SPEAKERS       CONTENTS       INSERTS    

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2004
THE AMERICAN SCHOOLS ABROAD SUPPORT ACT; REAUTHORIZING THE TROPICAL FOREST CONSERVATION ACT OF 1998; THE VIET NAM HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2003; AMENDING THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE ACT OF 2003; AND VARIOUS RESOLUTIONS AND CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H.R. 4303, H.R. 4654, H.R. 1587, H.R. 4660, H. Res. 615,

H. Res. 617, H. Res. 652, H. Res. 667, H. Con. Res. 462,

H. Con. Res. 304, H. Con. Res. 319, H. Con. Res. 363,
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H. Con. Res. 436, H. Con. Res. 415, H. Con. Res. 418,

H. Con. Res. 422 and S. 2264

JUNE 24, 2004

Serial No. 108–116

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
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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
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
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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
JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania
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
LIBERTY DUNN, Staff Associate

C O N T E N T S

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MARKUP OF

    H.R. 4303, To authorize the Secretary of State to make grants to American-sponsored schools in Arab and other predominantly Muslim countries to provide full or partial merit-based scholarships for children from lower- and middle-income families of such countries to attend such schools, and for other purposes
Amendment to H.R. 4303 offered by the Honorable Howard L. Berman, a Representative in Congress from the State of California

    H.R. 4654, To reauthorize the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998 through fiscal year 2007, and for other purposes

    H.R. 1587, To promote freedom and democracy in Viet Nam
Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1587 offered by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey and Vice Chairman, Committee on International Relations: Prepared statement

    H.R. 4660, To amend the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to extend the authority to provide assistance to countries seeking to become eligible countries for purposes of that Act

    H. Res. 615, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in support of full membership of Israel in the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) at the United Nations
Amendment to H. Res. 615 offered by the Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida
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H. Res. 615 as amended by the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia

    H. Res. 617, Expressing support for the accession of Israel to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
H. Res. 617 as amended by the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia

    H. Res. 652, Urging the Government of the Republic of Belarus to ensure a democratic, transparent, and fair election process for its parliamentary elections in the fall of 2004

    H. Res. 667, Expressing support for freedom in Hong Kong

    H. Con. Res. 462, Reaffirming unwavering commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act, and for other purposes

    H. Con. Res. 304, Expressing the sense of Congress regarding oppression by the Government of the People's Republic of China of Falun Gong in the United States and in China

    H. Con. Res. 319, Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continuing repression of the religious freedom and human rights of the Iranian Baháí community by the Government of Iran

Amendment to H. Con. Res. 319 offered by the Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
H. Con. Res. 319 as amended by the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia
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    H. Con. Res. 363, Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continuing gross violations of human rights and civil liberties of the Syrian people by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic

H. Con. Res. 363 as amended by the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia

    H. Con. Res. 436, Celebrating 10 years of majority rule in the Republic of South Africa and recognizing the momentous social and economic achievements of South Africa since the institution of democracy in that country
Amendment to H. Con. Res. 436 offered by the Honorable Donald Payne, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey

    H. Con. Res. 415, Urging the Government of Ukraine to ensure a democratic, transparent, and fair election process for the presidential election on October 31, 2004

    H. Con. Res. 418, Recognizing the importance in history of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan

    H. Con. Res. 422, Concerning the importance of the distribution of food in schools to hungry or malnourished children around the world

    S. 2264, To require a report on the conflict in Uganda, and for other purposes

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APPENDIX

    The Honorable Tom Lantos, a Representative in Congress from the State of California: Prepared statement on H.R. 4660

THE AMERICAN SCHOOLS ABROAD SUPPORT ACT; REAUTHORIZING THE TROPICAL FOREST CONSERVATION ACT OF 1998; THE VIET NAM HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2003; AMENDING THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE ACT OF 2003; AND VARIOUS RESOLUTIONS AND CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS

THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2004

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

    The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:58 a.m. in Room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry J. Hyde presiding.

    Chairman HYDE. The Committee will come to order. Due to the extensive bipartisan and noncontroversial nature of the items for consideration on today's agenda, it is my intention to expedite their consideration by dealing with them through two en bloc, unanimous consent requests.

    First, I will ask unanimous consent to order two bills ordered reported favorably to the House with any amendments which the Members have before them deemed adopted.
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    Second, I will, by unanimous consent, ask the Committee to authorize me to seek consideration of the rest of the bills on the agenda in the House under suspension of the rules with any amendments which the Members have before them deemed adopted. All Members will be permitted to insert statements into the record on any of the bills or resolutions considered today.

    Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee order favorably reported the following bills: H.R. 4303, The American Schools Abroad Support Act, as amended, and H.R. 4654, To reauthorize the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998 through Fiscal Year 2007. Is there any discussion?

