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92–187PDF 2004

THE MICROENTERPRISE RESULTS AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

OF 2004; REQUESTING DOCUMENTS IN THE POSSESSION OF

THE PRESIDENT AND OFFICIALS RELATING TO THE DISCLOSURE OF THE IDENTITY AND EMPLOYMENT OF MS. VALERIE

PLAME; AMENDING THE STATE DEPARTMENT BASIC AUTHORITIES ACT OF 1956 TO EXPAND THE REWARDS PROGRAM; THE BELARUS DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2003; URGING

PASSAGE OF A RESOLUTION ADDRESSING HUMAN RIGHTS

ABUSES IN PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA; COMMENDING

INDIA ON ITS CELEBRATION OF REPUBLIC DAY; EXPRESSING

SYMPATHY FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE DEC. 26, 2003 EARTHQUAKE IN BAM, IRAN; AND RECOGNIZING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE U.S. AND THE PEOPLE OF THE

MARSHALL ISLANDS IN THE PURSUIT OF INTERNATIONAL

PEACE AND SECURITY, ETC.

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON 

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H.R. 3818, H. Res. 499, H.R. 3782, H.R. 854, H. Res. 530,

H. Con. Res. 15, H. Res. 526 and H. Con. Res. 364

FEBRUARY 25, 2004

Serial No. 108–100

Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations

(

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

(II)

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 

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 

EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon 

SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada 

GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California 

ADAM B. SCHIFF, California 

DIANE E. WATSON, California 

ADAM SMITH, Washington 

BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota 

CHRIS BELL, Texas 

THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel 

ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director 

JOCK SCHARFEN, Chief Counsel 

LIBERTY DUNN, Staff Associate 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP OF 

H.R. 3818, To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to improve the 

results and accountability of microenterprise development assistance programs, and for other purposes ............................................................................ 2

En Bloc Amendments to H.R. 3818 offered by the Honorable Gregory W. 

Meeks, a Representative in Congress from the State of New York ............. 26

H. Res. 499, Requesting the President and directing the Secretary of State, 

the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General to transmit to the 

House of Representatives not later than 14 days after the date of the 

adoption of this resolution documents in the possession of the President 

and those officials relating to the disclosure of the identity and employment 

of Ms. Valerie Plame ............................................................................................ 29

H.R. 3782, To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 

to increase the maximum amount of an award available under the Department of State rewards program, to expand the eligibility criteria to receive 

an award, to authorize nonmonetary awards, to publicize the existence 

of the rewards program, and for other purposes ............................................... 51

H.R. 854, To provide for the promotion of democracy, human rights, and 

rule of law in the Republic of Belarus and for the consolidation and 

strengthening of Belarus sovereignty and independence ................................. 56

Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 854 offered by the 

Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from 

the State of New Jersey, and Vice Chairman, Committee on International 

Relations ............................................................................................................ 72

H. Res. 530, Urging the appropriate representative of the United States 

to the 60th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights 

to introduce a resolution calling upon the Government of the People’s 

Republic of China to end its human rights violations in China, and for 

other purposes ...................................................................................................... 85

H. Con. Res. 15, Commending India on its celebration of Republic Day ............ 96

H. Res. 526, Expressing the sympathy of the House of Representatives for 

the victims of the devastating earthquake that occurred on December 26, 

2003, in Bam, Iran ............................................................................................... 99

H. Con. Res. 364, To recognize more than 5 decades of strategic partnership 

between the United States and the people of the Marshall Islands in 

the pursuit of international peace and security, and for other purposes ........ 102

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

The Honorable Henry J. Hyde, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Illinois, and Chairman, Committee on International Relations: Prepared 

statement on H. Res. 499 .................................................................................... 32

APPENDIX 

The Honorable Henry J. Hyde: Prepared statement on H. Res. 3782 ................ 111

The Honorable Doug Bereuter, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Nebraska: Prepared statement on H.R. 854 .................................................. 111

The Honorable Edward R. Royce, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of California: Prepared statement on H. Con. Res. 15 ............................ 112

The Honorable Ron Paul, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

Texas: Prepared statements on H. Res. 499 and H. Res. 854 .......................... 113

Page

IV

The Honorable Nick Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Michigan: Prepared statement on H. Res. 499 .............................................. 114

The Honorable Barbara Lee, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of California: Prepared statement on H. Res. 499 ............................................. 114

(1)

THE MICROENTERPRISE RESULTS AND ACCOUNTABILITY 

ACT OF 2004; REQUESTING DOCUMENTS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE PRESIDENT AND OFFICIALS RELATING TO 

THE DISCLOSURE OF THE IDENTITY AND EMPLOYMENT 

OF MS. VALERIE PLAME; AMENDING THE STATE DEPARTMENT BASIC AUTHORITIES ACT OF 1956 TO EXPAND THE 

REWARDS PROGRAM; THE BELARUS DEMOCRACY ACT OF 

2003; URGING PASSAGE OF A RESOLUTION ADDRESSING 

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 

CHINA; COMMENDING INDIA ON ITS CELEBRATION OF REPUBLIC DAY; EXPRESSING SYMPATHY FOR THE VICTIMS 

OF THE DEC. 26, 2003 EARTHQUAKE IN BAM, IRAN; AND 

RECOGNIZING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE 

U.S. AND THE PEOPLE OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS IN 

THE PURSUIT OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY, 

ETC. 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2004

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:50 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. Pursuant to 

notice, I now call up H.R. 3818, ‘‘The Microenterprise Results and 

Accountability Act of 2004,’’ for purposes of markup and move its 

favorable recommendation to the House. Without objection, the bill 

will be considered as read and open for amendment at any point. 

The Chair recognizes Mr. Smith for purposes of a statement. 

[H.R. 3818 follows:]

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H.L.C.

.....................................................................

(Original Signature of Member)

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. ll To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to improve the results and

accountability of microenterprise development assistance programs, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. HYDE, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. BELL, and Mr. GREEN of Texas) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on

lllllllllllllll

A BILL

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to improve

the results and accountability of microenterprise development assistance programs, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Microenterprise Re5 sults and Accountability Act of 2004’’.


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

2 Congress finds and declares the following:

3 (1) Congress has demonstrated its support for

4 microenterprise development assistance programs

5 through the enactment of two comprehensive micro6 enterprise laws:

7 (A) The Microenterprise for Self-Reliance

8 Act of 2000 (title I of Public Law 106–309;

9 114 Stat. 1082).

10 (B) Public Law 108–31 (an Act entitled

11 ‘‘An Act to amend the Microenterprise for Self12 Reliance Act of 2000 and the Foreign Assist13 ance Act of 1961 to increase assistance for the

14 poorest people in developing countries under

15 microenterprise assistance program under those

16 Acts, and for other purposes’’, approved June

17 17, 2003).

18 (2) The United States Agency for International

19 Development, the agency responsible for imple20 menting microenterprise development assistance pro21 grams authorized under sections 108 and 131 of the

22 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151f

23 and 2152a), is not presently organized to adequately

24 coordinate, implement, and monitor such programs,

25 as evidenced by the late submission by the Agency


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1 of the report required by section 108 of the Micro2 enterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000.

3 (3) The Comptroller General, in a report dated

4 November 2003, found that the United States Agen5 cy for International Development has met some, but

6 not all, of the key objectives of such microenterprise

7 development assistance programs.

8 (4) The Comptroller General’s report found,

9 among other things, the following:

10 (A) Microenterprise development assistance

11 generally can help alleviate some impacts of

12 poverty, improve income levels and quality of

13 life for borrowers and provide poor individuals,

14 workers, and their families with an important

15 coping mechanism.

16 (B) Although studies and academic anal17 yses funded by the United States Agency for

18 International Development have found that

19 microenterprise activities generally serve the

20 poor clustered around the poverty line, few

21 loans appear to be reaching the very poor.

22 (C) Microenterprise development assistance

23 programs of the United States Agency for

24 International Development have encouraged

25 women’s participation in microfinance projects


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1 and, according to data of the Agency, women

2 have comprised two-thirds or more of the micro3 loan clients in Agency-funded microenterprise

4 projects since 1997.

5 (5)(A) The Comptroller General’s report rec6 ommends that the Administrator of the United

7 States Agency for International Development review

8 the Agency’s ‘‘microenterprise results reporting’’

9 system with the goal of ensuring that its annual re10 porting is complete and accurate.

11 (B) Specifically, the Administrator should re12 view and reconsider the methodologies used for the

13 collection, analysis, and reporting of data on annual

14 spending targets, outreach to the very poor, sustain15 ability of microfinance institutions, and the contribu16 tion of Agency’s funding to the institutions it sup17 ports.

18 SEC. 3. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE.

19 Chapter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

20 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2166 et seq.) is amended by inserting

21 after title V the following new title:

22 ‘‘TITLE VI—MICROENTERPRISE

23 DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

24 ‘‘SEC. 251. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

25 ‘‘Congress finds and declares the following:


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1 ‘‘(1) Access to financial services and the devel2 opment of microenterprise are vital factors in the

3 stable growth of developing countries and in the de4 velopment of free, open, and equitable international

5 economic systems.

6 ‘‘(2) It is therefore in the best interest of the

7 United States to facilitate access to financial serv8 ices and assist the development of microenterprise in

9 developing countries.

10 ‘‘(3) Access to financial services and the devel11 opment of microenterprises can be supported by pro12 grams providing credit, savings, training, technical

13 assistance, business development services, and other

14 financial services.

15 ‘‘(4) Given the relatively high percentage of

16 populations living in rural areas of developing coun17 tries, and the combined high incidence of poverty in

18 rural areas and growing income inequality between

19 rural and urban markets, microenterprise programs

20 should target both rural and urban poor.

21 ‘‘(5) Microenteprise programs have been suc22 cessful and should continue to empower vulnerable

23 women in the developing world. Such programs

24 should take into account the risks faced by women

25 who are potential victims of severe forms of trafVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 ficking and the need for assistance for women who

2 become victims of severe forms of trafficking, as pro3 vided for in section 106(a)(1) of the Trafficking Vic4 tims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104(a)(1);

5 Public Law 106–386).

6 ‘‘SEC. 252. AUTHORIZATION; IMPLEMENTATION; TARGETED

7 ASSISTANCE.

8 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The President is authorized

9 to provide assistance on a grant basis for programs in de10 veloping countries to increase the availability of credit,

11 savings, and other services to microenterprises lacking full

12 access to capital, training, technical assistance, and busi13 ness development services, through—

14 ‘‘(1) grants to microfinance institutions for the

15 purpose of expanding the availability of credit, sav16 ings, and other financial services to microentreprise

17 clients;

18 ‘‘(2) grants to microenterprise institutions for

19 the purpose of training, technical assistance, and

20 business development services for microenterprises to

21 enable them to make better use of credit, to better

22 manage their enterprises, and to increase their in23 come and build their assets;

24 ‘‘(3) capacity-building for microenterprise insti25 tutions in order to enable them to better meet the


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1 credit, savings, and training needs of

2 microentreprise clients; and

3 ‘‘(4) policy and regulatory programs at the

4 country level that improve the environment for

5 microentreprise clients and microenterprise institu6 tions that serve the poor and very poor.

7 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—

8 ‘‘(1) OFFICE OF MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOP9 MENT.—

10 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab11 lished within the Agency an Office of Micro12 enterprise Development, which shall be headed

13 by a Director who shall be appointed by the Ad14 ministrator and who should possess technical

15 expertise and ability to offer leadership in the

16 field of microenterprise development.

17 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The Office shall coordinate

18 and be responsible for the provision of assist19 ance under this title.

20 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE THROUGH GRANTS TO ELIGI21 BLE ORGANIZATIONS.—Assistance under subsection

22 (a) shall be provided through grants executed, ap23 proved, or reviewed by the Office to eligible imple24 menting partner organizations that have a capacity

25 to develop and implement microenterprise programs.


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1 ‘‘(3) REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—With respect to

2 assistance under subsection (a) that is furnished

3 through field missions of the Agency, the Office

4 shall be responsible for—

5 ‘‘(A) reviewing or approving each grant

6 agreement prior to obligation of funds under

7 the agreement in order to ensure that activities

8 to be carried out using such funds are effica9 cious, technically sound, and suitable for the

10 economic and security climate of the country or

11 region where the activities will be conducted;

12 and

13 ‘‘(B) approving microenterprise develop14 ment components of strategic plans of missions,

15 bureaus, and offices of the Agency.

