SPEAKERS CONTENTS INSERTS
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23–692PDF
2006
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES SHOULD ACTIVELY SUPPORT THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL AND SOCIAL FORCES IN THE REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA TOWARD AN IMMEDIATE AND FULL RESTORATION OF FUNCTIONING DEMOCRACY IN THAT COUNTRY
MARKUP
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
H. Con. Res. 252
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SEPTEMBER 28, 2005
Serial No. 109–123
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
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
RON PAUL, Texas
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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
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
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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
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman
RON PAUL, Texas
JERRY WELLER, Illinois, Vice Chairman
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
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CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
CONNIE MACK, Florida
MICHAEL McCAUL, Texas
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
GRACE NAPOLITANO, California
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
BARBARA LEE, California
MARK WALKER, Subcommittee Staff Director
JESSICA LEWIS, Democratic Professional Staff Member
DAN S. GETZ, Professional Staff Member
BRIAN WANKO, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S
MARKUP OF
H. Con. Res. 252, Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of the United States should actively support the aspirations of the democratic political and social forces in the Republic of Nicaragua toward an immediate and full restoration of functioning democracy in that country
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EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES SHOULD ACTIVELY SUPPORT THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL AND SOCIAL FORCES IN THE REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA TOWARD AN IMMEDIATE AND FULL RESTORATION OF FUNCTIONING DEMOCRACY IN THAT COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2005
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere,
Committee on International Relations,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:05 p.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Dan Burton (Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. BURTON. Pursuant to notice, I call up the resolution, H. Res. 252, and ask unanimous consent that it be reported favorably to the Full Committee.
[The resolution referred to follows:]
[Note: Image(s) not available in this format. See PDF version of this file.]
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object.
Mr. BURTON. The gentleman will state his reservation.
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Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Chairman, I do not intend to actually object at the end of the day, and I will support the Chair in this regard, and only because of the nature of the importance of the timeliness of this issue am I supportive of waiving the regular order, but I do think there are moments in which regular orders need to be waived, and this is one of them. And so on my reservation, I would just like to say a few words about the resolution.
It is a timely piece of legislation, one that I certainly support the Chairman on in bringing this forward. It seems to me that we have to reaffirm and support our efforts at democracy in Nicaragua and condemn factors within Nicaragua that are actively working to dismantle that democracy. President Enrique Bolaños was democratically elected by a landslide over Sandinista leader and former President Daniel Ortega. When he decided to take a stand against corruption and prosecute former President Arnoldo Alemán for embezzling $100 million in public fines, a crime for which Mr. Alemán has been convicted and sentenced and continues to be held under house arrest, he lost support of Alemán's Liberal Party.
In 2004, Alemán supporters within the Liberal Party revived a pact in the late 1990s with the Sandinistas, the purpose of which is to secure Alemán's release from prison and to destabilize and undermine the Government of Bolaños.
Unfortunately, the situation continues to deteriorate. The National Assembly, filled with Alemán's supporters and Sandinistas, have already tried to strip Bolaños' powers and reassign them to the legislature, a move that was declared unconstitutional by the Central American Court of Justice, and the National Assembly alleges that Bolaños committed election fraud and is trying to strip both him and his officials of their immunity.
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As OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said last week when the National Assembly stripped the interior minister and the deputy minister of agriculture and forestry of their immunity from prosecution, he said:
''This decision acts against the possibility of resolving the current crisis and prolongs a situation of uncertainty that is increasingly causing harm to Nicaraguan society and to its democratic consolidation. Clearly, these actions are only meant to destabilize democracy in Nicaragua and place the well-being of an entire nation in jeopardy.''
So I am in complete agreement with the Chairman that there is an urgent need to condemn the actions of Alemán-Ortega and their supporters. We must also be conscious of the impact an unstable political system can have on Nicaragua, exacerbating problems in a country where three-quarters of the population live on less than $2.00 a day, unemployment and underemployment are close to 50 percent, and income inequality is high. A failed democracy will not only hurt Nicaraguans, but it will also be detrimental to the stability and security of the entire region.
So it is in our own interest and our national security interest to support a strong and vigorous democracy in Nicaragua. To do this, we need to support free and fair elections in Nicaragua, and that is exactly what your bill does, Mr. Chairman, by providing support for NGOs to assist in and monitor the 2006 elections. We have to carefully evaluate what is going on in Nicaragua. To do that, we must be sure that we do not sit idly by and watch one of the region's democraticall-elected leaders fail without taking action.
