East Asia Security Act of 2005; Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2005; Condemning the DPRK for the Abductions and Captivity of Citizens of the ROK and Japan; and other measures

SPEAKERS       CONTENTS       INSERTS

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2006
EAST ASIA SECURITY ACT OF 2005; TORTURE VICTIMS RELIEF REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005; CONDEMNING THE DPRK FOR THE ABDUCTIONS AND CAPTIVITY OF CITIZENS OF THE ROK AND JAPAN; ACKNOWLEDGING AFRICAN DESCENDANTS OF THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE; COMMEMORATING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC AND HONORING VETERANS OF WWII; RECOGNIZING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WORKERS' STRIKES IN POLAND; SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF A NATIONAL WEEKEND OF PRAYER AND REFLECTION FOR DARFUR, SUDAN; AND COMMENDING KUWAIT FOR GRANTING WOMEN CERTAIN IMPORTANT POLITICAL RIGHTS

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON
H.R. 3100, H.R. 2017, H. Con. Res. 168,

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H. Con. Res. 175, H. Con. Res. 191, H. Res. 328,

H. Res. 333 and H. Res. 343

JUNE 30, 2005

Serial No. 109–124

Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman

JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey,
Vice Chairman
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York

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STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
RON PAUL, Texas
DARRELL ISSA, California
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
JERRY WELLER, Illinois
MIKE PENCE, Indiana
THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida
JOE WILSON, South Carolina
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina
CONNIE MACK, Florida
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
MICHAEL McCAUL, Texas
TED POE, Texas

TOM LANTOS, California
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey

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SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
BARBARA LEE, California
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
DIANE E. WATSON, California
ADAM SMITH, Washington
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California

THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel
ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director
DANIEL FREEMAN, Counsel/Parliamentarian
JEAN CARROLL, Full Committee Hearing Coordinator

C O N T E N T S

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MARKUP OF

    H.R. 3100, To authorize measures to deter arms transfers by foreign countries to the People's Republic of China

    H.R. 2017, To amend the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations to provide assistance for domestic and foreign programs and centers for the treatment of victims of torture, and for other purposes

    H. Con. Res. 168, Condemning the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for the abductions and continued captivity of citizens of the Republic of Korea and Japan as acts of terrorism and gross violations of human rights
As amended

    H. Con. Res. 175, Acknowledging African descendants of the transatlantic slave trade in all of the Americas with an emphasis on descendants in Latin America and the Caribbean, recognizing the injustices suffered by these African descendants, and recommending that the United States and the international community work to improve the situation of Afro-descendant communities in Latin America and the Caribbean

    Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H. Con. Res. 191 offered by the Honorable Henry J. Hyde, a Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois, and Chairman, Committee on International Relations

    H. Con. Res. 191, Acknowledging African descendants of the transatlantic slave trade in all of the Americas with an emphasis on descendants in Latin America and the Caribbean, recognizing the injustices suffered by these African descendants, and recommending that the United States and the international community work to improve the situation of Afro-descendant communities in Latin America and the Caribbean

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    H. Res. 328, Recognizing the 25th anniversary of the workers' strikes in Poland in 1980 that led to the establishment of the Solidarity Trade Union
As amended

    H. Res. 333, Supporting the goals and ideals of a National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection for Darfur, Sudan

    H. Res. 334, Commending the State of Kuwait for granting women certain important political rights

EAST ASIA SECURITY ACT OF 2005; TORTURE VICTIMS RELIEF REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005; CONDEMNING THE DPRK FOR THE ABDUCTIONS AND CAPTIVITY OF CITIZENS OF THE ROK AND JAPAN; ACKNOWLEDGING AFRICAN DESCENDANTS OF THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE; COMMEMORATING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC AND HONORING VETERANS OF WWII; RECOGNIZING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WORKERS' STRIKES IN POLAND; SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF A NATIONAL WEEKEND OF PRAYER AND REFLECTION FOR DARFUR, SUDAN; AND COMMENDING KUWAIT FOR GRANTING WOMEN CERTAIN IMPORTANT POLITICAL RIGHTS

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2005

House of Representatives,
Committee on International Relations,
Washington, DC.