16 ‘‘(c) TARGETED ASSISTANCE.—In carrying out sus17 tainable poverty-focused programs under subsection (a),

18 50 percent of all microenterprise resources shall be tar19 geted to very poor clients, defined as those individuals liv20 ing in the bottom 50 percent below the poverty line as

21 established by the national government of the country.

22 Specifically, such resources shall be used for—

23 ‘‘(1) support of programs under this section

24 through practitioner institutions that—


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1 ‘‘(A) provide credit and other financial

2 services to clients who are very poor, with loans

3 in 1995 United States dollars of—

4 ‘‘(i) $1,000 or less in the Europe and

5 Eurasia region;

6 ‘‘(ii) $400 or less in the Latin Amer7 ica region; and

8 ‘‘(iii) $300 or less in the rest of the

9 world; and

10 ‘‘(B) can cover their costs in a reasonable

11 time period; or

12 ‘‘(2) demand-driven business development pro13 grams that achieve reasonable cost recovery that are

14 provided to clients holding poverty loans (as defined

15 by the regional poverty loan limitations in paragraph

16 (1)(A)), whether they are provided by microfinance

17 institutions or by specialized business development

18 services providers.

19 ‘‘(d) SUPPORT FOR CENTRAL MECHANISMS.—The

20 Administrator should increase the use of central mecha21 nisms through microenterprise, microfinance, and practi22 tioner institutions in the implementation of this title.

23 ‘‘SEC. 253. MONITORING SYSTEM.

24 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to maximize the

25 sustainable development impact of assistance authorized


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1 under section 252(a), the Administrator of the Agency,

2 acting through the Director of the Office, shall establish

3 a monitoring system that meets the requirements of sub4 section (b).

5 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements referred to

6 in subsection (a) are the following:

7 ‘‘(1) The monitoring system establishes per8 formance goals for the assistance and expresses such

9 goals in an objective and quantifiable form, to the

10 extent feasible.

11 ‘‘(2) The monitoring system establishes per12 formance indicators to be used in measuring or as13 sessing the achievement of the performance goals de14 scribed in paragraph (1) and the objectives of the

15 assistance authorized under section 252.

16 ‘‘(3) The monitoring system provides a basis for

17 recommendations for adjustments to the assistance

18 to enhance the sustainability and the impact of the

19 assistance, particularly the impact of such assistance

20 on the very poor, particularly poor women.

21 ‘‘(4) The monitoring system adopts the wide22 spread use of proven and effective poverty assess23 ment tools to successfully identify the very poor and

24 ensure that they receive adequate access to micro25 enterprise loans, savings, and assistance.


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1 ‘‘SEC. 254. DEVELOPMENT AND CERTIFICATION OF POV2 ERTY MEASUREMENT METHODS; APPLICA3 TION OF METHODS.

4 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT AND CERTIFICATION.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the

6 Agency, in consultation with microenterprise institu7 tions and other appropriate organizations, shall de8 velop no fewer than two low-cost methods for eligible

9 implementing partner organizations to use to assess

10 the poverty levels of their current or prospective cli11 ents. The Administrator shall develop poverty indica12 tors that correlate with the circumstances of the

13 very poor.

14 ‘‘(2) FIELD TESTING.—The Administrator shall

15 field-test the methods developed under paragraph

16 (1). As part of the testing, institutions and pro17 grams may use the methods on a voluntary basis to

18 demonstrate their ability to reach the very poor.

19 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than October

20 1, 2004, the Administrator shall, from among the

21 low-cost poverty measurement methods developed

22 under paragraph (1), certify no fewer than two such

23 methods as approved methods for measuring the

24 poverty levels of current or prospective clients of

25 microenterprise institutions for purposes of assist26 ance under section 252.


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1 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—The Administrator shall require

2 that, with reasonable exceptions, all eligible implementing

3 partner organizations applying for microenterprise assist4 ance under this title use one of the certified methods, be5 ginning not later than October 1, 2005, to determine and

6 report the poverty levels of current or prospective clients.

7 ‘‘SEC. 255. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; ADDI8 TIONAL AUTHORITIES.

9 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

10 are authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry

11 out this subtitle $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 and

12 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006.

13 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—(1) Amounts ap14 propriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations

15 under subsection (a)—

16 ‘‘(A) may be referred to as the ‘Microenterprise

17 Development Assistance Account’;

18 ‘‘(B) shall be allocated to the Office, and upon

19 approval by the Director of the Office, may be re20 allocated to field missions of the Agency in further21 ance of the purposes of this title;

22 ‘‘(C) are authorized to remain available until

23 expended; and

24 ‘‘(D) are in addition to amounts otherwise

25 available for such purposes.


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1 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,

2 amounts made available for assistance for microenterprise

3 development assistance under any provision of law other

4 than this title may be provided to further the purposes

5 of this title. To the extent assistance described in the pre6 ceding sentence is provided in accordance with such sen7 tence, the Administrator of the Agency shall include, as

8 part of the report required under section 258, a detailed

9 description of such assistance and, to the extent applica10 ble, the information required by paragraphs (1) through

11 (9) of subsection (b) of such section with respect to such

12 assistance.’’.

13 SEC. 4. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CREDITS.

14 (a) TRANSFER.—Section 108 of the Foreign Assist15 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151f) is hereby—

16 (1) transferred from chapter 1 of part I of the

17 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to title VI of chap18 ter 2 of part I of such Act (as added by section 3

19 of this Act); and

20 (2) inserted after section 255 of the Foreign

21 Assistance Act of 1961.

22 (b) REDESIGNATION.—Title VI of chapter 2 of part

23 I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended by

24 redesignating section 108 (as added by subsection (a)) as

25 section 256.


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title VI of chap2 ter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is

3 amended—

4 (1) by inserting after the title heading the fol5 lowing:

6 ‘‘Subtitle A—Grant Assistance’’;

7 (2) by inserting after section 255 the following:

8 ‘‘Subtitle B—Credit Assistance’’; and

9 (3) in section 256 (as redesignated by sub10 section (b))—

11 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)

12 of subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Administrator of

13 the agency primarily responsible for admin14 istering this part’’ and inserting ‘‘Administrator

15 of the Agency’’; and

16 (B) in subsection (f)(1)—

17 (i) by striking ‘‘section 131’’ and in18 serting ‘‘this part’’; and

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘2001 through 2004’’

20 and inserting ‘‘2005 and 2006’’.

21 SEC. 5. UNITED STATES MICROFINANCE LOAN FACILITY.

22 (a) TRANSFER.—Section 132 of the Foreign Assist23 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152b) is hereby—

24 (1) transferred from chapter 1 of part I of the

25 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to title VI of chapVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 ter 2 of part I of such Act (as added by section 3

2 of this Act); and

3 (2) inserted after section 256 of the Foreign

4 Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 4 of

5 this Act).

6 (b) REDESIGNATION.—Title VI of chapter 2 of part

7 I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended by

8 redesignating section 132 (as added by subsection (a)) as

9 section 257.

10 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title VI of chap11 ter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is

12 amended—

13 (1) by inserting after section 256 the following:

14 ‘‘Subtitle C—United States

15 Microfinance Loan Facility’’; and

16 (2) in section 257 (as redesignated by sub17 section (b))—

18 (A) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘2001

19 and 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2005 and 2006’’;

20 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph

21 (A) of subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘the fiscal

22 year 2001’’ and inserting ‘‘each of the fiscal

23 years 2005 and 2006’’; and

24 (C) by striking subsection (e).


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1 SEC. 6. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

2 Title VI of chapter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assist3 ance Act of 1961 (as added by section 3 of this Act and

4 amended by sections 4 and 5 of this Act) is further

5 amended by adding at the end the following new subtitle:

6 ‘‘Subtitle D—Miscellaneous

7 Provisions

8 ‘‘SEC. 258. REPORT.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31,

10 2005, and each December 31 thereafter, the Adminis11 trator of the Agency shall submit to the appropriate con12 gressional committees a report that contains a detailed de13 scription of the implementation of this title for the pre14 vious fiscal year.

15 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The report shall contain the fol16 lowing:

17 ‘‘(1) The number of grants provided under sec18 tion 252, with a listing of—

19 ‘‘(A) the amount of each grant;

20 ‘‘(B) the name of each implementing part21 ner organization; and

22 ‘‘(C) a listing of the number of countries

23 receiving assistance authorized by sections 252.

24 ‘‘(2) The results of the monitoring system re25 quired under section 253.


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1 ‘‘(3) The process of developing and applying

2 poverty assessment procedures required under sec3 tion 254.

4 ‘‘(4) The percentage of assistance furnished

5 under section 252 that was allocated to the very

6 poor based on the data collected using the certified

7 methods required by section 254.

8 ‘‘(5) The absolute number of the very poor

9 reached with assistance furnished under section 252.

10 ‘‘(6) The amount of assistance provided under

11 section 252 through central mechanisms.

12 ‘‘(7) The name of each country that receives as13 sistance under section 256 and the amount of such

14 assistance.

15 ‘‘(8) An estimate of the percentage of bene16 ficiaries of assistance under this title who are

17 women, including, to the extent practicable, the per18 centage of these women who have been victims of sex

19 trafficking, as well as information on efforts to pro20 vide assistance under this title to women who have

21 been victims of severe forms of trafficking or who

22 were previously involved in prostitution.

23 ‘‘(9) Any additional information relating to the

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H.L.C.

1 quired by section 254, or additional information on

2 assistance provided by the United States to support

3 microenterprise development under this title or any

4 other provision of law.

5 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—The content of the report re6 quired by this section shall be produced by the Office es7 tablished under section 252(b)(1), and shall be made

8 available for free electronic distribution through such Of9 fice.

10 ‘‘SEC. 259. DEFINITIONS.

11 ‘‘ In this title:

12 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis13 trator’ means the Administrator of the Agency.

14 ‘‘(2) AGENCY.—The term ‘Agency’ means the

15 United States Agency for International Develop16 ment.

17 ‘‘(3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT18 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com19 mittees’ means the Committee on International Re20 lations of the House of Representatives and the

21 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

22 ‘‘(4) BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES.—The

23 term ‘business development services’ means support

24 for the growth of microenterprises through training,


92187a.AAS
20

19

H.L.C.

1 technical assistance, marketing assistance, improved

2 production technologies, and other related services.

3 ‘‘(5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means

4 the Director of the Office.

5 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE IMPLEMENTING PARTNER ORGA6 NIZATION.—The term ‘‘eligible implementing partner

7 organization’’ means an entity eligible to receive as8 sistance under this title which is—

9 ‘‘(A) a United States or an indigenous pri10 vate voluntary organization;

11 ‘‘(B) a United States or an indigenous

12 credit union;

13 ‘‘(C) a United States or an indigenous co14 operative organization;

15 ‘‘(D) an indigenous governmental or non16 governmental organization;

17 ‘‘(E) a microenterprise institution;

18 ‘‘(F) a microfinance institution; or

19 ‘‘(G) a practitioner institution.

20 ‘‘(7) MICROENTERPRISE INSTITUTION.—The

21 term ‘microenterprise institution’ means a not-for22 profit entity that provides services, including micro23 finance, training, or business development services,

24 for microentreprise clients in foreign countries.


92187a.AAT
21

20

H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(8) MICROFINANCE INSTITUTION.—The term

2 ‘microfinance institution’ means a not-for-profit enti3 ty or a regulated financial intermediary that directly

4 provides, or works to expand, the availability of

5 credit, savings, and other financial services to

6 microentreprise clients in foreign countries.

7 ‘‘(9) MICROFINANCE NETWORK.—The term

8 ‘microfinance network’ means an affiliated group of

9 practitioner institutions that provides services to its

10 members, including financing, technical assistance,

11 and accreditation, for the purpose of promoting the

12 financial sustainability and societal impact of micro13 enterprise assistance.

14 ‘‘(10) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the

15 Office of Microenterprise Development established

16 under section 252(b)(1).

17 ‘‘(11) PRACTITIONER INSTITUTION.—The term

18 ‘practitioner institution’ means a not-for-profit enti19 ty or a regulated financial intermediary, including a

20 microfinance network, that provides services, includ21 ing microfinance, training, or business development

22 services, for microentreprise clients, or provides as23 sistance to microenterprise institutions in foreign

24 countries.


