932 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS February 3, 1988 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS' plication, the rest of Cental America> to the president and with those in Congress POLICY TOWARD NICARAGUA Cuba and to the Soviet Union. It would do who support him. so by effectively terminating all further For lack of any name at all, these isola­ funding to the revolutionary "Contras" <the tionist/pacifist policies of the majority of HON. BOB LIVINGSTON Nicaraguan counter-communists>. congressional Democrats <and a handful of OF LOUISIANA Then, in his second essay, Mr. Guirard sug­ Republicans) have been able to travel the IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES gests an alternative spelling-that of "The country and the world under such sweet­ Wednesday, February 3, 1988 Wright-off Doctrine" -in deference to the un­ smelling labels as "peace" and "negotia­ tions" and "dialogue" and "Contadora." Mr. LIVINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unani­ tiring efforts in behalf of this doctrine by Now, however, a highly appropriate name House Speaker Jim Wright. He explains: mous consent that two very interesting op-ed is finally being affixed to such policies by essays relevant to the congressional Demo­ Some thought was given to naming this the pro-liberation forces in Congress. The crats' policy toward Nicaragua be placed in isolationist-pacifist policy after House chosen name is "the Write-Off Doctrine." Speaker Jim Wright: "The Wright-Off Doc­ An alternative spelling of "Wright-Off" <a the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. trine." But there was still hope that the back-handed reference to House Speaker Each of these articles was written by a Texas Democrat might desert the pseudo­ Jim Wright, Texas Democrat) was not se­ highly-respected Washington DC lobbyist, liberal "left" wing of his party and join lected because of a feeling of some that Mr. gee-political writer and foreign policy consult­ those seeking to liberate Nicaragua from Wright will finally reject the doctrine and ant, Mr. Jim Guirard, who I am pleased to Soviet and Cuban colonialism. should not, at least now, be burdened with count as a personal friend. For a fleeting instant, Wright did seem to its nasty image of isolationism and appease­ Most interestingly, the author of these arti­ tilt away from his "write-off" colleagues. He ment. cles-who is quite literally at war with the con­ even proposed-jointly with President The "Write-Off" label achieves its appro­ Reagan, no less!-a plan which, while seri­ priateness and semantic accuracy in the fact gressional Democrats' opposition to aid to the ously defective, placed at least some real that the doctrine's clear result would, Nicaraguan Democratic Resistance-is him­ pressure for reform on Nicaragua's "Stalin­ indeed, be to write off Nicaragua <and, by self a prominent Democrat. ista" dictatorship. implication, the rest of Central America) to And, even more remarkable than that, he But, almost immediately, the Speaker Cuba and to the Soviet Union. It would do served for almost 20 years as administrative ruled his own plan out of order, in favor of so by effectively terminating all further assistant to three distinguished Democratic the far weaker "Arias Plan no. 3." The des­ funding to the revolutionary "Contras" (the committee chairmen-Chairman Ed Willis of ignation "no. 3" for this proposal by Costa Nicaraguan counter-communists). the House Committee on Internal Security, Rican President Oscar Arias is, incidentally, First legislated in several versions of the the result of its having been twice rewritten infamous "Boland amendment," the doc­ Chairman Allen Ellender of the Senate Appro­ to satisfy Nicaraguan and Cuban objections. trine's most recent incarnation took the priations Committee and Chairman Russell Mr. Speaker, without repeating all of the form of House Joint Resolution 175, which Long's staff in 1981. some weeks ago passed the House of Repre­ I point this out to make it plain that the fascinating observations and cogent argu­ ments of Mr. Guirard's essays, I offer them for sentatives 230-196. <The similar provisions messages propounded by Mr. Guirard's arti­ of S.J. Res. 81 were narrowly defeated in cles do not come from some "right-wing, printing in the RECORD at this point of my re­ the Senate, 52-48.