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    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:40 a.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry J. Hyde (Chairman of the Committee) presiding.

    Chairman HYDE. The Committee will come to order. The business meeting of the Committee will come to order pursuant to notice. I call up the bill, H.R. 3100, East Asia Security Act of 2005, for purposes of markup, and I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered as read and ordered reported favorably to the House.

    [The bill referred to follows:]

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    Chairman HYDE. H.R. 3100 would address the serious and continuing concerns with European transfers to China of arms and related technology.

    Previously, the House agreed to Resolution 57 on February 2, 2005, by an overwhelming vote of 411 to 3. That resolution called upon the European Union to do two things, to maintain its arms embargo on China and to eliminate loopholes in the EU embargo and in the national policies of EU member states, which have permitted European arms sales to China to escalate to alarming levels in recent years.

    The European Union has apparently decided, for now, not to terminate the arms embargo. This is a welcome development. But the EU Council of Ministers and its member states have remained silent on actually stopping the supply of weapons systems technology in China and to China. This implies that EU member states who have been aiding China's threatening military buildup may continue to do so, even while a strategic dialogue has begun with the United States on security and East Asia. This is disappointing and troubling.

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    The supply of European weapons technology to China has been increasing steadily in recent years, both in quantity and sophistication. In the 3-year period between 2001 and 2003, European sales increased eight-fold to $540 million. This figure, more than half a billion dollars, exceeds the arms sales which the United States licenses on an annual basis to more than 85 percent of the member states of NATO.

    It also covers the sale of a number of systems, which increased the range, reliability and lethality of China's attack aircraft and submarines. The implications of these sales are uniformly negative for the security of our armed forces in East Asia, for the defense of friends and allies in the region, and for regional stability more broadly.

    China itself faces no threat from any of its neighbors that could justify the acquisition of threatening military capabilities.

    While we continue to be hopeful that Europeans will approach this matter with an abundance of restraint and concern for United States security interests, Congress cannot turn a blind eye to these potentially dangerous developments.

    H.R. 3100 would accomplish several important objectives. First, it would ensure Congress has the information it needs from the Executive Branch and on a timely basis to perform its constitutional duties. There is little transparency in the European arms-related transfers to China since 2003, and the available data for transfers before 2003 is mostly at a high level of generality. Henceforth, there would be annual reports required by the President on European companies who sell arms to China and on European governments whose policies condone these sales.

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    Second, for those European countries and governments who continue dangerous arms relationships with China, the bill would establish additional U.S. Government oversight requirements. Because such persons would be given access to sensitive U.S. weapons technology in the future, there would be mandatory export licenses and congressional notification procedures for certain types of transactions.

    Thirdly, the President will be given new authority to help deter future European arms sales. The bill would provide a menu of measures or restrictions the President could draw on in limiting the access of culpable persons to United States weapons technology.

    The measures would be discretionary to begin with, but would become mandatory for repeat offenders. Even then, however, the President would be given wide latitude to waive application of the measures if he determines it is important to U.S. national security to do so. If he does not, he would have not only the authority under United States law, but also the flexibility to select the combination of measures to be imposed and to establish their duration.

    Finally, the bill would not have a retroactive character, it would not reach back to cover European arms sales prior to January 1, 2005, however egregious they may have been, because the main purpose of the bill is not punitive, but to deter future dangerous conduct and to improve future policy coordination between the U.S. and EU member governments.

    In this sense, the optimal report Congress could receive under the bill's provisions is one under which no European company or government is named. However, if our European friends do not make it possible for this to happen, the President would then be in a position to take other necessary steps in consultation with the Congress to safeguard vital security interests in the United States.

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    Mr. LANTOS. Will the Chairman yield?

    Chairman HYDE. Are there any other Members who would like to speak on this bill?

    Mr. Lantos.

    Mr. LANTOS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me first commend you for taking yet another leadership role in protecting United States national security interests. You and I successfully changed the policy of the European Union, which was all set to be put in concrete to lift sanctions against dangerous weapons sales to China. Europe made a 180-degree turn. So our initial effort was successful.