92187a.AAU
22

21

H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(12) PRIVATE VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATION.—

2 The term ‘‘private voluntary organization’’ means a

3 not-for-profit entity that—

4 ‘‘(A) engages in and supports activities of

5 an economic or social development or humani6 tarian nature for citizens in foreign countries;

7 and

8 ‘‘(B) is incorporated as such under the

9 laws of the United States, including any of its

10 states, territories or the District of Columbia,

11 or of a foreign country.

12 ‘‘(13) UNITED STATES-SUPPORTED MICRO13 FINANCE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘United States14 supported microfinance institution’ means a finan15 cial intermediary that has received funds made avail16 able under this part for fiscal year 1980 or any sub17 sequent fiscal year.

18 ‘‘(14) VERY POOR.—The term ‘very poor’

19 means those individuals—

20 ‘‘(A) living in the bottom 50 percent below

21 the poverty line established by the national gov22 ernment of the country in which those individ23 uals live; or

24 ‘‘(B) living on less than the equivalent of

25 $1 per day.’’.


92187a.AAV
23

22

H.L.C.

1 SEC. 7. REPEALS.

2 (a) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961.—Section

3 131 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.

4 2152a) is hereby repealed.

5 (b) PUBLIC LAW 108–31.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of Public Law

7 108–31 (22 U.S.C. 2151f note) is amended by strik8 ing subsection (b).

9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 4 of

10 Public Law 108–31 is amended by striking ‘‘(a)’’

11 and all that follows through ‘‘Not later’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘Not later’’.

13 SEC. 8. REFERENCES.

14 Any reference in a law, regulation, agreement, or

15 other document of the United States to section 108, 131,

16 or 132 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 shall be

17 deemed to be a reference to subtitle B of title VI of chap18 ter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961,

19 subtitle A of title VI of chapter 2 of part I of such Act,

20 or subtitle C of title VI of chapter 2 of part I of such

21 Act, respectively.


92187a.AAW
24

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as you know, in recent years congressional 

and non-government support for microenterprise programs had 

grown tremendously. Two bills authorizing funding for microenterprise programs have passed Congress and been signed into law 

since the year 2000. The most recent bill became law in 2003 and 

authorized microenterprise programs for fiscal year 2004. 

Briefly, as my colleagues know, microenterprise programs are 

popular because they provide loans to poor entrepreneurs in the developing world to help them start up and expand their own small 

businesses and to build existing financial institutions. Microenterprise has been an effective means of empowering the poor and expanding their economic earnings potential. It is based on the hands 

up rather than hand out philosophy. 

Despite the program’s successes, however, a recent GAO report 

requested by you, Chairman Hyde, highlighted problems with the 

implementation of existing programs. The GAO found that these 

programs are indeed helping poor people expand their businesses, 

but found that a lack of coordination in reporting in USAID is 

hampering results. 

Currently there is no official account, amazingly, for microenterprise within the Agency for International Development, no centralized accountability for microenterprise funds, and private sector 

consultants are contracted out to distribute an inappropriately 

large portion of the program. 

In fact, USAID’s own recent assessment showed that of $110 million given directly to microenterprise organizations, nearly $18 million went to consultants. With numerous worthwhile established 

organizations who have the capacity, capability and expertise to deliver services directly to poor clients, this clearly is not the most 

effective use of funds. 

This legislation, Mr. Chairman, H.R. 3818, which you and Mr. 

Lantos have both co-sponsored, will make a significant difference 

in trying to improve an already fine enterprise. It increases the Administration’s oversight of and responsibility for dispensing a 

microenterprise fund, increases better accountability through the 

establishment of an official program director and a microenterprise 

account. 

It ensures that more money goes directly to impoverished clients 

instead of extensive consultants and emphasizes the importance of 

microenterprise by establishing a separate title called the ‘‘Microenterprise Development Assistance in the Foreign Assistance Act,’’ 

and it reauthorizes the funding for microenterprise programs for 

2005 and 2006. 

Mr. Chairman, I do want to thank all the Members and not only 

the co-sponsors, you and Mr. Lantos, but I also want to thank your 

staff. I want to especially thank Peter Smith for his hard and diligent work on this, George Phillips, who has also worked very hard, 

David Abramowitz again for his input and help in drafting and 

working out all the details. Without that crucial staff support, this 

bill would not be before us today, and I do want to thank them sincerely. 

I yield back the balance of my time. 

25

Chairman HYDE. Thank you. The gentleman from California, Mr. 

Berman? 

Mr. BERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and you and Mr. Smith 

for working with the Democratic side on a bill that truly does improve upon U.S. microenterprise assistance programs. 

I will not take the Committee’s time to dwell on the horrible 

problems with the world’s three billion poor people who cannot find 

work, but essentially microenterprise has become the way in which 

these people create their own jobs by starting small businesses. 

Microenterprise assistance provides micro loans to these people, 

sometimes as small as $100, as well as business training which 

helps stimulate productivity, enables the microenterprise client to 

build assets, purchase inventory at the best prices, and by investing and repaying the loan and increasing his or her business as a 

result the borrower reaps not only an increase in income, but also 

increased self-esteem through self-help 

I do not know about the rest of you, but people I know who have 

looked at and worked with these programs think they are the most 

remarkable thing that we do in all the foreign assistance sphere. 

Mr. Smith has talked about what this legislation does, and I do 

want to mention that recent GAO reports have pointed out some 

weaknesses in the current microenterprise programs, and this legislation creates greater oversight by obtaining more detailed information regarding the implementation of those programs. 

I am also pleased to see this legislation seeks to increase the support for the microenterprise institutions, working tireless to help 

those living in poverty get much needed financial tools and resources. 

I would like to reiterate our support for USAID and groups such 

as Results, Axion, Opportunity National and countless others that 

are working in poor communities around the world to help the very 

poorest families get the financial tools they need to support and 

provide for their families. 

I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I believe the 

gentleman from New York has a few amendments to this legislation. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. 

Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentleman, and the Chair recognizes Mr. Meeks. 

Mr. MEEKS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, I would like to 

thank my colleagues and Mr. Smith and Mr. Berman and yourself 

for creating a well-designed bill that will help move impoverished 

communities toward stability. I would like to offer my three 

amendments en block. 

Chairman HYDE. Without objection. So ordered. The clerk will report the en block amendment. 

Ms. RUSH. Amendment offered by Mr. Meeks. Page 6, after Line 

5 insert the following:

‘‘Given that microenterprise programs have been successful in 

empowering . . .’’——

Chairman HYDE. Without objection, further reading for the en 

block amendments is dispensed with. 

[The en bloc amendments of Mr. Meeks follow:]

26

Chairman HYDE. The gentleman from New York is recognized for 

5 minutes in support of his amendments. 


92187a.eps 92187b.eps 92187c.eps
27

Mr. MEEKS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The first amendment would help to target microenterprise programs to racial and ethnic groups in countries in which a strong 

relationship between race and ethnicity or poverty exists, such as 

in many Latin American countries where indigent persons and persons of African descent make up the bulk of the poor. 

Because microenterprise programs have been successful empowering disenfranchised groups such as women, it seems that these 

programs could have a similar impact in communities where persons have been disenfranchised due to their race or ethnic ancestry. This inclusion to the bill would only help to further target impoverished communities. 

The second amendment would provide grants to microenterprise 

institutions for training, technical assistance and business development services in the areas of market analysis and product development. Market analysis and product development are integral for 

any business to be effective and competitive, especially if merchandise from the business is to be sold in the United States market. 

This change would be especially instrumental for programs in Africa that help hand craft goods coming to the United States market. This is a small change to the bill that can have a large—a 

huge—impact on helping microenterprises increase their revenue 

and build their assets, and I believe we all support that goal. 

Finally, similar to the first amendment, the third would focus on 

microenterprise programs in countries in which a strong relationship between race and ethnicity or poverty exists. However, this 

amendment requests report language on the percentage of beneficiaries of assistance in these countries. 

This will allow us to continue to monitor so that we know how 

successful our current programs are and in fact empower these 

groups that have been disenfranchised based upon their ancestry, 

and it could also help determine in the future the extent to which 

these programs could be targeted to groups and other groups in the 

future. 

Mr. Chairman, I strongly would urge my colleagues to support 

these amendments for our bill. They only would enhance the bill 

and make sure that we can begin to eradicate some problems that 

have been long-existing just simply based upon some ancestry 

throughout whether it is Africa, Latin America or other parts of the 

world. 

I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Chairman? 

Chairman HYDE. Who is seeking recognition? 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Chris Smith. 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. Houghton? 

Mr. HOUGHTON. I do not know that I am next, Mr. Chairman. I 

would like to ask Mr. Meeks a question. 

In terms of training, if you are interested in starting your own 

business, need the funds, do you first have the training or start the 

business and then have it parallel to your business experience? 

Mr. MEEKS. Well, I think it is basically parallel because what 

happens is first with a lot of these places you have to introduce 

them to the opportunity of having a business there and that they 

have a desire. If they have a desire and they are training with the 

28

idea we are able to include more people and have a greater likelihood of success. 

Some individuals who want to get in business now, they just do 

not have the wherewithal, and we want to encourage them to continue to get involved with a business. 

Chairman HYDE. Is there any further discussion? 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Chairman? Very briefly on your 

right. 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. Smith of New Jersey. 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think 

the amendments offered by Mr. Meeks do strengthen the language 

in the bill. As we have found or as GAO has found, I should say, 

micro finance, for example, generally has served the poor clustered 

around the poverty line, but not the very poor. 

It would be interesting to know, and I think in the interest of 

accountability and reaching the poorest of the poor, which, as GAO 

indicates, are not being reached, there may be a link here, and I 

think his amendment only strengthens the bill. 

Chairman HYDE. Is there any further discussion? 

[No response.] 

Chairman HYDE. If not, the question occurs on the amendment 

en block. All in favor say aye. 

[Chorus of ayes.] 

Chairman HYDE. Opposed, nay. 

[No response.] 

Chairman HYDE. The ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to. 

Are there any further amendments? 

[No response.] 

Chairman HYDE. If not, the question occurs on the motion to report the bill, H.R. 3818, favorably as amended. All in favor say aye. 

[Chorus of ayes.] 

Chairman HYDE. Without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to report the bill. Further proceedings on this 

motion will be postponed until the Chair notes the presence of a 

reporting quorum. 

Pursuant to notice, I now call up H. Res. 499, ‘‘Requesting the 

President and directing the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General to transmit to the House of Representatives not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption 

of this resolution documents in the possession of the President and 

those officials relating to the disclosure of the identity and employment of Ms. Valerie Plame,’’ for purposes of markup and move its 

adverse recommendation to the House.

29

1

IV

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 499

Requesting the President and directing the Secretary of State, the Secretary

of Defense, and the Attorney General to transmit to the House of

Representatives not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption

of this resolution documents in the possession of the President and

those officials relating to the disclosure of the identity and employment

of Ms. Valerie Plame.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 21, 2004

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. REYES, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr.

LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. CONYERS, Mr.

SPRATT, Mr. TURNER of Texas, and Mr. MORAN of Virginia) submitted

the following resolution; which was referred to the Select Committee on

Intelligence (Permanent Select), and in addition to the Committees on

Armed Services, International Relations, and the Judiciary, for a period

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee

concerned

RESOLUTION

Requesting the President and directing the Secretary of

State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General to transmit to the House of Representatives not

later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of

this resolution documents in the possession of the President and those officials relating to the disclosure of

the identity and employment of Ms. Valerie Plame.

1 Resolved, That—


92187c.AAB
30

2

•HRES 499 IH

1 (1) the President is requested to transmit to

2 the House of Representatives not later than the date

3 that is 14 days after the date of the adoption of this

4 resolution, all documents, including telephone and

5 electronic mail records, logs and calendars, personnel

6 records, and records of internal discussions in the

7 possession of the President relating to the disclosure

8 of the identity of Ms. Valerie Plame as an employee

9 of the Central Intelligence Agency during the period

10 beginning on May 6, 2003, and ending on July 31,

11 2003; and

12 (2) the Secretary of State, the Secretary of De13 fense, and the Attorney General are each directed to

14 transmit to the House of Representatives not later

15 than such date, all documents, including telephone

16 and electronic mail records, logs and calendars, and

17 records of internal discussions in the possession of

18 the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense,

19 and the Attorney General, respectively, relating to

20 such disclosure during such period.

Æ


92187c.AAC
31

Chairman HYDE. Without objection, the resolution will be considered as read and open for amendment at any point. The Chair 

yields himself 5 minutes for the purpose of a statement. 