> narrow-gauge, reactionary, Reaganite, war­ marks. Only upon fulfillment of the absolutely mongering, anti-peace, pro-war, troglodite" (as I urge my colleagues to study them careful­ unachievable accounting requirements of ly-particularly the stark contrast in mentality H.J. Res. 175 might the Write-Off Doc­ almost all of us Republicans are at times la­ trine's proposed funding moratorium be beled by pseudo-liberal elements of the and in foreign policy outlook which exists be­ tween this new "Write-off Doctrine" and the lifted. Under its provisions, all 1985 and sub­ media) but from a good, solid, centrist, classi­ major foreign policy doctrines toward Latin sequent monies (public, private, and for­ cal-liberal Democrat. He calls himself a "Harry eign) appropriated, sought after or even Truman/Scoop Jackson/Russell Long/Chuck America (and toward communism) which have "encouraged" by any government official preceded it-namely, the Monroe Doctrine, Robb Democrat" to be exact. must be "fully and adequately" accounted Mr. Guirard, who spends a great deal of the Roosevelt doctrine, the Truman doctrine, for-short of which the Write-off moratori­ the Kennedy doctrine and the Reagan doc­ time and effort in the field of gee-political lan­ um would remain forever in effect. trine. guage and labeling-what we call the "war of Another cynical element of H.J. Res. 175 All of these earlier doctrines (three of them was that it would not matter whether the words" -is deeply concerned that his fellow­ funds in question were "actually received by Democrats' policy of appeasement and ac­ bearing the names of Democrats, plus the hal­ lowed name of James Monroe) say basically the democratic resistance." In effect, a commodation toward Soviet and Cuban colo­ series of impossible conditions-precedent nialism in Central America has no name-no the same thing. All of them are, therefore, in were sought, in order that the proposed equally sharp conflict with the "Write-off/ name at all. moratorium might continue indefinitely. He points out that this misguided policy is, Wright-off" approach to dealing with rampant Clever? therefore, able to hide its true identity behind Soviet and Cuban colonialism in this hemi­ "Maybe not so clever," say those congress­ sphere and throughout the world. men and senators who are now drawing in­ such disinformational good-guy labels as vidious comparisons between the Write-off "peace" and "negotiations" and Contadora" [From the Washington Times, July 15, 1987] Doctrine and various earlier doctrines by and "Arias No. 3," and so forth. He calls which a long succession of American presi­ these "semantic masks." CALL IT THE WRITE-OFF DOCTRINE dents have attempted to keep European co­ Frustrated by all of this false labeling, Jim (Jim Guirard Jr.) lonialism-and, in recent decades, Soviet co­ Guirard wants to apply "a bit of truth-in-label­ As we thumb through the lexicon of geo­ lonialism-out of the Western Hemisphere. ing," as he describes it, and call the congres­ politics, a major new label seems desperate­ Notice how the earlier presidential state­ sional Democrats' policy toward Nicaragua ly needed with respect to what is going on in ments <based on concepts of individual liber­ Congress relative to Nicaragua. ty and of national independence) contrast "The Write-off Doctrine." In the first of his arti­ At present, there is the well-known like night and day with the Write-off Doc­ cles, he explains the rationale for this name "Reagan Doctrine," which proposes that we trine's total reliance on punctilious account­ as follows: must somehow liberate Nicaragua from ing procedures as its standard for deciding The "Write-off" label achieves its appro­ Soviet and Cuban colonialism and repres­ the fate of Central America: priateness and semantic accuracy in the fact sion. But, to date, there is no proper label Monroe Doctrine: " ... the American con­ that the doctrine's clear result would, for the opposing doctrine-the anti-libera­ tinents, by the free and independent condi­ indeed, be to write of/Nicaragua (and by im- tion doctrine-of those who disagree with tion which they have assumed and main- e This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. February 3, 1988 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 933 tain, are henceforth not to be considered as Empire. The name is gradually catching on, eral ones) was at one time very clearly subjects for future colonization by any Eu­ simply because it is true. stated: ropean powers." Some thought was given to naming this Reagan Doctrine: "We must not break Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doc­ isolationist-pacifist policy after House faith with those who are risking their trine: ". the adherence of the United Speaker Jim Wright: "The Wright-Off Doc­ lives-on every continent, from Afghanistan States to the Monroe Doctrine may force trine." But there was still hope that the to Nicaragua-to defy Soviet-supported ag­ the United States, however reluctantly, in Texas Democrat might desert the pseudo­ gression and secure rights which have been flagrant cases of wrongdoing or impotence, liberal "left" wing of this party and join ours from birth." to the exercise of an international police those seeking to liberate Nicaragua from That highly principled statement, howev­ power." Soviet and Cuban colonialism.