Markup: Providing for the Establishment of a Commission in the House of Representatives to Assist Parliaments in Emerging Democracies; The 25th Anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

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PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMISSION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO ASSIST PARLIAMENTS IN EMERGING DEMOCRACIES; THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON
H. Res. 642 and H. Con. Res. 410

JUNE 17, 2004

Serial No. 108–159

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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
DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey,
Vice Chairman
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
AMO HOUGHTON, New York
JOHN M. McHUGH, New York
ROY BLUNT, Missouri
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
RON PAUL, Texas

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NICK SMITH, Michigan
JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
JERRY WELLER, Illinois
MIKE PENCE, Indiana
THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida

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
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
JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania

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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

THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel
ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director
DANIEL FREEMAN, Counsel/Parliamentarian
MARILYN C. OWEN, Senior Staff Associate

C O N T E N T S

MARKUP OF

H. Res. 642, Providing for the establishment of a commission in the House of Representatives to assist parliaments in emerging democracies

Amendment to H. Res. 642 offered by the Honorable Doug Bereuter, a Representative in Congress from the State of Nebraska

H. Con. Res. 410, Recognizing the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and recognizing the Marshall Islands as a staunch ally of the United States, committed to principles of democracy and freedom for the Pacific region and throughout the world

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LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

    The Honorable James A. Leach, a Representative in Congress from the State of Iowa: Prepared statement on H. Con. Res. 410

PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMISSION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO ASSIST PARLIAMENTS IN EMERGING DEMOCRACIES; THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS

THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2004

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

    The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:33 a.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry J. Hyde [Chairman of the Committee] presiding.

    Chairman HYDE. The business meeting of the Committee will come to order, and without objection, the Chairman is authorized to seek consideration of House Resolution 642, Providing for the establishment of a commission in the House of Representatives to assist parliaments in emerging democracies.

    Under suspension of the rules and the Bereuter amendment to that resolution, which all the Members have before them, shall be deemed as adopted.

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    [H. Res. 642 and the amendment referred to follow:]




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    Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the right to object.

    Chairman HYDE. The gentleman is recognized.

    Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I preserve the right to object and ultimately will not object and withdraw. I want to make a few remarks about the legislation and the amendment that I am offering.

    As one of the three primary original co-sponsors, and the sponsors now include not only Mr. Price of North Carolina, but Mr. Lantos, Mr. Frost, and Mr. Mark Udall, I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for agreeing to hold this markup in such a timely fashion, and to accommodate the schedule of the Members. I also want to thank my friend, the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Price, for working with me in introducing this new resolution to establish the House Commission For Assisting Democratic Parliaments.

    Having been involved in the Frost-Solomon task force, which undertook a similar effort a decade ago, I am enthused to offer this new initiative. Mr. Frost joins us as an original co-sponsor of this resolution, and Mr. Dreier was an original co-sponsor of an earlier version of the legislation that was introduced on February 26th of this year.

    The distinguished Ranking Democratic Member of the Committee, the gentleman from California, Mr. Lantos, has also signed on as a co-sponsor, and I thank him for his support.

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    The Frost-Solomon task force, later known as the Solomon-Frost task force, allowed the House of Representatives to help develop needed research and infrastructure capabilities in the parliaments of the newly emerging democracies of Central and Eastern Europe.

    That effort drew on the expertise of Members and staff, especially from the Congressional Research Service. The task force provided modest donations of information-related and technology-related office equipment and reference material for parliamentary libraries, thereby facilitating the establishment of independent research services.

    The task force also helped those parliaments develop parliamentary procedures and legislation information systems to inform Members and the general public about parliamentary activities in a timely and open fashion.

    At a modest cost, we were able to help those parliaments become effective legislatures and play their crucial part in a democratic system. And by the way, the funds for that came from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

    Largely because of its success, the Frost-Solomon task force was terminated in 1996, however, while most of those countries that received aid have indeed become full-fledged democracies. Now many of these countries are involved in the European Union and in NATO. Others still need a helping hand, and this resolution aims to provide that assistance.

    The commission itself will come into being immediately upon adoption of this resolution by the full House. However, given the current budget environment, we recognize that it would be difficult to fund its activities in the upcoming fiscal year.

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    Therefore, this resolution authorized the appropriations to fund the commission's activities beginning in fiscal year 2006. The amendment that I am offering would have this Committee, the International Relations Committee, conduct a preliminary study prior to the commencement of the commission's funding and activities.

    The study would examine the feasibility of assistance programs to the parliaments of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro, and Ukraine. The parliaments of Afghanistan and Iraq might also be included in that study.