On January 21, 2004, Representative Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, introduced H. Res. 499, a resolution of inquiry, ‘‘Requesting 

the President and directing the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General to transmit to the House of Representatives not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption 

of this resolution documents in the possession of the President and 

those officials relating to the disclosure of the identity and employment of Ms. Valerie Plame.’’

The resolution of inquiry, which is the fourth such resolution 

concerning Iraq in one way or another that this Committee has 

considered during the past year, has been referred to three other 

House Committees, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on 

Armed Services. 

H. Res. 499 would direct the Executive Branch officials to transmit to the House documents that are the subject of an ongoing 

grand jury investigation by the Department of Justice. In light of 

this, the resolution of inquiry should be reported adversely on the 

grounds that a competing criminal investigation is ongoing. 

The Department of Justice opened the criminal investigation in 

September 2003 into whether the government officials who allegedly identified Valerie Plame to the press violated Federal law that 

prohibits identifying covert agents. 

On October 3, 2003, the White House Counsel sent a memorandum to all White House employees to turn in copies of documents for the ongoing probe into who leaked the name of a CIA operative. The press reported that the investigation soon included the 

State and Defense Departments, as well as the White House and 

the CIA. 

Press reports indicate that the FBI has interviewed more than 

three dozen Bush Administration officials, including political advisor Carl Rove and Press Secretary Scott McClellan. Reportedly, box 

loads of documents have been forwarded to the FBI investigation 

team, including White House phone logs and e-mails. 

The Attorney General recused himself from the case in December 

2003. Deputy Attorney General James Comey then appointed 

United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to lead the investigation. 

Mr. Fitzgerald is a veteran prosecutor with experience in national 

security matters and by all accounts enjoys a stellar reputation. 

According to press reports, Mr. Fitzgerald has more independence than required under Department of Justice Regulations. For 

instance, he, unlike other U.S. Attorneys, does not have to seek approval from Justice officials before issuing subpoenas or granting 

immunity. 

Just last month, the press reported that a grand jury convened 

in Washington to hear testimony on this matter. As we all know, 

grand juries have sweeping authority that allows investigators to 

subpoena witnesses and documents, including the same documents 

requested in House Res. 499. 

By all reports, Mr. Fitzgerald is pursuing the investigation into 

the Valerie Plame matter aggressively and responsibly. It would be 

32

irresponsible for this Committee to allow H. Res. 499 to jeopardize 

an ongoing criminal investigation by the Department of Justice. 

Under the circumstances, this is a matter that is best left to the 

grand jury. 

Of equal importance to deliberations of this Committee is the action taken by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee of primary jurisdiction over the subject 

matter of H. Res. 499. The Intelligence Committee, in a bipartisan 

vote that saw only three of the five Democrats present vote in favor 

of the resolution, reported unfavorably without amendment on the 

resolution. 

As a former Member of the Intelligence Committee, I am confident that the Committee remains committed to the enforcement 

of the laws and regulations that exist to protect the nation’s classified intelligence information, including the enforcement of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982. 

I have no reason to doubt the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee when he publicly commits his Committee to continue to 

monitor and conduct oversight of this matter. Protecting the identities of our intelligence agents, after all, is best left to the Intelligence Committee. Consequently, it is my intention to have H. Res. 

499 reported adversely. 

I would like to mention parenthetically that Mr. Fitzgerald, the 

special prosecutor named by the Attorney General, is the U.S. Attorney for the Chicago region and has just recently indicted several 

Republicans, including the last Governor of the State of Illinois, on 

22 counts. I think it is safe to say he is not in the least bit moved 

by political consideration. 

I now turn to my esteemed colleague, Mr. Berman, for any remarks he may wish to make. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Hyde follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE HENRY J. HYDE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, AND CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INTER- NATIONAL RELATIONS

H. RES. 499

On January 21, 2004, Rep. Holt (D–NJ) introduced H. Res. 499, a resolution of 

inquiry requesting the President and directing the Secretary of State, the Secretary 

of Defense, and the Attorney General to transmit to the House of Representatives 

not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution documents 

in the possession of the President and those officials relating to the disclosure of 

the identity and employment of Ms. Valerie Plame. 

This resolution of inquiry—the fourth such resolution concerning Iraq, in one way 

or another, that this Committee has considered during the past year—has been referred to three other House Committees: the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI); the Committee on the Judiciary; and the Committee on Armed 

Services. 

H. Res. 499 would direct the Executive Branch officials to transmit to the House 

of Representatives documents that are the subject of an ongoing grand jury investigation by the Department of Justice. In light of this, the resolution of inquiry 

should be reported adversely on the grounds that a competing criminal investigation 

is ongoing. 

The Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation in September 2003 

into whether government officials who allegedly identified Valerie Plame to the 

press violated Federal law that prohibits identifying covert agents. On October 3, 

2003, the White House Counsel sent a memorandum to all White House employees 

to turn in copies of documents for the ongoing probe into who leaked the name of 

a CIA operative. The press reported that the investigation soon included the State 

and Defense Departments, as well as the White House and CIA. 

33

Press reports indicate that the FBI has interviewed more than three dozen Bush 

Administration officials, including political adviser Karl Rove and press secretary 

Scott McClellan. Reportedly, ‘‘boxloads’’ of documents have been forwarded to the 

FBI investigation team, including White House phone logs and e-mails. 

The Attorney General recused himself from the case in December 2003. Deputy 

Attorney General James Comey then appointed United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to lead the investigation. Mr. Fitzgerald is a veteran prosecutor with experience in national security matters and by all accounts enjoys a stellar reputation. 

According to press reports, Mr. Fitzgerald has more independence than required 

under Department of Justice Regulations. For instance, Mr. Fitzgerald, unlike other 

U.S. attorneys, does not have to seek approval from Justice officials in Washington 

before issuing subpoenas or granting immunity. 

Just last month, the press reported that a grand jury convened in Washington, 

D.C., to hear testimony on this matter. As we all know, a grand jury has sweeping 

authority that allows investigators to subpoena witnesses and documents, including 

the same documents requested in H. Res. 499. 

By all reports, Mr. Fitzgerald is pursuing the investigation into the Valerie Plame 

matter aggressively and responsibly. It would be irresponsible for this committee to 

allow H. Res. 499 to jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation by the Department 

of Justice. Under the circumstances, that is a matter best left to the grand jury. 

Of equal importance to deliberations of this committee is the action taken by the 

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the committee of primary jurisdiction over the subject matter of H. Res. 499. The Intelligence Committee, in a bipartisan vote that saw only three of the five democrats present vote in favor of the 

resolution, reported unfavorably without amendment on the resolution. 

As a former member of the Intelligence Committee, I am confident that the Committee remains committed to the enforcement of the laws and regulations that exist 

to protect the Nation’s classified intelligence information, including the enforcement 

of the ‘‘Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.’’ I have no reason to doubt the 

Chairman of the Intelligence Committee when he publicly commits his Committee 

to continue to monitor and conduct oversight of this matter. Protecting the identities 

of our intelligence agents, after all, is best left to the Intelligence Committee. 

Consequently, it is my intention to have H. Res. 499 reported adversely. 

I now turn to my esteemed colleague, Howard Berman, for any remarks he may 

wish to make.

Mr. BERMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I would like 

to raise several points that you discussed in your opening statement. 

First, this is not about Iraq. This is about the question of whether or not the intentional disclosure of the identity of a U.S. covert 

intelligence agent poses the kind of threat to our national security 

and to the dedicated intelligence officers who risk their lives for 

their country daily and the extent to which Congress appropriately 

has a role in pursuing this issue independently of any criminal investigation. 

The thing that most stuns me about the comments in the opening statement were the notion that somehow there is something inappropriate about Congress pursuing through investigations, subpoenas, calling witnesses, subpoenaing witnesses, trying to get documents from the Executive Branch at the time there is a criminal 

investigation. This is a case of terrible short-term memory loss. 

Chairman HYDE. Would the gentleman yield? 

Mr. BERMAN. Yes, I would be happy to. 

Chairman HYDE. I am trying to understand the gentleman’s displeasure with my concept of when you have a grand jury and you 

have a very effective U.S. Attorney or special prosecutor and you 

have the Intelligence Committee exercising oversight to have additional Committees looking at the same matters can impair the expedition and the movement toward a resolution. 

While I know it provides publicity for those people seeking it and 

maybe some political advantage, it does not help get to the bottom 

34

of who did make this disclosure, if anybody did, and whether it was 

intentional or inadvertent. 

We need to know those things, but we are finding them out 

through a grand jury. I just simply think redundancy in a matter 

like this is not helpful. That is my only purpose. 

Thank you, Mr. Berman. 

Mr. BERMAN. Reclaiming my time, let me try to elaborate why 

I am so stunned to hear the Chairman and a very distinguished 

Member, who I am sure is aware of what happened on his Committee and on the Government Reform Committee and on the 

International Relations Committee, on the Judiciary Committee, 

during the past five or 6 years in terms of congressional investigations while grand juries were being convened either through the 

Justice Department or with independent counsel to pursue documents and to pursue matters that they thought was of interest and 

appropriate for congressional oversight. 

Let us start with United States technology transfers to China. 

There are distinguished Members of this Committee who were involved in that. The Department of Defense investigation included 

a grand jury. At the same time that they were looking at LockheedMartin and Boeing, the International Relations and National Security Committees held hearings. The House Science Committee held 

hearings. 

The Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military 

Commercial Concerns with the People’s Republic of China held 

hearings in 1998 and 1999 with a report in May 1999. They used 

their subpoena power. They brought witnesses. They dealt very directly with the issue of having both criminal and civil liability consequences for individuals and companies at the same time as the 

Justice Department was pursuing a grand jury investigation. 

There is no attack in this matter on Mr. Fitzgerald. He has a tremendous reputation, as the Chairman mentioned. The fact is all of 

his powers and all his authority that he has now are delegated to 

him by the Administration and can be taken away at any given 

moment by the Administration. He is an appointment of the President, and even if he were under the old independent counsel law, 

the notion that this Congress does not pursue matters that are 

under investigation by the Executive Branch in terms of law enforcement boggles the mind. 

Think about the Travel Office of the White House. Think about 

the investigation by the Congress of the security related disclosures 

involving John Wong. Think about the matters involving Waco, 

Inslaw—the small computer company that the Justice Department 

helped run it into insolvency. 

The Government Affairs Committee investigated campaign financing while the FBI and the DOJ’s campaign finance task force 

were conducting a criminal investigation, the House Government 

Reform Committee conducted its own investigation into possible 

campaign improprieties by the Clinton Administration, the House 

Government Reform Committee investigated President Clinton’s 

use of pardons. 

Every one of these was going on while in that case U.S. Attorney 

Mary Jo White was conducting her own criminal investigation at 

the very same time. The notion that anyone in the Majority here 

35

would now suggest in response to this that this is totally inappropriate and then to charge that it is political——

Well, I would say that when you have a disclosure of the identity 

of a covert operative for one of our intelligence agencies into the 

newspapers and every authorized Committee of Congress refuses to 

conduct an investigation, and I have no information that would 

make me think that the House Select Committee on Intelligence or 

the National Security Committee or the House Judiciary Committee or this Committee or the House Government Reform Committee is pursuing any investigation of this matter at this particular time. 

I would suggest that if we are going to ascribe motivation to 

what people are doing and why they are doing it, one could come 

to the conclusion that it was a political effort to insulate an Administration from not only an embarrassing, but, much more seriously, 

a very damaging breach, a potential breach of the law and certainly of appropriate conduct by Executive Branch officials. 

I do not know that we want to go back and forth about what is 

political or not. All I know is that 10 former intelligence agents, not 

agents of the Democratic National Committee, not agents of the 

Democratic leadership in the House, 10 agents of the U.S. intelligence community asked us, the Congress, through a letter to 

Speaker Hastert with copies to the bipartisan congressional leadership to please investigate this reckless revelation of a covert intelligence officer’s identity and to do it forthwith. 

We can easily do this in a fashion which does not impede any 

criminal investigation. It has been done over and over again by the 

Majority every single time. The only reason we have a resolution 

of inquiry is because we are in the Minority, and we cannot schedule the kind of investigation that the Majority did over and over 

and over again over the past 6 years. 

Even now and even under this Administration, the Committee 

has subpoenaed targets of investigations in the Enron scandal for 

testimony in front of its Committee, the Commerce Committee, at 

the same time as the grand jury is very obviously looking at whether or not to indict officials of that company. Those targets are being 

subpoenaed and questioned in front of congressional Committees. 

