E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 106 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 145 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1999 No. 107 House of Representatives The House met at 9 a.m. and was and corruption of the Kuomintang gov- to sit back helplessly as we look at called to order by the Speaker pro tem- ernment, headed by Chiang Kai-Shek. forces in China but nonetheless it pore (Mrs. WILSON). We chose to support that effort dur- seems to me important that we do not f ing World War II. We ended up making use heavy-handed, clumsy behavior, as- some unfortunate decisions perhaps suming that the United States can iso- DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO only history will judge, but the recent late China and make it bend to our dic- TEMPORE evidence suggests that we did not have tates. It is important that we use trade The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- to make as much of an enemy of Mao and our economic relationship as tools. fore the House the following commu- Tse-Tung and the communists. There is no turning back. Our his- nication from the Speaker: This tragic miscalculation came into tory, both of the United States and of WASHINGTON, DC, fore during the Korean war, when Gen- the West in general, has been mixed July 27, 1999. eral MacArthur defied President Tru- with the Chinese and there is much to I hereby appoint the Honorable HEATHER man and enlarged the conflict and ulti- make them apprehensive, but the WILSON to act as Speaker pro tempore on mately cost thousands of United States United States has paid a heavy price this day. lives that was unnecessary. At the for miscalculating during World War J. DENNIS HASTERT, time, of course, in the well of this Con- II, during the Korean War and Viet- Speaker of the House of Representatives. gress, MacArthur was viewed as a hero nam. f and Truman was vilified. The United States and China spies on History has shown that President MORNING HOUR DEBATES each other continuously but we really Truman was, in fact, a visionary in a do not know each other very well. I am The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- number of respects; one of our greatest hopeful that this week on this floor ant to the order of the House of Janu- presidents, praised by no one less than Congress will reject the notion that we ary 19, 1999, the Chair will now recog- Ronald Reagan, but we have seen the ought not to treat China as we do 180 nize Members from lists submitted by ebb and flow on this floor where Con- other countries, with normal trade re- the majority and minority leaders for gress simply has not exercised proper lations, because if we are able to take morning hour debates. The Chair will perspective. that important step, it is only going to alternate recognition between the par- We saw where Richard Nixon, who hasten the further change and progress ties, with each party limited to 25 min- was characterized during his early ca- within China, strengthening our coun- utes, and each Member, except the ma- reer as a red baiter, as someone who try, strengthening the Chinese people jority leader, the minority leader, or was against the Communist Chinese, and their economy, and ultimately the the minority whip, limited to 5 min- yet he was able during his presidency, world itself will be a better place. utes, but in no event shall debate ex- one of the most enduring and lasting f tend beyond 9:50 a.m. contributions was to swing the balance The Chair recognizes the gentleman of power towards a more strategic alli- A DEBT MONEY SYSTEM from Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 ance with China, and that hastened the The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under minutes. collapse of the former Soviet Union. the Speaker's announced policy of Jan- f We have seen China behave as a na- uary 19, 1999, the gentleman from tion of what appears to be to us in ex- Washington (Mr. METCALF) is recog- LIVABLE COMMUNITIES IN A cess. The great leap forward, costing nized during morning hour debates for GLOBAL ECONOMY millions of lives of their own people, 5 minutes. Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, the cultural revolution of the seven- Mr. METCALF. Madam Speaker, one aspect of the livable community in ties, the current turmoil that is in this there is a fundamental flaw in our a global economy is the struggle of this context is perhaps a little more under- money system that allows money to be Congress to understand the huge and standable, but one thing is very clear, created as a debt instrument. It is complex nation, that is China. An an- that we are seeing unprecedented ac- called a debt money system, and cient society, over 4,000 years old, and cess to the Chinese people, more and money must never be created and a large country, almost beyond our more educated abroad, particularly in loaned into circulation. The reason comprehension, more than four times the United States. this must be avoided at all costs is that the United States, a quarter of the Even with the Internet access, it is when interest is charged on money at world's population. In my lifetime, we transforming the internal dynamics of the point of issue, the interest is math- have turned a blind eye to the cruelty China. The United States does not have ematically unpayable. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H6427 . H6428 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE July 27, 1999 This can be illustrated. Let me give The result is that this system builds other post in the State Department. just a quick example. It is an over- more and more debt which cannot be Mr. Keyser, our third special nego- simplification. Let us say that five peo- repaid, resulting ultimately in mone- tiator, played a major role in shaping a ple design a money system. They cre- tary problems, anything from a minor new plan to settle the conflict, known ate $50 in currency without intrinsic recession to a major hair-curling de- as the Common State proposal. value, paper currency, say. Each one pression such as we experienced in the Despite their substantial reserva- borrows $10 and agrees to repay the $10 1930s. These things are the result or tions, both Armenia and Nagorno in one year and, of course, they will can be the result of a flawed monetary Karabagh agreed to the Common State pay interest on it. They will each pay system. proposal as a basis for negotiations. $1 in interest. The point I make is that we must un- Unfortunately, Azerbaijan flatly re- Now, this is obviously a flawed sys- derstand the danger of relying on the jected this proposal. tem because if only $50 is created, a issue of debt money. It is the responsi- Mr. Keyser worked very hard to move year later it is impossible for $55 to be bility of Congress to understand this this process forward, so his departure repaid. Someone in the system is going issue and its ramifications, and change leaves a major void. At this critical to lose their collateral that they the way we issue the Nation's money. juncture, we must get another perma- pledged for the loan. More on this later. nent special negotiator in place with- Unfortunately for us, this is the kind f out delay, preferably either a very sen- of system which has been imposed on ior diplomat or perhaps another Amer- this country. The deeper problems do A PERMANENT NEGOTIATOR TO ican recognized for leadership in public come to light as we look carefully at FACILITATE DIRECT TALKS ON policy and public life, someone who can our monetary system. NAGORNO KARABAGH MUST BE command the respect necessary to win Now, there will always be some peo- APPOINTED the confidence of all parties to the con- ple who are better managers, just good The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under flict. at business or just lucky in their the Speaker's announced policy of Jan- To echo and amplify the language in choices. That is the first group. They uary 19, 1999, the gentleman from New the foreign ops bill, I will be circu- will prosper in any system. Then there Jersey (Mr. PALLONE) is recognized lating amongst our colleagues here a is the upper middle class who will man- during morning hour debates for 5 min- letter to President Clinton and Sec- age a satisfactory standard of living. utes. retary Albright urging that they move Then next is the lower middle class, Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, the to appoint a special negotiator imme- who may manage a satisfactory stand- foreign operations appropriations bill, diately. ard of living by working two jobs or which this House is expected to begin Madam Speaker, two weeks ago Ar- being frugal in their spending or so debating later this week, contains an menia's ambassador to the United forth. important provision that is extremely States, Ambassador Rouben Shugarian, Number four, there are the working timely and deserves our support. Lan- came to Capitol Hill to brief Members poor who really do work hard but at guage in the foreign ops legislation ad- of Congress and our staff about the low paying jobs they can never get dresses the need for a negotiated set- Nagorno Karabagh peace process, and ahead at all.