    This Committee will report the findings of its study and recommend one or more of those countries to be selected to receive assistance once the commission begins its activity in fiscal year 2006.

    That report would also include a request for funding for commission activities. In conducting these assessments, the Committee should draw on the expertise of congressional support agencies like the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress, House Information Resources, and the Chief Administrative Officer of the House.

    I expect that this task will require visits to the countries involved by staff of the Committee, and of the support agencies, and certainly, ultimately, of Members of this Committee.

    I was pleased to play a part in that Frost-Solomon task force in the 1990s by participating in our trips to Albania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the Czech Republic, that reviewed the results of the assistance provided, and I think it was a remarkable success that this House had at that time.

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    Today we have the opportunity to further assist in the emergence of democratic parliaments by enabling the House to share its expertise and to work with USAID to provide the necessary assistance.

    So this morning I urge my colleagues to vote to send House Resolution 642, the Price-Bereuter-Frost-Lantos resolution to create the House Commission For Assisting Democratic Parliaments, to the Floor.

    And with that explanation, Mr. Chairman, of course I would be happy to answer any questions, but I do withdraw my objection.

    Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentleman. If there are no questions or amendments, it is so ordered. Without objection, the Chairman is authorized to seek consideration of H. Con. Res. 410, Recognizing the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, under suspension of the rules.

    [H. Con. Res. 410 follows:]




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    Mr. FLAKE. Reserving the right to object.

    Chairman HYDE. The gentleman reserves the right to object.

    Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for bringing this resolution forward. It recognizes the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

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    I have had the wonderful opportunity to travel twice now to the Marshall Islands, and to meet with President Note, their President who happens to be in Washington this week, and I think it is fitting and proper that we do this at this time.

    The RMI has been a stable democracy in the Pacific region for 25 years now, and this is due in large part to the fact that the United States, during the U.N. trusteeship period, fulfilled its commitment to bring democratic self-government and self-determination for the Marshall Islands.

    This led to the establishment of self-government. It culminated in a constitutional convention, in which a Constitution was put together in 1979. They have a bill of rights guaranteeing democracy and freedom of unlimited government for all the Marshallese people. And since then the Republic of the Marshall Islands has been the staunchest ally of the United States. They have supported us in the Cold War and now in the war on terrorism.

    They vote with us more frequently than any other country in the world at the United Nations. Over 99 percent of the time, the Marshall Islands are with us at the U.N., and that cannot be said of any other ally that we have, or any other country, and I think it speaks well for them, and well for our relationship.

    We operate now under what is called the Compact of Free Association with the Marshallese, and under that, several Marshallese citizens actually served with our armed forces in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and I think they need to be recognized for that.

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    So I commend the Chairman for bringing this forward, and let us recognize this historic 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Marshall Islands Constitution. So, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I withdraw my right to objection.

    Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentleman, and the Chair recognizes the gentlemen from American Samoa, Mr. Faleomavaega.

    Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object, I really want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to provide some commentary to our colleagues on the Committee, and especially to express my appreciation to the gentleman from Arizona for his initiative in introducing his resolution.

    In terms of our relationship with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, not only is this proposed resolution most appropriate, but it certainly was our privilege over the years to meet with the Marshallese leaders. I think more than anything that I would like to bring to the attention of my colleagues on the Committee the fact that the Marshall Islands and its people played one of the most critical roles in our efforts in winning the Cold War.

    And I say this to the extent that if our colleagues are not aware, this is where we conducted our nuclear testing program. And I might say also, Mr. Chairman, that these people made tremendous sacrifices in terms of what we did to them. According to some of the documents that were recently declassified, we detonated 57 nuclear devices in these islands in the Pacific. Whereby we exploded the first nuclear and the first hydrogen bomb in the history of mankind, and one, particularly, that I want to share with my colleagues was the one that was exploded in 1954, which was known as the Bravo Shot.

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    This was a hydrogen bomb that was exploded, and it was one thousand times more powerful than the two atom bombs that were dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. I don't know if it would be the lack of information or sensitivity on the part of the officials of our Government, given the fact that several hundred Marshallese were subjected directly to nuclear radiation when we conducted these nuclear tests among these people.

    It is most unfortunate, Mr. Chairman, but that is another issue that I want to pursue later on with our colleagues.

    But I would say that this resolution not only gives recognition, but some sense of appreciation on the part of our Government, not only to the people, but to the Government of the Marshall Islands. And to commend not only the leaders, but the people of the Marshall Islands for their efforts in establishing this Constitution.