    But, clearly, that resolution, which as you cited was passed overwhelmingly by our colleagues in the House, is not enough. You are now proposing a major piece of legislation, of which I am proud to be the Democratic lead co-sponsor, which will make this an established permanent policy of the United States.

    Our European friends and our European non-friends must understand that Congress stands united in its opposition to an attempt by some European arms merchants to provide high-technology to China at a time when the peace in the region is far from being assured.

    I want to commend you on this legislation, Mr. Chairman, and I want to assure you that we on our side will do our utmost to bring it to quick passage.

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    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

    Chairman HYDE. Thank you, Mr. Lantos.

    Any other further comments?

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman?

    Chairman HYDE. Mr. Rohrabacher.

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. Of course, I join Mr. Lantos in his accolades and praise on your leadership on this issue. I remember going to Hong Kong with you when you first raised the issue of the Communist Chinese proliferation of nuclear weapons, which was an issue which was ignored for so long, that the Chinese are probably the source of so much of our proliferation to Pakistan, et cetera, even North Korea.

    I am totally in support of this resolution, but I would just like to note, I understand why our European allies are a bit confused as to our policy where we have a policy that seems to be approaching China as a potential enemy, at least as an adversary of what our fundamental beliefs are in terms of military sales that we are talking about here, but at the same time, we are pumping in billions of dollars of investment into that country every year, even though we are treating that government as a potential enemy.

    This is a dichotomy that is hard for people to understand. We just refused to pass a—or what we actually—what we did was we passed a bill that prevented a subsidy by the Export-Import Bank to an English company, now Westinghouse, to build nuclear power plants just 2 days ago.

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    But the Export-Import Bank continues to subsidize the investment of big business manufacturing interests in China. So this dichotomy—no wonder our European allies and people in the world and even in China are a bit confused as to where we are going to draw the line.

    But I commend you, Mr. Chairman, for at least stepping forward and saying, Well, at the very least, we are going to draw the line, but we are not going to give them sophisticated weapons. And we are going to try to prevent that from happening. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

    Chairman HYDE. Thank you. The bill has been considered as read and ordered reported favorably to the House by unanimous consent.

    So without objection, it is so ordered. The staff is directed to make any technical and conforming changes. Any Member who wishes to insert their remarks in the record may do so.

    We also have a series of noncontroversial bills on the agenda. It is the intention to consider these measures en bloc, and by unanimous consent authorize the Chair to seek consideration of the bills under suspension of the rules.

    All Members are given leave to insert remarks on the measures into the record, should they choose to do so.

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    Accordingly, without objection, the Chairman——

    Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman?

    Chairman HYDE. Mr. Lantos.

    Mr. LANTOS. Reserving the right to object—I will not object. I wish to make some comments concerning H. Con. Res. 191.

    Chairman HYDE. The gentleman is recognized.

    Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I strongly support this resolution, and I urge all of my colleagues to do so as well.

    Some 60 years ago, a young naval officer was preparing for the most important battle of his life. On January 9, 1945, he was piloting a landing craft into the Lingayen Gulf as part of a massive landing force, hoping to establish a beachhead on the Philippine island of Luzon. The mission was to help liberate the people of the Philippines from Japanese occupation. Though in hindsight, the liberation of the Philippines and the eventual victory of allied forces in the war in the Pacific seemed predetermined, it was anything but decided during this important moment in global history.

    Fortunately for all of us, Mr. Chairman, this young naval officer survived the battle of Lingayen Gulf. For his exemplary service to his Nation, he was awarded the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and the Philippines Liberation Medal.

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    Mr. Chairman, we all know that the service of this young officer to his Nation did not end with the battle of Lingayen Gulf. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and you, Mr. Chairman, continue your extraordinary service to our Nation as Chairman of our Committee.

    Mr. Chairman, one of our Nation's greatest American military leaders, General Douglas MacArthur, once said the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

    As we gather for this meeting of the International Relations Committee today, I think I speak for everyone in this room in expressing our great admiration for the enormous sacrifices you made for our Nation in the Pacific theater and in the many years since.

    I have the greatest respect and admiration for the sacrifices of American soldiers then and now, many of whom gave their lives in this epic battle against the evil forces of fascism.