    [H.R. 4303, amendment to H.R. 4303 and H.R. 4654 follow:]

      
      
  
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    Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman.

    Chairman HYDE. Mr. Lantos.

    Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend you and the staff on both the Republican and Democratic side for working out this very complex set of bills. We have no objection on our side.

    Chairman HYDE. Thank you. Without objection, it is so ordered, and I ask unanimous consent that the Chairman be authorized to seek consideration of the rest of the bills and resolutions on the Committee agenda under suspension of the rules and the amendments which the Members have before them be deemed adopted. Is there any further discussion? Mr. Rohrabacher.

    [The bills, resolutions, and amendments referred to, follow:]

      
      
  
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    Mr. ROHRABACHER. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Chairman, the government of Ethiopia is refusing to return confiscated property of a constituent of mine, the Brahami family, and OPEC has terminated any new funding for projects in Ethiopia until justice is done to these U.S. citizens.

    At a hearing before this Committee, Paul Applegarth, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Account, indicated that following OPEC's lead, the Millennium Challenge Account will refrain from offering support to Ethiopia until the confiscated property of the Brahami family has been dealt with fairly.

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    This vote comes before us today with this testimony on the record and before us, and with that, I withdraw my reservations.

    Chairman HYDE. Are there any other reservations?

    [No response.]

    Chairman HYDE. If not, without objection it is so ordered and the staff is directed to make technical and conforming changes. I thank the Members for their cooperation. We will now adjourn the shortest meeting of the year. The Committee stands adjourned.

    [Whereupon, at 11:01 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

A P P E N D I X

Material Submitted for the Hearing Record

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE TOM LANTOS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

H.R. 4660

    Mr. Chairman, half of the world's population still ekes out a living on less than $2 per day. What this means is that approximately 3 billion men, women, and children—or a population which is 11 times the size of our nation—awake each morning to little or no food, dirty water, inadequate shelter, and a lack of rudimentary health care.
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    Alleviating this crushing poverty, particularly among women and girls, around the globe is our moral imperative. Our compassion as an American people and our position as the world's sole remaining superpower demand it.

    More than an appeal to our generosity, reducing poverty around the world is in our national interest. Persistent poverty not only gnaws at the bodies of men and women, making them vulnerable to global infectious diseases, like HIV/AIDS, the accompanying despair of stifling poverty also chews at their souls, making them vulnerable to ideologies of hate and destruction.

    Mr. Chairman, this Committee, under your steady leadership, has created and improved numerous foreign assistance programs to mitigate the effects of global poverty on those who suffer in it and provide them with the tools for advancement. The Millennium Challenge Account is but one example.

    For the MCA to be successful and for it to maintain solid Congressional support, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the primary implementing agency of the program, must undertake serious efforts to expand the number of countries that will benefit from the Millennium initiative. The lucky 16 countries that are currently eligible to receive MCA assistance represent only about 3 percent of the world's poor.

    One way to expand the number of poor countries that can receive MCA funds is through a program for ''Threshold'' countries that just missed clearing the eligibility bar. Unfortunately, the Threshold Program is only authorized through this fiscal year.
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    My bill, H.R.———, helps ensure that the MCA continues to be available to as many poor people as possible by reauthorizing the Threshold Program for as long as the MCA operates.

    Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for your co-sponsorship of my bill and your willingness to expedite its consideration by this Committee and the full House.

    Mr. Chairman, in order for the MCA to achieve its stated goal of reducing poverty, the CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation must focus his attention and that of his staff on more than just stimulating economic growth in eligible countries—a seemingly emergent trend that, if true, disturbs me deeply.

    Our experience in this country has made painfully clear that trickle-down economics tend to push the working poor further into misery rather than provide them with better economic opportunities. Exporting this failed domestic policy through the MCA to countries with yawning chasms between rich and poor and with financial markets more like flea markets than Wall Street would be a catastrophe. I suspect that such an approach may also result in a potential windfall for the pockets of some officials in these countries as well as the coffers of privileged multinational corporations.

    While economic growth is necessary to reducing poverty, it alone is not enough.

    Real poverty reduction, particularly in developing countries, requires substantial investments in education, health, and other sectors which directly contribute to building the human capacity of countries. Real poverty reduction requires policies that close the gap between the rich elite and the poor majority by providing equal access to assets such as land. And real poverty reduction requires that special attention be paid to poor farmers, other agricultural workers, and women, who bear a disproportionate burden under poverty.
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    Mr. Chairman, Congress granted the Executive Branch unprecedented flexibility in how the MCA funds were to be expended because the Executive Branch promised us that it would increase the effectiveness with which it would be able to achieve the goals of the Millennium program. Poverty reduction is one of the primary goals of the MCA. Yet, early signs indicate that the Administration may be squandering its opportunity to meet this goal and thus eroding bi-partisan Congressional support for the program. I hope that this is not the case.

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.