    It was my privilege recently to travel with the gentleman from Arizona and several of our other colleagues to visit the Marshall Islands, and I sincerely hope that in the future that other Members of the Committee might also have that same opportunity.

    The unfortunate thing, Mr. Chairman, is that every time Members visit the Islands, the media does not play a very good—I will just call it as junkets, and a bunch of Members going out on junketing in these places.

    But in fact some of these very historical things that have happened and have occurred are for the benefit of our Government and our people here. And this is one classic example where the people of the Marshall Islands, I think, made a tremendous contribution in our efforts in winning the Cold War.

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    And the fact that our nuclear testing program took place there, and the fact that the reason that we stopped was that we found Strontium 90 in milk products in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and we had seen nuclear clouds around all over the world.

    So these things are not very positive, but to the extent that we made this experiment, and the sacrifices that these good people have offered to do for the benefit of our Government and our people, I would think that the gentleman's proposed resolution is most appropriate.

    And I sincerely hope that my colleagues will support the resolution, and with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield my reservation. But again I want to commend the gentleman from Arizona for his proposal, and I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

    Chairman HYDE. Thank you for your contribution. The gentleman from Iowa, Mr. Leach.

    Mr. LEACH. I thank the gentleman. I don't want to prolong this. I would simply ask for unanimous consent to place a statement in the record and to clearly thank the gentleman from Arizona for a very thoughtful resolution, and to totally identify with the comments of Mr. Faleomavaega. I yield back the balance of my time.

    Chairman HYDE. Well, without objection, Members may insert their remarks into the record on these two resolutions.

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    [The prepared statement of Mr. Leach follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JAMES A. LEACH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IOWA

    I support H.Con.Res. 410, recognizing the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) for introducing it. It is particularly fitting that we are considering the resolution this week, during the visit of President Note to Washington.

    The United States and the Marshall Islands share deep bonds of history and friendship, and have enjoyed a uniquely close alliance for the past half century. That alliance was reconfirmed and extended earlier this Congress, when we considered and passed amendments to the Compact of Free Association between the U.S. and the RMI.

    When the Marshall Islands adopted its constitution in 1979, it was a victory for both our peoples. The Republic of the Marshall Islands emerged as a democratic republic, committed to the rule of law and individual liberty—an important step in its transition from UN trusteeship to full independence. The people of the United States saw our shared ideals take root among our Pacific Island friends and—when full sovereignty followed in 1986—we gained a stalwart ally in the community of nations.

    I commend this effort to commemorate that event and our continuing alliance with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, which deserves our unanimous support.

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    Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman.

    Chairman HYDE. Mr. Rohrabacher.

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. Reserving the right to an objection, I would be very brief. Let me just associate myself with the gentleman from Arizona, and also the remarks of Mr. Faleomavaega from American Samoa.

    The people of the Marshall Islands have been incredible friends of the United States, and I think that it behooves us to do things such as we are in this resolution of recognizing their great friendship and the relationship that we have.

    Their relationship to us has made America a safer place, and let me note that the people of the Marshall Islands are wonderful people. I have visited them, and I have several friends who come from the Marshall Islands. And they are happy to be friends of the United States, even though at times America has not done right by them, as just outlined by our friend from American Samoa. I think that we need to make sure that we reach out to them, and again this resolution does that.

    And I would commend our friend from Arizona for this, and let me just say to the people of the Marshall Islands, thank you for being friends with the United States, and thank you for making our country safer, and we look forward to many years of friendship and good relations with the Marshall Islands.

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    Mr. BEREUTER. Would the gentleman yield under his reservation?

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. I would certainly.

    Mr. BEREUTER. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and the major contributions that they have made in the past have been mentioned, and I certainly associate myself with all of the remarks made by colleagues.

    But beyond all of that, of course, we shouldn't forget the fact that they were on the receiving end of the Vandenberg test flights. The Kwajalein Atoll, of course, is a crucial element for us today in our anti-missile test program.

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. So they still continue to make their contribution.

    Mr. BEREUTER. They do, indeed, and I yield back.

    Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you, and I will yield back as well.

    Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady from California, Ambassador Watson.

    Ms. WATSON. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Give me a second to get settled here. All right. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object, I want to commend Mr. Flake for his resolution recognizing the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and recognizing the Marshall Islands as a staunch ally of the United States. The Republic of the Marshall Islands, as the resolution notes, is a model for transition of a formerly non-self-governing territory ravished by military occupation and war, to a sovereign political status as a stable democracy.