    As you know, Mr. Chairman, I owe my life to the American military and the military forces of other allied countries who liberated Europe at enormous cost, including the lives of millions.

    There are millions of citizens of the Asia/Pacific region from the Philippines to South Korea who also hold their freedom to brave soldiers such as yourself. In many ways, Mr. Chairman, the victory over Japan was more of a beginning than an end.

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    In the aftermath of World War II, the United States developed strong alliances across the Asia/Pacific region which has stood for more than 50 years. The United States and Japan have developed the strong multifaceted relationship based on shared democratic values and mutual interest in Asian and global stability and economic development. The strength of our relationship in Japan today and the relative peace of the Asia/Pacific region for over 50 years, demonstrates that the sacrifices made by brave American soldiers in the Pacific theater were not in vain.

    With the passage of this resolution, we commemorate these enormous contributions and commit ourselves to never forgetting those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their Nation then and now.

    Mr. Chairman, I strongly support this resolution. I urge all of my colleagues to do so. I withdraw my reservation.

    Mr. BURTON. A round of applause.

    Chairman HYDE. Thank you. Well, ladies and gentlemen, an inkling of what was going to happen filtered over to our side. In anticipation, I have a little statement I would like to make about Mr. Lantos. This is against his wishes, but he can't have his way all the time.

    Hitler's forces occupied Hungary on March 19, 1944. Along with Nazi invaders came the notorious Adolf Eichmann, whose orders were to exterminate the Jewish population of Hungary. A 16-year-old boy viewing these somber events decided he had to take a stand. He joined the Hungarian Underground, a loose-knit group which was made up of small clusters of individuals. Sent to a work camp to perform forced labor to maintain a railway bridge, this boy was the sole survivor of an allied bombing raid.

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    ''I was convinced I wouldn't survive,'' the boy recalled.

    But fate had far greater things in store for this young hero. Escaping from the camp, the young man made his way to Budapest where he joined Swedish Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg in his rescue operation to save much of the Jewish community of Hungary. The young man ran operations for the Underground, carrying food and medicine through Nazi lines to Jews hiding throughout the city.

    After the war, the young man was reunited with his childhood friend, who was to become his wife, Annette. Together, they immigrated to America to start a new life. Fortunately for all of us here on the International Relations Committee, that brave lad from Budapest is here with us today. After a distinguished academic career in California, the same determination which kept him alive at the bombed-out railway bridge has now brought him to the Congress where he serves as the Ranking Member of this Committee.

    For his courage in war and for his service in peace, especially here in the Congress, I would like to express my deep appreciation to my friend and colleague, Tom Lantos.

    Let me just say one more thing. If ever there was a Committee that ought to be partisan, bitterly political, it is this one. If ever there was a Committee that is just the opposite, that looks ahead for what is best, it is this one. I congratulate all the Members of this Committee.

    Now, onward and upward. We have a series of noncontroversial bills on the agenda. It is the intention of the Chair to consider these measures en bloc and by unanimous consent authorize the Chair to seek consideration of the bills under suspension of the rules.

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    All Members are given leave to insert remarks on the measures into the record, should they choose to do so. Accordingly, without objection, the Chairman is authorized to seek consideration of the following bills under suspension of the rules and the amendments to which measures, which the Members have before them, shall be deemed adopted: H.R. 2017, Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2005; H. Con Res. 168, Condemning the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for the abductions and continued captivity of citizens of the Republic of Korea and Japan as acts of terrorism and gross violations of human rights, as amended; H. Con. Res. 175, whereas during Black History Month, it is important we not forget that African-Americans are not the only survivors of the transatlantic slave trade; H. Con. Res. 191, Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the war in the Pacific and honoring veterans of both the Pacific and the Atlantic theaters of the Second World War, as amended; H. Res. 328, Recognizing the 25th anniversary of the workers' strikes in Poland in 1980 that led to the establishment of the Solidarity Trade Union, as amended; H. Res. 333, Supporting the goals and ideals of a National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection for Darfur, Sudan; and H. Res. 343, Commending the State of Kuwait for granting women certain important political rights.

    [The bills referred to follow:]

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    Chairman HYDE. If there is no further discussion, the Committee stands adjourned.

    [Whereupon, at 11:05 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

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