig. Mohan nessmen pay no export taxes, and their Bhandari said. Troops were expected to take RECORD, as follows: over the intruders’ positions once they re- goods are not subject to textile quotas. INDIA LAUNCHES AIR STRIKES IN KASHMIR treat, officials said. Their workers are paid below minimum AGAINST INFILTRATORS The exchange of mortar and heavy artil- wage levels, if paid at all, and often (By Arthur Max) lery fire in the Kargil and Dras regions has live in deplorable conditions. DRAS, INDIA (AP).—Indian air force jets and left at least 160 people dead, Bhandari said. Women from Asia and Russia are im- helicopters fired on suspected guerrillas in Thousands of residents of the region have ported with the promise of high paying the disputed Kashmir province today, mark- fled to safe villages along the Suru River. jobs in the United States only to find ing the most serious escalation of fighting in The attack came a day after Prime Min- themselves marooned with no means of ister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said all steps in- the region since India and Pakistan tested escape, forced to work as prostitutes in nuclear weapons last year. Pakistan charged cluding airstrikes would be taken to push that Indian aircraft bombed its territory in back the infiltrators. Vajpayee said he the booming Mariana sex trade. the raids today and an army spokesman said warned his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz This long-running scandal has been the country is ready for ‘‘all eventualities.’’ Sharif, to withdraw the intruders in a tele- exposed once again by the Global Sur- ‘‘We think it is a very grave escalation and phone conversation Monday. vival Network. This American-based Pakistan armed forces reserves the right to Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I nongovernmental organization which respond,’’ said Brigadier Rashid Quereshi, a want to simply note again that we held uncovers human rights violations sent military spokesman told The Associated a hearing yesterday on what is taking an undercover team to the CNMI to Press. India said the attacks occurred solely gather evidence on the continued use of on its own territory and that they were place in India and on military and po- aimed at what it called Afghan mercenaries litical issues. The United States needs forced labor in the commonwealth. supported by Pakistani forces. The forces to broaden its relationship with India. They have just issued their report had moved into the Indian-controlled Hima- We have a broad-based relationship which was the subject of an ABC News layan region earlier this month and posed a with China which has been strained segment on ‘‘20/20.’’ If you did not see threat to Indian supply lines in the Hima- and stressed. China is an authoritarian the television broadcast, please read layan state, Indian officials said. country. India is a democracy. There the report which I am sending to every ‘‘This is the start of operations and they Senator. will continue until our defense forces reoc- are a number of places that we are sanctioning India where we don’t sanc- Entitled ‘‘Trapped: Human Traf- cupy our territories. Any escalation of this ficking for Forced Labor in The Com- conflict will be entirely the responsibility of tion China at all. Yet these are com- Pakistan,’’ the Defense Ministry said in a parable-sized countries. One has a monwealth of The Northern Mariana statement in New Delhi. democratic tradition, the other an au- Islands (a U.S. Territory),’’ the report Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz thoritarian. There are a number of demonstrates in disturbing detail the said that Pakistan knew nothing about the problems in China that we aren’t expe- continued trafficking of humans for in- infiltrators. ‘‘No one knows where they come riencing with India. dentured labor in factories and sex from and who they are,’’ he said. We need to broaden this relationship trade emporiums in the Marianas. Im- Quereshi said the army rejected Indian plicating organized crime groups from claims. He said the Pakistan army suspects with India and with Pakistan. It is just India wants to occupy Pakistan territory in that at the present time, given what the People’s Republic of China, South that area. has just taken place in the escalating Asia, and Japan, the report estimates India and Pakistan have fought two of of tension in this subcontinent by In- that there are about 40,000 indentured their three wars over Kashmir, which is di- dian military forces, I don’t feel com- workers in the CNMI, earning about vided between them by a U.N.-monitored fortable offering this amendment. $160 million in profits for criminal syn- cease-fire line. More than 15,000 people have I look forward to working in good dicates. been killed in fighting between rebels and se- faith with all of my colleagues to ad- Indentured workers are being used to curity forces in Indian-held Kashmir in the manufacture ostensibly as ‘‘Made in last 10 years. dress the United States-South Asian Pakistan and India, which were partitioned relationship. I note to Members of the the USA’’ garments for export to the when they gained independence from Britain Senate that we will be holding hearings United States. None of these goods are in 1947, tested nuclear weapons in May 1998, in the Foreign Relations Committee to required to be shipped to the U.S. on prompting fears of a nuclear arms race in the look further into what we need to do in U.S.