The notion that this branch of government is a potted plant and 

should somehow sit back and wait for months and years before 

looking at what is going on with political manipulation about intelligence operations and the revelation of things which seem on the 

surface to clearly lie, I think it is a compelling case, and it has 

nothing to do with Iraq. 

It has to do with the fundamental way we handle and respect 

and honor and protect both our intelligence agents and the people 

who source them because when this happens then all of a sudden 

the foreign sources—we spend so much time talking about the degradation of the capacity for human intelligence. Things like this 

happen, and they probably send as much of a message to undermine our capacity in that area than anything could. 

With that, I will yield back, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for 

your——

Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentleman. Would the gentleman 

yield for just a question? 

36

Mr. BERMAN. Sure. 

Chairman HYDE. Does the gentleman suggest that the grand jury 

suspend while we proceed with our investigation? 

Mr. BERMAN. Absolutely not. 

Chairman HYDE. Or are you suggesting we have both investigations? 

Mr. BERMAN. I suggest we have both investigations proceeding 

just as they did in the Travel Office, as they are doing in Enron, 

as they did in the Presidential pardon case, as they did in the Martha Stewart case. I would argue there may be a more serious issue 

here than there, but, in any event, to do it in a fashion that respects the need to protect what is going on in the grand jury. 

We are not talking about revealing grand jury information or invading the secrecy of the grand jury. We are talking about simply 

an inquiry and an effort and a request to receive primary documents; the same kinds of documents that would go to the grand 

jury have come to Congress when classified to be protected under 

all rules of classification and in a fashion that works in tandem 

with the law enforcement effort, not in violation of it. 

I was Ranking Democrat on the Ethics Committee. There were 

times when we pursued matters that were also under investigation 

that we worked very closely in cooperation with a U.S. Attorney 

who was investigating for criminal matters so that we did not impede in any way on their investigation. It is very easy to do for 

those who want to do it the right way. 

Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentleman. 

Is there further discussion? 

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Chairman? I am sorry. Could I ask unanimous 

consent to put the letter from the 10 former analysts, case officers, 

intelligence officers with the U.S. intelligence agencies requesting 

this investigation into the record? [Not submitted.] 

Chairman HYDE. Without objection. So ordered. 

Mr. BERMAN. Thank you. 

Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Chairman? 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. Bereuter? 

Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As some of my colleagues know, I also serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee with primary jurisdiction on 

this matter. 

I would say that if the conduct alleged that there was an intentional outing of an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency allegedly for retribution against her husband, this is a very grave matter indeed. This kind of conduct should be punished to the fullest 

extent of the law. It should mean that people, no matter where 

they serve, in the White House or otherwise, are fired and subject 

to the highest penalties. 

One of the disappointing or maybe one of the very most disappointing things I have learned since I have arrived here is that 

you cannot necessarily expect justice from the Justice Department 

when it comes to investigating their own Administration. It was 

true, for example, of the Meese Justice Department. It was true of 

the Reno Justice Department. 

I am not critical of Mr. Holt or anyone who brings such a resolution before us because while there may be a partisan edge to it, it 

37

is a part of the oversight and pressure that needs to be brought 

upon an Administration, especially at a time when the Administration is of the same party as the controlling majority in the House 

and the Senate. 

I was heartened by the reputation of the special prosecutor, Mr. 

Fitzgerald. I think if there is any indication that his investigation 

has been subject to interference at any time then by a strong bipartisan effort, Congress should insert itself into this process. 

I have been following this issue closely, as most of us have been, 

and I would expect that we would have justice with the impaneling 

of the grand jury as a result of Mr. Fitzgerald’s appointment. I 

think at this point we need to watch very carefully. We need to insert ourselves in the process, this Committee and the Intelligence 

Committee, if there is any indication that this is not going to be 

pursued aggressively and in a timely fashion. 

At this point I have not reached that conclusion. That is why I 

voted for an adverse recommendation from the House Permanent 

Select Committee on Intelligence, and I expect to today, but I can 

actually commend my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for 

keeping the pressure on this issue. It is important for the integrity 

of our intelligence collection process. 

If we are beginning to out persons for their political purposes 

here, we damage our ability to work with liaison services and put 

these people in danger. It is a very grave matter indeed. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HYDE. Thank you. 

Mr. Blumenauer? 

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I associate myself 

with the comments from my colleague from Nebraska, but I reach 

a different conclusion. 

Mr. Berman outlined what has happened just in the short tenure 

that I have been in Congress where my colleagues on the other side 

of the aisle have had no qualms whatsoever about pursuing a dual 

track. I am not here to judge whether it was political that motivated those or whether it was a sincere desire to provide the legitimate oversight that Congress is to be expected to provide. 

The matters that were dealt with earlier were relatively trivial, 

with all due respect. There was very little that happened to them 

in terms of massive corruption. Nothing came out of the Whitewater investigation, despite millions, tens of millions of dollars. 

There are those that would even raise questions about whether the 

impeachment of the President of the United States was, in the 

global scheme of things, something that merited the time and attention and disruption that was accorded it. 

That is for others to judge, but something that is incontrovertible 

is that the episode of a deliberate outing of an intelligence operative is serious at the highest level. This is not trivial. This is not 

something that is minimal scoring of political points. This is something that speaks to the integrity, just as my friend from Nebraska 

pointed out, to our being able to conduct sensitive intelligence operations. 

Our moving forward with a serious congressional inquiry is a 

solid signal to the men and women who serve us and put their lives 

at risk. It is a serious signal to our allies that we take the responsiVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00041 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
38

bility of protecting the intelligence mechanisms of the United 

States. We take that seriously. It is a signal to the people in the 

press that they are not to play fast and loose with the lives of men 

and women who are providing an essential service to this country. 

Mr. Chairman, on several occasions I have offered reflections 

about why I am honored to be a Member of this Committee. We 

have the potential of being able to put the spotlight on items that 

speak to life and death and the direction of this country. 

Mr. Chairman, there are few in Congress who have the respect 

of people on both sides of the aisle that you have earned through 

your long and distinguished career. I am honored to serve with Mr. 

Lantos, our distinguished Ranking Member, and have watched the 

two of you craft resolutions. Sometimes, when I did not even agree 

with them, I marveled at your ability to work together to have an 

open and thoughtful process. 

I can think of no two leaders in this Congress who are better 

equipped to carry forth the tradition on the highest level of what 

congressional inquiry represents than you and Mr. Lantos, but to 

somehow brush this aside actually invites partisan speculation. 

I hear back home why is it that Congress can jump on Janet 

Jackson in 57 seconds and have inquiry and command the press 

and fall all over one another to do some things that I think are actually kind of goofy, and something here that is the integrity of our 

intelligence system, that means lives of people who work with us 

and the ability for it to work with our allies and friends alike, and 

somehow we are asleep at the switch. We are going to wait. It is 

not important enough for congressional Committees to operate is 

the description. 

You know, Mr. Chairman, I do not have an answer for people at 

home. I would respectfully suggest that the tradition of congressional inquiry represents the best and worst. The witch hunts of 

the McCarthy era may well have been the worst. It was Congress 

who put the heat on Watergate that got to the bottom of things 

when special prosecutors were removed by President Nixon. It was 

one of Congress’ finest hours. 

I would suggest, Mr. Chairman, that by moving forward with 

this resolution that it could be one of the finest hours of this Committee to provide valuable service, and I can think of no two congressional leaders other than you and Mr. Lantos better equipped. 

I would hope that even though I do not know that you will, I 

would hope that you would reconsider your position on this resolution of inquiry. 

Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentleman for his generous remarks. 

The Chair announces that we are going to interrupt this bill for 

a very brief few moments, but I note the presence of a reporting 

quorum and so the question occurs on the motion to report H.R. 

3818, the microenterprise bill as amended. 

All those in favor say aye. 

[Chorus of ayes.] 

Chairman HYDE. Opposed, nay. 

[No response.] 

39

Chairman HYDE. The ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to, 

and the bill is adopted as amended. The staff is directed to make 

technical and conforming changes. 

Now we will return to the matter at hand. Is there anybody else? 

Mr. Rohrabacher seeks recognition. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I will 

be supporting the Chairman in this matter. Let me note that this 

whole thing does not pass the smell test. There are a lot of politics 

being played inside the bureaucracy and outside the bureaucracy 

on this particular issue. 

To the degree that we are talking about the need for congressional oversight, I certainly agree with my colleagues that congressional oversight and hearings to make sure that we know what is 

going on is part of our job and an important part of our job, but 

let me note there seems to be some mighty selectivity going on as 

to what deserves our attention from the other side of the aisle. 

Let me note that The Washington Post in the last week has had 

a two-part series on American foreign policy toward the Al Qaeda 

and the Taliban. Let me also note that that two-part series verified 

charges that I made before this Committee over a number of years 

as to the Clinton Administration’s real policy toward the Taliban 

and Al Qaeda, which was a clandestine support for the Taliban. 

Read that Washington Post report of what was going on inside 

the State Department and inside the CIA at the time, yet we all 

can remember when I was demanding the documents about American foreign policy toward the Taliban. People here should remember that. At that time, Chairman Gilman backed me up in that request. 

You read The Washington Post series on it, and it verifies that 

we did not get the documents and that obviously congressional 

oversight on something as important as this, that congressional 

oversight was made basically into a sham by the State Department 

giving us nonsensical documents and leaving out important information that we had requested from the Clinton State Department 

as to what the position of the Administration was on the Taliban. 

Now, something of this magnitude is not being investigated, and 

the people on the other side of the aisle are not moving forward to 

find out how we had a major policy of our government toward a regime that eventually led to the murder of 3,000 Americans. Well, 

then I am a little bit hesitant to go along with what this particular 

case is, which is of interest, but is indicative of the type of game 

playing that was going on over the years within the CIA and within the State Department. 

I would suggest, Mr. Chairman, that we look into the matter of 

what American foreign policy was during the Clinton Administration that led to 9/11 and let us also investigate how Congress’ oversight was intentionally thwarted during that time period, and then 

maybe we can get down to some of these personality issues and 

game playing that was going on inside the bureaucracy in terms 

of American intelligence that we are discussing today. 

Thank you very much. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Menendez? 

40

Mr. MENENDEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It seems to me that 

we can seek to justify a way to either not support the inquiry or 

to even vote for a release of the resolution unfavorably, but I think 

that my colleagues on the Committee, we have a simple few questions to ask ourselves today. 

Do we support the law of the land, which clearly states that disclosing the name of a covert agent is a crime? Will we stand up 

for the men and women who risk their lives as covert agents 

around the world to protect the national security of the United 

States? In doing so, will we protect the national security of the 

United States? 

How are we going to recruit future covert agents, which we desperately need for the purposes of human intelligence in critical 

parts of the world, if they think that clearly their names will be 

made public if there is an interest, political or otherwise, to do so 

and for which those who make that information public face very little consequence, if any? Do we believe that Congress must fulfill 

its own oversight function? 

If your answer is yes to each of these questions then you should 

support the inquiry and vote no on the motion before the Committee, which would stop an independent congressional investigation by reporting it unfavorably. 

Let me be clear. Congress cannot advocate its own oversight 

roles, especially with the sensitivity of this issue. We have an obligation to the American people and to the intelligence community 

to investigate this issue ourselves period. 

I also have to raise some serious concerns over how this investigation has moved forward, which can only underline the need for 

congressional oversight. First, the Executive Branch is in essence 

conducting an investigation of itself. This creates a serious concern 

over conflict of interest and clearly at least the appearance of a 

conflict of interest. 

Attorney General Ashcroft only recused himself from this case in 

December after intense pressure. He did not choose to appoint an 

independent counsel, but instead appointed Mr. Comey, who then 

appointed Mr. Fitzgerald. 

The public deserves an outside and unbiased assessment with no 

potential for conflict of interest. To avoid any appearance of bias, 

the White House should have appointed a special prosecutor. This 

is particularly true given the serious allegations that Valerie 

Plame’s name was leaked in retaliation for her husband’s comments on the Administration’s policy on the Iraq War. 

The resolution is simple. All it means is that Congress and this 

Committee will have the information needed to conduct its own investigation into this case. Now, as it has been said, but I have to 

reiterate, during the previous Administration the Majority saw no 

problem to spend thousands of dollars, millions of taxpayer dollars, 

in investigating far less pressing issues. We should do so now on 

a serious, legitimate issue that affects the national security of the 

United States no matter where it leads us. 