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    The United States has shared a special relationship with the people of the Marshall Islands under the Compact of Free Association. It is therefore most fitting to recognize the importance of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

    I commend the Republic of the Marshall Islands for its commitment to self-governance, self-determination and democratic principles, and for its continued support of the United States during the Cold War and the current war on terrorism. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I withdraw my objection.

    Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentlelady. If there is any further—oh, Mr. Houghton of New York.

    Mr. HOUGHTON. Mr. Chairman, I just would like to ask a question of Mr. Flake, or Mr.Faleomavaega, or whoever. And this is a fine statement, and it is something that we ought to do obviously with great friendship, but is this going to have any traction out there?

    I mean, will it get publicized? Will people understand how we really feel, because that is the important thing there.

    Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Will the gentleman yield?

    Mr. HOUGHTON. Yes.

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    Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I thank my good friend, the gentleman from New York, for raising that very interesting question. In fact, Mr. Chairman, it was my privilege, just yesterday, to meet with the President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, President Note, and they shared with me several documents that were just declassified from the Department of Energy, as well as the Department of Defense. And one of these documents that was brought to my attention, Mr. Chairman, was that over the years the Islands or Atolls of Rongelap and Enewetak were primarily the only ones that have been specifically cited as where the greatest damage or harm was done by radioactive contamination of the Marshallese people.

    Well, this document that I saw, Mr. Chairman, where the Department of Energy says that 50 rems is considered safe in terms of whatever radiation or exposure that a human being goes through. Mr. Chairman, I submit to the Committee, this document that I want to be made part of the record, every one of these Atolls or Islands, where some 400 or 500 Marshallese lived when we conducted these nuclear tests, there were over 22,000 rems.

    [The document referred to was not submitted prior to printing.]

    Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Some of these Marshallese people were subjected to 3 or 4 serious operations from iodine, and what you call ''radioactive exposure'' that they had been subjected to. And I want to say to the gentleman from New York, I sincerely hope that this message goes out.

    We have not done enough as a government to properly compensate the loss of property, and the tremendous harm that was done to the safety and the health of these people.

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    And I sincerely hope, as my good friend from New York has raised, that this issue is put out more publicly, and not just the Members of Congress get their attention on this very serious issue that was just raised in the declassification of this documentation.

    We were not good stewards I would submit, Mr. Chairman, when we conducted these tests, and that hundreds of Marshallese people were severely exposed to nuclear radiation without our assistance.

    To this day we still have not given proper assistance for medical treatment, or even giving these people the proper compensation for the loss of their health, and everything that you can associate with our nuclear testing program that took place in the 1950s.

    So with that, Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for raising the issue. And I sincerely hope that the major newspapers will put the word out that we need to do a better job right now in dealing with the good people of the Marshall Islands. And I thank the gentleman for yielding.

    Chairman HYDE. Does Mr. Houghton yield to Ms. Watson?

    Mr. HOUGHTON. Yes.

    Ms. WATSON. Thank you so much, Congressman Houghton, and thank you so much Mr. Chairman.

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    I want to dovetail right into the remarks that Mr. Faleomavaega just made. We traveled together back down to the Marshall Islands, as well as Micronesia, where I was stationed as an Ambassador. And we had the privilege of sitting in on one of the hearings that takes place periodically, and where the people within the island community of the Marshalls can come in and respond to the government's opportunity to be heard on the problems that they are still continuing to face.

    I would like to make, really, three strong points. Number one, the Marshall Islands have had a challenge over the years with self-governance. They have finally elected a group of leaders that are adhering to democratic principles, and I commend them for that.

    The second thing that I want to say is that we, as an overseeing authority under a Compact of Free Association, have really let the people down in many ways.

    The third point that I want to stress is that they were ravished in that community when we tested our atomic bomb, and we flew over in a small plane, and we were able to see islands that were completely blown off the map. We were able to walk on land that is still hot.

    Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady's time has expired.

    Ms. WATSON. I am so sorry. If I could just close out my statement. It will take me a half-a-second.

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    Chairman HYDE. Without object the gentlelady is given a whole full second.

    Ms. WATSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for indulging me. But I just want to bring some reality to this hearing, and that is that we owe these people who were moved off their land, and now they are back on their land, particularly in Rongelap.

    And there really are no jobs there. Young girls are pregnant as early as 18, and the educational system has really failed them. The health care system is trying to build up.

    So they are doing, with our help, the best that they can, and I commend all of us for continuing to support the Compact, and I very happily will do whatever I can to see that this Compact is affirmed and that the people are offered a future. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.

    Chairman HYDE. Thank you, Ms. Watson. If there is no further discussion, it is so ordered, and the business meeting of the Committee is adjourned.

    [Whereupon, at 10:51 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]