-flag ships in accordance with the subcontinent. Both countries claim all of building this stronger relationship. Jones Act. This duty-free, quota-free Kashmir. India accuses Pakistan of sending Mr. President, I yield the floor. zone in which foreign workers produce militants across the border. high value goods at below minimum A Pakistani army spokesman said the In- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- dian allegations that elite troops were aiding ator from Hawaii. wage is an entirely legal scheme for militants was ‘‘complete rubbish.’’ Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I ask Chinese and other foreign manufactur- Indian Maj. Gen Joginder Jaswant Singh unanimous consent that I have 10 min- ers to bypass American textile quotas. told reporters in New Delhi that the infiltra- utes in morning business. The report also graphically details tors have taken up positions four miles in- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without the increasing use of CNMI’s loose im- side India in the Dras, Batalik, Kaksar and objection, it is so ordered. The Senator migration standards to make this Mashkok mountains of northern Kashmir. may proceed. former tropical paradise a major center Intelligence reports, backed by photos for the booming Asian sex trade. taken by Indian satellites, showed at least f 600 infiltrators, Singh said. The reports also Women from Asia and Russia are being HUMAN TRAFFICKING FOR lured to the Northern Marianas with said they have anti-aircraft missiles, radar, FORCED LABOR IN AN AMERICAN snowmobiles and sophisticated communica- promises of work opportunities in the tions equipment. COMMONWEALTH United States only to find themselves The air force joined the operation because Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise imprisoned on islands from which there the infiltrators had occupied positions at al- today to call your attention to a scan- is no escape unless they agree to their titudes of up to 16,000 feet, said Air Com- dal in an American commonwealth. It employer’s demands that they become modore Subash Bhojwani, director of offen- is a scandal that involves forced labor prostitutes and sex hostesses. This sick sive operations. In Dras, 100 miles from the state capital of and sex trade workers. It’s not a pretty trade in prostitution must be stopped. Srinagar, Indian army officers said the tar- picture. It is a picture of a tropical par- Loopholes in the Immigration and get of today’s attack was some 70 infiltrators adise destroyed by greed and corrup- Nationality Act and the Fair Labor who had entrenched themselves on the slopes tion. Standards Act of 1938 need to be

VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:57 Nov 01, 2013 Jkt 081600 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\1999SENATE\S26MY9.REC S26MY9 mmaher on DSKCGSP4G1 with SOCIALSECURITY May 26, 1999 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5981 plugged as soon as possible. I hope you tience has ended. Conditions in the ernment is wrong in this current law- will join me in ending this deplorable CNMI are a looming political embar- suit. situation in which men and women are rassment to our country. In a recent poll conducted by Citizens being used virtually as slaves on an I urge the Senate to respond by en- for a Sound Economy, 82% of those American commonwealth. acting S. 1052, bipartisan reform legis- polled responded that Microsoft is good Their report makes many important lation introduced by my colleagues on for American consumers. This survey recommendations. Let me call your at- the Senate Energy and Natural Re- also found that seven-out-of-ten Amer- tention to four key issues which the sources Committee, Chairman MUR- ican consumers feel that technology Congress could and should act upon KOWSKI and Senator BINGAMAN. companies, not the Federal Govern- this year: I urge the Senate to move on this ment, should determine what features Extend the Immigration and Nation- measure as quickly as we can. and applications are included in the ality Act to the CNMI; Ms. COLLINS addressed the Chair. software that consumers use with their Extend the Fair Labor Standards Act The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- computers. of 1938 to the CNMI; ator from Maine is recognized. Most Americans understand the Revoke the CNMI’s ability to use the (The remarks of Ms. COLLINS per- value that Microsoft has brought. ‘‘Made in the USA label’’ unless more taining to the introduction of S. 1124 Microsoft products make nearly every than 75 percent of the labor that goes are located in today’s RECORD under business in America more competitive. into the manufacture of the garment ‘‘Statements on Introduced Bills and The technology revolution fueled by comes from U.S. citizens and/or aliens Joint Resolutions.’’) Microsoft has made Americans secure lawfully admitted to the U.S. for per- Mr. GORTON addressed the Chair. in their jobs and made more families manent residence, and other appro- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- secure in their future. priately legal individuals; and ator from Washington. Microsoft has also helped usher in Revoke the CNMI’s ability to trans- Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, are we the most important change occurring port textile goods to the United States in morning business, and are there on earth: today the power of informa- free of duties and quotas unless the time limits? tion has been taken from a few large garments meet the above criteria. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- centralized institutions and put di- This week’s report prepared by the Global Survival Network is not the ate is in morning business until 10:15. rectly into the hands of people in every first analysis raising concerns about The Senator is authorized to speak for town and village across our globe via conditions in the CNMI. In recent up to 10 minutes. the Internet. The explosive growth of the Internet years, a chorus of criticism has sur- Mr. GORTON. I thank the Chair. will eventually have a fundamental im- faced about the Commonwealth. f pact on every aspect of American life. For example, the Immigration and MICROSOFT VERSUS DOJ Naturalization Service reports that the A recent Newsweek article describes Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, what a CNMI has no reliable records of aliens what it calls the ‘‘New Digital Galaxy’’ difference a year makes. One year ago who have entered the Commonwealth, which allows consumers to operate de- last week, the United States Govern- how long they remain, and when, if vices from coffee-makers to dish- ment filed a Sherman Antitrust law- ever, they depart. A CNMI official tes- washers via Internet access. This will suit against the Microsoft Corporation. tified that they have ‘‘no effective con- introduce a vastly different landscape This anniversary is a good time to re- trol’’ over immigration in their island. in high-technology than exists today. The bipartisan Commission on Immi- view that lawsuit and to see how radi- Users will not necessarily use sta- gration studied immigration and inden- cally the universe of competition has tionary Personal Computers to access tured labor in the CNMI. The Commis- changed in just twelve months. information, but instead rely on Web sion called it ‘‘antithetical to Amer- I am not at all unbiased. I believe phones, palmtop computers and similar ican values,’’ and announced that no that the Government was dead wrong technology that is advancing at an ex- democratic society has an immigration in bringing this lawsuit. I believe that ponential rate. policy like the CNMI. ‘‘The closest the lawsuit is bad for consumers, bad The Internet has had the fastest equivalent is Kuwait,’’ the Commission for technological innovation, and bad adoption rate of any new medium in found. for a marvelous company that is history. Over 50 million users were con- The Department of Commerce found headquartered in my State. nected in the first five years. To reach that the territory has become ‘‘a Chi- But even an independent analysis the 50 million user milestone, it took nese province’’ for garment production. would conclude that the case that the 38 years for radio, 13 years for tele- The CNMI garment industry employs Clinton administration brought twelve vision, and 10 years for cable. On top of 15,000 Chinese workers, some of whom months ago bears little resemblance to this initial growth, the number of users sign contracts that forbid participation the case it now argues. Since then the continues to increase by an astounding in religious or political activities while Government’s case hasn’t been tried in 37% per year. It is projected that 200 on U.S. soil. China is exporting its the courthouse as much as on the million people worldwide will be con- workers, and its human rights policies, courthouse steps, bypassing the law nected to the web in 1999, and half a to the CNMI. Charges of espionage by and aimed directly at public opinion billion by 2003. To handle the volume, China and security lapses in U.S. nu- through a national media that delights the backbone of the Internet now dou- clear weapons labs have justifiably in highlighting any Microsoft misstep bles in capacity every 100 days. raised serious concerns in Congress. even though it has no relation to any Not only is the number of users in- Every Member of Congress should be harm to consumers. creasing exponentially, but the amount equally concerned with the imposition The administration pursues this case of information available to them is of Chinese human rights standards on for ideological reasons. This adminis- also growing at an unprecedented level. American soil. tration is filled with people who are of- The International Data Corporation es- The CNMI is becoming an inter- fended by anyone or any company that timates the number of web pages on national embarrassment to the United is too successful. They believe that it the World Wide Web at 829 million at States. We have received complaints is fundamentally unfair that Microsoft the end of 1998, and projects that the from the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, does so well. Much of the national number grow by 75 percent to 1.45 bil- and Bangladesh about immigration media seems to share this view. lion by the end of 1999. By 2002, accord- abuses and the treatment of workers. The administration has, however, ing to IDC, there will be 7.7 billion web Despite efforts by the Reagan, Bush miscalculated the views of a majority pages. and Clinton administrations to per- of Americans. Despite the Govern- What does this mean to the future of suade the CNMI to correct these prob- ment’s attempts to turn the public global commerce? Considering that 18 lems, the situation has only deterio- against Microsoft, it continues to be million consumers made purchases on rated. one of the most respected companies in the Internet in 1997, and that number is After years of waiting for the CNMI America, and a majority of Americans projected to increase to 128 million by to achieve reform, the time for pa- believe Microsoft is right and the Gov- 2002, the possibilities are limitless. In

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