Now, these investigations that have been taking place in the 

past, some of which Mr. Berman has recognized and others that 

could be recognized, were done regardless of what investigatory 

agency was pursuing an investigation. It was done regardless of 

41

how many Committees had concurring jurisdiction. I also am concerned with the increasing frequency in which the modus of Members of either this Committee or this body get questioned as they 

pursue their legitimate responsibility as an individual Member of 

Congress. 

In closing, I remind the Members of this Committee of what of 

what President Ford once said, ‘‘Truth is the glue that holds government together.’’ Truth is what we want, and truth is what we 

intend to get. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentleman from California, Mr. Schiff? Mr. 

Schiff is here now. He was attending another Committee meeting 

in the other room. 

Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last words. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. SCHIFF. I thank the Chairman. 

It is hard to imagine a more important issue than the one that 

this is inextricably intertwined with, and that is the question of our 

intelligence agencies, the question of why we have not found yet 

what we have been looking for in Iraq. In that context, I think we 

need to approach this question about whether we should undertake 

congressional oversight of whether a CIA officer’s identity was 

leaked for political purposes. 

When I listen to my colleagues speaking here, and we have had 

a contemporaneous hearing in the Judiciary Committee, I do not 

hear anyone questioning the seriousness of the allegation. I do not 

hear anyone saying this is a frivolous claim. I do not hear anyone 

saying that it is not Congress’ responsibility to investigate whether 

its intelligence operatives are being undermined, whether improper 

political influences are being brought to bear. 

Instead I hear principally two arguments that are being made. 

One, that there is a political overtone to this because Democrats 

seem eager to undertake the investigation, and Republicans do not. 

And I hear more policy oriented objections that something about a 

congressional oversight investigation taking place during a criminal investigation will impede the more important of the two, and 

the more important of the two, it being suggested, is the criminal 

investigation. 

On the first point of whether this is a partisan exercise or a policy debate, I would only say that it is hard to estimate the importance and the significance of getting a clear answer to this question 

regardless of what side of the aisle you sit on or who occupies the 

White House. 

We can talk about the length and breadth of the investigation to 

the last Administration or the partisan lineup in terms of who controls Congress and who controls the White House, but there is little 

question divorced from this building and from the Capitol what 

America thinks about the necessity of looking into a question of 

whether an agent had their identity betrayed for political purposes. 

They support the most thorough, the most objective and the most 

nonpartisan investigation into that question. 

So what about the argument that this would somehow irreparably interfere with a criminal investigation? As a former prosecutor who worked in the Corruption Section of the U.S. Attorney’s 

42

Office, I suffer from the fate of all former prosecutors of enjoying 

referring to my days as a prosecutor, which are not always an accurate reflection of or can be extrapolated generally. 

But, while if this were my case, if I were Mr. Fitzgerald, I would 

not eagerly anticipate a parallel investigation going on because I 

would have my job to do and be solely focused on my own job, neither would it be a bar to my going forward and doing the investigation I needed to do to determine if a crime had been committed if 

another investigative body, if the Congress of the land, was also 

undertaking its investigation. The two can be done on parallel 

tracks without interference one to the other. 

The reason I might not like it as a prosecutor is because my job 

is to find out if a crime has been committed and prosecute it. It 

is not my job to determine what policy in Congress ought to be. 

Likewise, it is our job in Congress to determine what policy 

ought to be. It is our job to determine what our intelligence failures 

have been, if they have been manifest, and I think there is a clear 

indication we have some significant problems in our intelligence 

gathering or analysis. 

It is our job to determine whether improper political influences 

being brought to bear not only in the case of Valerie Plame, but, 

more broadly, in the intelligence that is sifting from our agencies 

to the top and being used in policy determinations. 

Mr. Fitzgerald, however, as good a prosecutor he is, cannot answer the question of what Congress should do, and however good 

our oversight job is, we cannot bring back an indictment against 

those who may have leaked this information. We have two separate 

responsibilities. They can be conducted at the same time. They 

should be conducted at the same time. 

It is hard to overstate the importance not only to this country, 

but in our relation with the rest of the world that we do the most 

objective, the most thorough, the most nonpartisan investigation of 

any intelligence failures we have experienced, particularly when it 

is claimed that those failures are the result of political influence. 

I urge my colleagues to give this another thought, to divorce 

themselves for the moment from party affiliation, to ask themselves what would their vote be on this resolution if there were no 

criminal investigation going, if that argument were not available. 

What would the argument be if this were the Clinton Administration, not the Bush Administration, what would their vote have 

been, and addressing themselves solely to the policy at stake, vote 

their conscience in support of H. Res. 499. 

I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady from California, Ms. Watson? 

Ms. WATSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I now speak as an Ambassador of the United States to Micronesia. 

I cannot think of any more serious threat to the security of our 

country and to the security of the people who work in the best interest of our country at a time when we are in war and a time 

when our national security is being threatened. We have operatives 

that can infiltrate and must do that to protect our nation and other 

free nations of the world. 

As an Ambassador, often I had to meet with the CIA and FBI 

and undercover agents. Certainly Micronesia was not a threatened 

43

or risky part of the world, but we started to see drugs coming into 

that area, and we were trying to get on top of it. 

Had someone leaked the name—a name—of the people that I 

had to meet with as an Ambassador, there would be a serious 

threat to the security of the countries we associated with and their 

contacts. 

Many of you sitting around this circle have no idea how serious 

an offense it was to leak the name of a CIA operative, and the journalist who states that oh, he did not know, he thought it was public knowledge, needs to be charged as well. 

Mr. Chairman, we have an obligation as an oversight body to 

look into this, take the politics out of it, but to get to those persons 

who were trying to retaliate. How dare us not do that. We endanger our country’s safety. I want you to know, those of us who are 

with the State Department out there representing you ought to be 

protected by all of us as we go about serving our country. Do not 

leave us out there without the oversight, without the protection, 

because you place us at risk. Then we place this whole country at 

risk. 

I am kind of stunned and shocked as I sit here and listen to the 

debate that that is not clearly seen by every Member of Congress 

and particularly this Committee because we are out there in foreign lands representing this country. Our integrity is at stake. 

We invaded a country because we thought they were a threat to 

us. Are you saying that we should not have people to go in there 

who can infiltrate and give us the information as to how threatening they can be to the continental United States or any other 

ally? If we let this go and see it as a fluke, then we are causing 

our country to be at the greatest risk ever. I am appalled that this 

Committee cannot see clearly as to the problem. 

I would like to suggest that we immediately support this legislation, we immediately respond because the safety of our country is 

at stake. 

Thank you, Mr Chairman. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. 

Delahunt. 

Mr. DELAHUNT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to note 

for the record that I for one do not have any concerns about Mr. 

Fitzgerald. I am aware of his reputation. I know him by reputation 

to be a man of integrity and confidence and professionalism. I recognize that he is moving forward with a criminal investigation. 

I would note for the record that just recently, last week, there 

was a report by UPI. Let me quote from it:

‘‘Federal law enforcement officials said that they have developed hard evidence of possible criminal misconduct by two employees of Vice President Dick Cheney’s office related to the 

unlawful exposure of a CIA officer’s identity last year. The investigation, which is continuing, could lead to indictments, a 

Justice Department official said.’’

According to this source, John Hannah and Cheney’s Chief of 

Staff, Lewis ‘‘Scooter’’ Libby, were the two Cheney employees. At 

least from this report, it would corroborate your observation, Mr. 

Chairman, that Mr. Fitzgerald is a straight shooter, so to speak, 

44

and will do the job. There is nothing again in his background that 

would indicate otherwise. 

To pick up on the point made by my colleague from California, 

Mr. Schiff, a congressional inquiry and a criminal investigation are 

not mutually exclusive. It has been the precedent established by 

this Congress at least since I have served in this body since 1997. 

The Ranking Member du jour, Mr. Berman, enumerated a number 

of cases where there was congressional action and at the same time 

criminal investigation, some of which actually ended up in indictment. 

You, Mr. Chairman, indicate that it would be irresponsible to 

interfere with a criminal investigation. There is absolutely no evidence that I can discern from any quarter that would indicate that 

what we are looking for in terms of this resolution would interfere 

or impede with a criminal investigation. You simply make the 

statement and make the conclusion. 

Is there a new presumption that if Congress acts simultaneously 

with an investigation of a potential criminal misconduct that is 

interfering? 

Chairman HYDE. Will the gentleman yield? 

Mr. DELAHUNT. I will. 

Chairman HYDE. If the special prosecutor wants to grant a witness immunity, and whoever is running the congressional inquiry 

does not want to grant immunity, do they flip a coin? 

Mr. DELAHUNT. No, because I would hope that there would be 

interaction, as there has been on numerous occasions. 

Mr. Chairman, you know and I know that to get to that particular point there would be conversations, and hopefully there 

would be negotiations. This is not Iran Contra. This is not the conferring of immunity as occurred in that particular matter, which 

later turned into the reversal of guilty verdicts of Oliver North and 

John Poindexter. 

Mr. BERMAN. Would the gentleman yield on that point? 

Mr. DELAHUNT. I yield to the gentleman from California. 

Mr. BERMAN. Of course, in that case it was the Congress who, 

deciding that they wanted to help the show along, decided to grant 

immunity to the witness and thereby screwed up the judicial process. 

Mr. DELAHUNT. I am familiar with that. Reclaiming my time, I 

think that that is clearly distinguishable from the case before us 

today, but there is no exclusivity here. 

What we are concerned about is does the current policy, do the 

current statutes that were enacted to protect men and women who 

are serving this country at the risk of their lives, are they being 

adequately protected by the existing policy. 

You, Mr. Chairman, were the one that referenced whether it is 

inadvertent. Well, maybe we want to review the policy to determine 

whether inadvertence is unacceptable. That is why we should be 

proceeding. We should be protecting these men and women who, as 

I said, are putting their lives at risk. This is about national security, and this is about policy. 

Let me conclude with a question. Have we heard from anyone in 

the Executive Branch, from the White House, from the Department 

of Justice, from Mr. Fitzgerald, whom I respect, that in any way, 

45

shape or form the release of this information to this Committee 

would impede or interfere with a criminal investigation? 

Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady from Nevada, Ms. Berkley? 

Ms. BERKLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The intentional disclosure of the identity of a covert intelligence 

operative poses a grave threat. Not only is it a threat to the life 

and safety of the agent; it is a grave threat to the national security 

of the United States. 

I believe that this Committee and this Congress has an opportunity and a responsibility here, an opportunity to fulfill our responsibility of oversight of the Executive Branch in matters that affect foreign policy and an opportunity to help ensure the safety and 

security of the United States. Instead, it appears that Congress has 

chosen to step aside, and in doing so we have reneged on the responsibilities of our office and of our responsibilities to the American people. 

Last summer, a high ranking official within the Administration 

reportedly called as many as half a dozen reporters with the identity of an undercover CIA operative. This was done in retaliation 

for Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s honesty and frankness in detailing 

several of the Administration’s pre-war claims regarding weapons 

of mass destruction. Ambassador Wilson should have been commended for his honesty and for his candor of this reporting. As 

events have turned out, he was correct. Administration officials 

have since admitted that claims regarding Iraqi attempts to obtain 

uranium were greatly exaggerated. 

It seems that the White House could not resist putting politics 

before policy, tarnishing a man’s reputation, risking his wife’s life 

and ultimately threatening the safety and security of the United 

States and our intelligence agencies. 

What astounds me the most about this entire unfortunate incident is that if I were President of the United States I would be absolutely furious, and I would feel it was my responsibility to find 

out who did this and get them out of my White House, if nothing 

else as a demonstration to everyone else that I took this seriously, 

and this is a matter of grave national security interest. 

As a Congresswoman, if the President will not act I think it is 

my responsibility to do so. If he is not outraged enough about the 

behavior of some of his staff members in the White House, I am 

outraged enough for him. 

I wholeheartedly support this resolution. It is time that Congress 

and the American people were told the truth regarding this unfortunate incident, and it is time that certain White House officials 

are held accountable for their actions. To do less would be a dereliction of our duties. 

Mr. BERMAN. Would the gentlelady yield? Would the gentlelady 

yield? 

Ms. BERKLEY. Yes, I will. 

Mr. BERMAN. Thank you. I want to thank her for her very powerful statement and also just to say to my colleagues and friends on 

the other side let us assume there was no investigation by the Justice Department, by a special prosecutor. It is not an independent 

counsel, but by Mr. Fitzgerald. None of that was going on. 