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Finally, I also want to say that it is a serious test for the OAS. In May, President Bolaños voluntarily invoked the Inter-American Democratic Charter and asked the OAS to intervene in Nicaragua's democratic crisis. In June, the OAS General Assembly passed a declaration of support for Nicaragua. Secretary General Insulza led a high-level delegation to the country in an attempt to open a broad dialogue to resolve the crisis, and just last week, the secretary general announced that the OAS will be sending another mission to Nicaragua to help mediate the crisis.
While I am relieved that Mr. Ortega has currently stopped pushing his supporters in the legislature to impeach Bolaños, it is still disturbing that Dante Caputo of the OAS envoy has so far been unable to restart the talks that fell apart in April. It is obvious that this dialogue still has a long way to go.
A democratic charter was created to protect against unconstitutional removal from power, and this may become an instance where such action is needed. I urge the OAS to provide robust support for the Inter-American Democratic Charter and apply its principles to the situation in Nicaragua.
Mr. Chairman, we spent decades singing the praises of democracy to our neighbors. Now we must be willing to speak out against its attackers and against those who would tear it from the foundations for its personal gain and power, and with that, I urge my colleagues to support the resolution and withdraw my reservation.
Mr. DELAHUNT. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Chairman.
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Mr. BURTON. The gentleman will state his reservation.
Mr. DELAHUNT. I intend again to withdraw the right to object, and I am going to support this for many of the reasons that were articulated by the Ranking Member, but also because of your efforts and passionate interest in this particular issue. But I do so with one caveat. There is, in the final resolve clause, number E, language to the effect that USAID should provide assistance to nongovernmental organizations in support of President Bolaños' call for the international community to assist and monitor the 2006 election process in order to ensure the integrity of the process.
I support that, obviously, but I want to be very clear. I do hope that impartiality and neutrality will be the position of this Government and that we do not have a tilt toward any particular candidate or any particular party. That is my caveat. That is my concern. You and I have discussed this, and I withdraw my reservation.
Mr. BURTON. Thank you, Mr. Delahunt.
Mr. MEEKS. Reserving the right to object.
Mr. BURTON. Mr. Meeks?
Mr. MEEKS. And I will remove my objection also. I just want to join in with Mr. Delahunt. I think that we need to be able to bring the sides together to urge them to negotiate the conversation between the two and not take sides, but I do think—and I applaud you for what you have done and the attention you have paid to this matter—I think it is important that we make sure that we keep democracy, and I just thank you, Mr. Chairman, for bringing this to our attention, and I withdraw my——
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Mr. BURTON. Well, thank you very much. Let me just comment briefly. I will not read my statement because I think Mr. Menendez and my colleagues on the Democrat side of the aisle have stated the case rather well. But I was just in Managua last Monday, and when I left, I was under the impression that things were heading in the right direction, and the day after I left, the Alemán-Ortega Pact moved to take away immunity from three of the cabinet officers of Mr. Bolaños, and as a result, that indicated the next step might very well be to try to kick Mr. Bolaños out of office and circumvent the democratic process.
I think, as my colleagues have stated, it is extremely important that all of the governments of the region, including the members of the OAS, do everything in our power collectively to make sure that we do not see a removal of democratic institutions and the rule of law in Nicaragua. It is extremely important.
I was there during the early eighties when the Contras and Sandinistas were at war with one another. I saw the bloodshed. I saw the people who were homeless, who were driven into the streets, and it was just a terrible thing. We, likewise, saw the same thing right next door in El Salvador. The democratic institutions that have been created over the past two decades have been created in large part through bloody battles and hard-fought negotiations, and we do not want to see a reversal of that.
Obviously, as my colleagues have said, one of the leading reasons why we see the kind of support for changes, radical changes, in government is the poverty that has taken place in many of these countries. It is very important, as my colleagues have said, that we pay attention to this problem and try to do everything we can, with our fellow and sister countries, to help eliminate that problem of poverty. Once poverty is eliminated or on the road to elimination, then I think people will realize that democracy is the only vehicle that will really, in a long-term way, work. Right now, a guy who needs food for his family, who does not have any food on his plate, is prone to listen to anybody and listen to all kinds of reasons for changes in government.
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So as my colleagues feel and I feel very, very strongly, it is important that we pay attention to the economic problems of Central and South America while at the same time trying our best to preserve democracy.
With that, unless any of my colleagues have some more comments—I have my staff here to tell me what to read to make sure we follow the procedures. Without objection, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be reported favorably to the Full Committee, and if there is no objection, so ordered, and members may have 5 legislative days to insert any remarks on the resolution into the record. We will try to talk to the Full Committee and bring this up next week. With that, thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 2:19 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]