46

Can any of you tell us you would then vote for this resolution of 

inquiry? You would then launch an investigation? Because if you 

cannot say that you would do that, you cannot use the argument, 

given your track record over 10 years of control of the oversight 

process in this Congress. 

You cannot say with a straight face that it is the existence of this 

criminal investigation that stops every relevant Committee from 

doing any investigation whatsoever of a matter that, as I think Mr. 

Blumenauer said early on, is so much more serious and so much 

more consequential and so much more affects the conduct of our 

international relations and the protection of our national security 

than the things you chose to launch while a criminal investigation 

was going on. 

You cannot say that with a straight face. I suggest you would not 

vote for it with the investigation going on. You would not vote for 

it without the investigation going on. Maybe it is because you will 

not vote for anything that we propose. Maybe it is because there 

are other motivations, which I understand the world we are in, but 

do not pretend that it is because there is an independent criminal 

investigation going on. 

With that, I yield back to the gentlelady. 

Chairman HYDE. Would the gentleman yield? 

Mr. BERMAN. Sure. 

Chairman HYDE. I want to make it perfectly clear. My vote will 

be cast against this proposition put forward by the resolution and 

for reporting it adversely because there is a grand jury investigation being directed by a prosecutor who is relentless and 

unyielding, and God forbid he should prosecute any of us. 

Mr. BERMAN. If I may ask the gentlelady to yield to me? 

I understand the sincerity with which the Chairman says that, 

and I respect it, but I am at a loss to explain the conduct of this 

Majority over the past 10 years in nearly every single Committee 

that has exercised its oversight responsibility on matters important 

and unimportant to plow ahead without regard to the existence of 

an independent investigation unless you are saying every career 

prosecutor in the Justice Department, every independent counsel 

chosen by those three judges, was an agent of the Executive 

Branch, unless you say they were all evil, and we finally found a 

truly honest prosecutor who is moving in, and all the other ones 

were contaminated and corrupted. 

I do not believe anyone thinks that. Therefore, I cannot understand the position. Therefore, I have to assume we are in a situational position where all of a sudden the feeling about allowing the 

criminal investigation to go on unfettered by any congressional investigation, regardless of the importance of the substantive matters, regardless of our oversight responsibilities, regardless of our 

jurisdiction, that all of a sudden it is in this case where all of a 

sudden that becomes the compelling, overriding——

Ms. BERKLEY. Can I reclaim my time just to ask a question? 

Chairman HYDE. You have no time. 

Ms. BERKLEY. I have no time? 

Chairman HYDE. You have no time. 

Ms. BERKLEY. Can I ask a quick question, and perhaps someone 

could answer it? 

47

Chairman HYDE. Certainly. We will stretch the regulations for 

you, Ms. Berkley. 

Ms. BERKLEY. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Forgive me 

if I am having a senior moment. I am sorry I was not here to hear 

everybody else’s opening statement, but am I mistaken in remembering back prior to when I was in Congress—was there not an 

independent investigation of President Clinton’s activities? And, 

were we not having a million——

Mr. BERMAN. A couple hundred. 

Ms. BERKLEY [continuing]. A couple hundred congressional investigations at the same time that the independent investigation was 

going on, and was Ken Starr not a relentless prosecutor in that 

particular issue? I mean, can anybody enlighten me on this? 

Chairman HYDE. I cannot comment on the relentness nature of 

Mr. Starr, but Capitol Hill seethes investigation. I remember the 

October surprise——

Ms. BERKLEY. Do we not want to seethe? 

Chairman HYDE [continuing]. Where charges were made that 

Vice President Bush flew over to Paris to arrange for the Iranians 

to hold our Embassy personnel until after the election. I remember 

endless hearings on that goofy idea. 

All investigations are not alike. We have a grand jury. We have 

a tough prosecutor. Give it a chance to work. If it does not work, 

we can leave it at this, but meanwhile I would like to get to the 

question if we have all exhausted ourselves on this. I hope we 

have. 

The question occurs on the motion to report the resolution, H. 

Res. 499, adversely. Let us call the roll on this. We will not waste 

time on a voice vote. Call the roll. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Leach? 

[No response.] 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Bereuter? 

Mr. BEREUTER. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Bereuter votes yes. 

Mr. Smith of New Jersey? 

[No response.] 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Burton? 

[No response.] 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Gallegly? 

Mr. GALLEGLY. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Gallegly votes yes. 

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen? 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Ms. Ros-Lehtinen votes yes. 

Mr. Ballenger? 

Mr. BALLENGER. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Ballenger votes yes. 

Mr. Rohrabacher? 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Rohrabacher votes yes. 

Mr. Royce? 

Mr. ROYCE. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Royce votes yes. 

Mr. King? 

48

Mr. KING. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. King votes yes. 

Mr. Chabot? 

Mr. CHABOT. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Chabot votes yes. 

Mr. Houghton? 

Mr. HOUGHTON. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Houghton votes yes. 

Mr. McHugh? 

[No response.] 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Blunt? 

[No response.] 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Tancredo? 

Mr. TANCREDO. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Tancredo votes yes. 

Mr. Paul? 

[No response.] 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Smith of Michigan? 

Mr. SMITH OF MICHIGAN. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Smith of Michigan votes yes. 

Mr. Pitts? 

Mr. PITTS. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Pitts votes yes. 

Mr. Flake? 

[No response.] 

Ms. RUSH. Mrs. Davis? 

[No response.] 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Green? 

Mr. GREEN. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Green votes yes. 

Mr. Weller? 

Mr. WELLER. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Weller votes yes. 

Mr. Pence? 

Mr. PENCE. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Pence votes yes. 

Mr. McCotter? 

Mr. MCCOTTER. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. McCotter votes yes. 

Ms. Harris? 

Ms. HARRIS. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Ms. Harris votes yes. 

Mr. Lantos? 

[No response.] 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Berman? 

Mr. BERMAN. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Berman votes no. 

Mr. Ackerman? 

Mr. ACKERMAN. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Ackerman votes no. 

Mr. Faleomavaega? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Faleomavaega votes no. 

Mr. Payne? 

49

Mr. PAYNE. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Payne votes no. 

Mr. Menendez? 

Mr. MENENDEZ. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Menendez votes no. 

Mr. Brown? 

Mr. BROWN. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Brown votes no. 

Mr. Sherman? 

[No response.] 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Wexler? 

Mr. WEXLER. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Wexler votes no. 

Mr. Engel? 

Mr. ENGEL. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Engel votes no. 

Mr. Delahunt? 

Mr. DELAHUNT. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Delahunt votes no. 

Mr. Meeks? 

Mr. MEEKS. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Meeks votes no. 

Ms. Lee? 

Ms. LEE. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Ms. Lee votes no. 

Mr. Crowley? 

Mr. CROWLEY. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Crowley votes no. 

Mr. Hoeffel? 

Mr. HOEFFEL. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Hoeffel votes no. 

Mr. Blumenauer? 

Mr. BLUMENAUER. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Blumenauer votes no. 

Ms. Berkley? 

Ms. BERKLEY. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Ms. Berkley votes no. 

Ms. Napolitano? 

Ms. NAPOLITANO. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Ms. Napolitano votes no. 

Mr. Schiff? 

Mr. SCHIFF. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Schiff votes no. 

Ms. Watson? 

Ms. WATSON. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Ms. Watson votes no. 

Mr. Smith of Washington? 

Mr. SMITH OF WASHINGTON. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Smith of Washington votes no. 

Ms. McCollum? 

Ms. MCCOLLUM. No. 

Ms. RUSH. Ms. McCollum votes no. 

Mr. Bell? 

Mr. BELL. No. 

50

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Bell votes no. 

Chairman Hyde? 

Chairman HYDE. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Chairman Hyde votes yes. 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. Leach? 

Mr. LEACH. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Leach votes yes. 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. Burton? 

Mr. BURTON. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Burton votes yes. 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. Flake? 

Mr. FLAKE. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Flake votes yes. 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. Chris Smith? 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Smith of New Jersey votes yes. 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. McHugh? 

Mr. MCHUGH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. McHugh votes yes. 

Chairman HYDE. Have all voted who wish? 

[No response.] 

Chairman HYDE. The clerk will announce the roll. 

Mr. Sherman? Madam Clerk, Mr. Sherman? 

Ms. RUSH. He is not recorded. 

Mr. SHERMAN. No. 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. Sherman votes no. 

Ms. RUSH. Mr. Sherman votes no. 

Chairman HYDE. Ms. Davis? 

Ms. RUSH. Mrs. Davis? 

Mrs. DAVIS. Aye. 

Ms. RUSH. Mrs. Davis votes yes. 

Chairman HYDE. The clerk will report. 

Ms. RUSH. On this vote there are 24 ayes and 22 noes. 

Chairman HYDE. 24 ayes and 22 noes. The ayes have it. The motion to report adversely is adopted. Without objection, the Chairman is authorized to seek consideration of the following—the Chair 

is having trouble hearing. 

Without objection, the Chairman is authorized to seek consideration of the following bills under suspension of the rules: H.R. 

3782, To amend the Department of State rewards program; H.R. 

854, Belarus Democracy Act of 2003 as amended; H. Res. 530, Urging a resolution addressing human rights abuses in People’s Republic of China at the U.N. Commission of Human Rights; H. Con. 

Res. 15, Commending India on its celebration of Republic Day; H. 

Res. 526, Expressing sympathy for the victims of the devastating 

earthquake that occurred in Bam, Iran; and H. Con. Res. 364, Recognizing the strategic partnership between the United States and 

the Marshall Island. 

[The bills referred to and submitted amendments follow:]

51

1

I

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3782

To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to increase

the maximum amount of an award available under the Department

of State rewards program, to expand the eligibility criteria to receive

an award, to authorize nonmonetary awards, to publicize the existence

of the rewards program, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 6, 2004

Mr. HYDE (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, and Mr. KIRK) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of

1956 to increase the maximum amount of an award

available under the Department of State rewards program, to expand the eligibility criteria to receive an

award, to authorize nonmonetary awards, to publicize

the existence of the rewards program, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Counter-Terrorist and

5 Narco-Terrorist Rewards Program Act’’.


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•HR 3782 IH

1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF STATE COUNTER-TERRORIST AND

2 NARCO-TERRORIST REWARDS PROGRAM.

3 (a) PROGRAM NAME.—Section 36 of the State De4 partment Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708)

5 is amended—

6 (1) in the section heading by inserting

7 ‘‘COUNTER-TERRORIST AND NARCO-TER8 RORIST’’ after ‘‘STATE’’; and

9 (2) in subsection (a)(1) by adding at the end

10 the following new sentence: ‘‘The program shall be

11 known as the ‘Department of State Terrorist and

12 Narco-Terrorist Rewards Program’.’’.

13 (b) DISRUPTION OF TERRORIST FINANCING NET14 WORK.—Subsection (b) of such section is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (5) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the

16 end;

17 (2) in paragraph (6) by striking the period and

18 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

19 (3) by adding at the end the following new

20 paragraph:

21 ‘‘(7) the disruption of financial mechanisms of

22 a terrorist organization, including the use by the or23 ganization of illicit narcotics production or inter24 national narcotics trafficking—

25 ‘‘(A) to finance acts of international ter26 rorism; or


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•HR 3782 IH

1 ‘‘(B) to sustain or support any terrorist or2 ganization.’’.

3 (c) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF REWARD.—Subsection

4 (e)(1) of such section is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘$5,000,000’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘$25,000,000’’;

7 (2) by striking the second period at the end;

8 and

9 (3) by adding at the end the following new sen10 tence: ‘‘The Secretary may authorize a reward of up

11 to $50,000,000 for the capture or information lead12 ing to the capture of Usama bin Laden.’’.

13 (d) FORMS OF REWARD PAYMENT.—Subsection (e)

14 of such section is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(6) FORMS OF PAYMENT.—The Secretary may

17 make a reward under this section in the form of

18 money, a nonmonetary item (including such items as

19 automotive vehicles), or a combination thereof.’’.

20 (e) MEDIA SURVEYS AND ADVERTISEMENTS.—Such

21 section is amended—

22 (1) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as

23 (k) and (l), respectively; and

24 (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol25 lowing new subsection:


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•HR 3782 IH

1 ‘‘(i) MEDIA SURVEYS AND ADVERTISEMENTS AU2 THORIZED.—

3 ‘‘(1) SURVEYS CONDUCTED.—For the purpose

4 of more effectively disseminating information about

5 the rewards program, the Secretary may use the re6 sources of the rewards program to conduct media

7 surveys, including analyses of media markets, means

8 of communication, and levels of literacy, in countries

9 determined by the Secretary to be associated with

10 acts of international terrorism.

11 ‘‘(2) CREATION AND PURCHASE OF ADVERTISE12 MENTS.—After the surveys authorized under para13 graph (1) have been conducted and in accordance

14 with their findings, the Secretary may use the re15 sources of the rewards program to create advertise16 ments to disseminate information about the rewards

17 program among populations in countries identified

18 under paragraph (1). The Secretary may purchase

19 radio or television time, newspaper space, or make

20 use of any other means of advertisement, as appro21 priate.

22 ‘‘(3) ADVERTISEMENT FOR CAPTURE OF USAMA

23 BIN LADEN.—Not later than 90 days after the date

24 of the enactment of the Counter-Terrorist and

25 Narco-Terrorist Rewards Program Act, the SecVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 retary shall submit to the Committee on Inter2 national Relations of the House of Representatives

3 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen4 ate a report documenting a plan to increase adver5 tising to maximize awareness of the reward available

6 for the capture or information leading to the capture

7 of Usama bin Laden.’’.

Æ


92187b.AAF
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1

I

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 854

To provide for the promotion of democracy, human rights, and rule of law

in the Republic of Belarus and for the consolidation and strengthening

of Belarus sovereignty and independence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 13, 2003

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Mr. HOEFFEL, and Ms.

SLAUGHTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees

on the Judiciary and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide for the promotion of democracy, human rights,

and rule of law in the Republic of Belarus and for

the consolidation and strengthening of Belarus sovereignty and independence.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Belarus Democracy

5 Act of 2003’’.


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•HR 854 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) the United States supports the promotion of

4 democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule of

5 law in the Republic of Belarus consistent with its

6 commitments as a participating state of the Organi7 zation for Security and Cooperation in Europe

8 (OSCE);

9 (2) the United States has a vital interest in the

10 independence and sovereignty of the Republic of

11 Belarus and its integration into the European com12 munity of democracies;

13 (3) the last parliamentary election in Belarus

14 deemed to be free and fair by the international com15 munity was conducted in 1995 from which emerged

16 the 13th Supreme Soviet whose democratically and

17 constitutionally derived authorities and powers have

18 been usurped by the authoritarian regime of Presi19 dent Aleksandr Lukashenka;

20 (4) in November 1996, Lukashenka orches21 trated an illegal and unconstitutional referendum

22 that enabled him to impose a new constitution, abol23 ish the duly-elected parliament, the 13th Supreme

24 Soviet, install a largely powerless National Assembly,

25 and extend his term of office to 2001;


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3

•HR 854 IH

1 (5) in May 1999, Belarusian democratic forces

2 challenged Lukashenka’s unconstitutional extension

3 of his presidential term by staging alternative presi4 dential elections which were met with repression;

5 (6) Belarusian democratic forces have organized

6 peaceful demonstrations against the Lukashenka re7 gime in cities and towns throughout Belarus which

8 led to beatings, mass arrests, and extended incarcer9 ations;

10 (7) Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, and

11 Yuri Zakharenka, who have been leaders and sup12 porters of the democratic forces, and Dmitry

13 Zavadsky, a journalist known for his critical report14 ing, have disappeared and are presumed dead;

15 (8) former Belarus Government officials have

16 come forward with credible allegations and evidence

17 that top officials of the Lukashenka regime were in18 volved in the disappearances;

19 (9) the Lukashenka regime systematically

20 harasses and represses the independent media and

21 independent trade unions, imprisons independent

22 journalists, and actively suppresses freedom of

23 speech and expression;

24 (10) the Lukashenka regime harasses the

25 autocephalic Belarusian Orthodox Church, the


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•HR 854 IH

1 Roman Catholic Church, the Jewish community, the

2 Hindu Lights of Kalyasa community, evangelical

3 Protestant churches (such as Baptist and Pente4 costal groups), and other minority religious groups;

5 (11) the Law on Religious Freedom and Reli6 gious Organizations, passed by the National Assem7 bly and signed by Lukashenka on October 31, 2002,

8 establishes one of the most repressive legal regimes

9 in the OSCE region, severely limiting religious free10 dom and placing excessively burdensome government

11 controls on religious practice;

12 (12) the United States, the European Union,

13 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

14 Parliamentary Assembly, and the OSCE Parliamen15 tary Assembly have not recognized the National As16 sembly;

17 (13) the parliamentary elections of October 15,

18 2000, conducted in the absence of a democratic elec19 tion law, were illegitimate, unconstitutional, plagued

20 by violent human rights abuses committed by the

21 Lukashenka regime, and determined to be non22 democratic by the OSCE; and

23 (14) the presidential election of September 9,

24 2001, was determined by the OSCE and other ob25 servers to be fundamentally unfair and failed to


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•HR 854 IH

1 meet the OSCE commitments for democratic elec2 tions formulated in the 1990 Copenhagen Document

3 and featured significant and abusive misconduct by

4 the Lukashenka regime, including—

5 (A) the harassment, arrest, and imprison6 ment of opposition members;

7 (B) the denial of equal and fair access by

8 opposition candidates to the state-controlled

9 media;

10 (C) the seizure of equipment and property

11 of independent nongovernmental organizations

12 and press organizations and the harassment of

13 their staff and management;

14 (D) voting and vote counting procedures

15 that were not transparent; and

16 (E) a campaign of intimidation directed

17 against opposition activists, domestic election

18 observation organizations, opposition and inde19 pendent media, and a libelous media campaign

20 against international observers.

21 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL

22 SOCIETY IN BELARUS.

23 (a) PURPOSES OF ASSISTANCE.—The assistance

24 under this section shall be available for the following pur25 poses:


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•HR 854 IH

1 (1) To assist the people of the Republic of

2 Belarus in regaining their freedom and to enable

3 them to join the European community of democ4 racies.

5 (2) To encourage free and fair presidential,

6 parliamentary, and local elections in Belarus, con7 ducted in a manner consistent with internationally

8 accepted standards and under the supervision of

9 internationally recognized observers.

10 (3) To assist in restoring and strengthening in11 stitutions of democratic governance in Belarus.

12 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR ASSISTANCE.—To carry out

13 the purposes of subsection (a), the President is authorized

14 to furnish assistance and other support for the activities

15 described in subsection (c), to be provided primarily for

16 indigenous Belarusian groups that are committed to the

17 support of democratic processes.

18 (c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may be

19 supported by assistance under subsection (b) include—

20 (1) the observation of elections and the pro21 motion of free and fair electoral processes;

22 (2) development of democratic political parties;

23 (3) radio and television broadcasting to and

24 within Belarus;


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•HR 854 IH

1 (4) the development of nongovernmental organi2 zations promoting democracy and supporting human

3 rights;

4 (5) the development of independent media

5 working within Belarus and from locations outside

6 the country and supported by nonstate-controlled

7 printing facilities;

8 (6) international exchanges and advanced pro9 fessional training programs for leaders and members

10 of the democratic forces in skill areas central to the

11 development of civil society; and

12 (7) other activities consistent with the purposes

13 of this Act.

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be

16 appropriated to the President to carry out this sec17 tion $40,000,000 for fiscal years 2004 and 2005.

18 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro19 priated pursuant to the authorization of appropria20 tions under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain

21 available until expended.

22 SEC. 4. RADIO BROADCASTING TO BELARUS.

23 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to

24 authorize increased support for United States Government

25 and surrogate radio broadcasting to the Republic of


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•HR 854 IH

1 Belarus that will facilitate the unhindered dissemination

2 of information.

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi4 tion to such sums as are otherwise authorized to be appro5 priated, there is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000

6 for each fiscal year for Voice of America and RFE/RL,

7 Incorporated for radio broadcasting to the people of

8 Belarus in languages spoken in Belarus.

9 (c) REPORTING ON RADIO BROADCASTING TO AND

10 IN BELARUS.—Not later than 120 days after the date of

11 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall sub12 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report

13 on how funds appropriated and allocated pursuant to the

14 authorizations of appropriations under subsection (b) and

15 section 3(d) will be used to provide AM and FM broad16 casting that covers the territory of Belarus and delivers

17 independent and uncensored programming.

18 SEC. 5. SANCTIONS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF

19 BELARUS.

20 (a) APPLICATION OF SANCTIONS.—The sanctions de21 scribed in subsections (c) through (e) shall apply with re22 spect to the Republic of Belarus until the President deter23 mines and certifies to the appropriate congressional com24 mittees that the Government of Belarus has made signifiVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00067 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 cant progress in meeting the conditions described in sub2 section (b).

3 (b) CONDITIONS.—The conditions referred to in sub4 section (a) are the following:

5 (1) The release of individuals in Belarus who

6 have been jailed based on political or religious be7 liefs.

8 (2) The withdrawal of politically motivated legal

9 charges against all opposition figures and inde10 pendent journalists in Belarus.

11 (3) A full accounting of the disappearances of

12 opposition leaders and journalists in Belarus, includ13 ing Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, Yuri

14 Zakharenka, and Dmitry Zavadsky, and the prosecu15 tion of those individuals who are responsible for

16 their disappearances.

17 (4) The cessation of all forms of harassment

18 and repression against the independent media, inde19 pendent trade unions, nongovernmental organiza20 tions, religious organizations (including their leader21 ship and members), and the political opposition in

22 Belarus.

23 (5) The implementation of free and fair presi24 dential and parliamentary elections in Belarus conVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 sistent with OSCE standards on democratic elections

2 and in cooperation with relevant OSCE institutions.

3 (c) DENIAL OF ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES

4 OF BELARUSIAN OFFICIALS.—It is the sense of Congress

5 that the President should use his authority under section

6 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

7 1182(f)) to deny the entry into the United States of any

8 alien who—

9 (1) holds a position in the senior leadership of

10 the Government of Belarus; or

11 (2) is a spouse, minor child, or agent of a per12 son inadmissible under paragraph (1).

13 (d) PROHIBITION ON STRATEGIC EXPORTS TO

14 BELARUS.—

15 (1) PROHIBITION.—No computers, computer

16 software, goods or technology intended to manufac17 ture or service computers, or any other related goods

18 or technology may be exported to Belarus for use by

19 the Government of Belarus, or by its military, police,

20 prison system, or national security agencies. The

21 prohibition of the preceding sentence shall not apply

22 with respect to the export of goods or technology for

23 democracy-building or humanitarian purposes.

24 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this

25 subsection shall prevent the issuance of licenses to


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•HR 854 IH

1 ensure the safety of civil aviation and safe operation

2 of United States–origin commercial passenger air3 craft and to ensure the safety of ocean-going mari4 time traffic in international waters.

5 (e) PROHIBITION ON LOANS AND INVESTMENT.—

6 (1) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FINANC7 ING.—No loan, credit guarantee, insurance, financ8 ing, or other similar financial assistance may be ex9 tended by any agency of the United States Govern10 ment (including the Export-Import Bank and the

11 Overseas Private Investment Corporation) to the

12 Government of Belarus, except with respect to the

13 provision of humanitarian goods and agricultural or

14 medical products.

15 (2) TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY.—No

16 funds available to the Trade and Development Agen17 cy may be available for activities of the Agency in

18 or for Belarus.

19 (f) MULTILATERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—It is

20 the sense of Congress that, in addition to the application

21 of the sanctions described in subsections (c) through (e)

22 to the Republic of Belarus (until the President determines

23 and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees

24 that the Government of Belarus has made significant

25 progress in meeting the conditions described in subsection


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•HR 854 IH

1 (b)), the Secretary of the Treasury should instruct the

2 United States Executive Director of each international fi3 nancial institution to which the United States is a member

4 to use the voice and vote of the United States to oppose

5 any extension by those institutions of any financial assist6 ance (including any technical assistance or grant) of any

7 kind to the Government of Belarus, except for loans and

8 assistance that serve humanitarian needs.

9 (g) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica10 tion of any sanction described in this section with respect

11 to Belarus if the President determines and certifies to the

12 appropriate congressional committees that it is important

13 to the national interests of the United States to do so.

14 SEC. 6. MULTILATERAL COOPERATION.

15 It is the sense of Congress that the President should

16 continue to seek to coordinate with other countries, par17 ticularly European countries, a comprehensive, multilat18 eral strategy to further the purposes of this Act, including,

19 as appropriate, encouraging other countries to take meas20 ures with respect to the Republic of Belarus that are simi21 lar to measures described in this Act.

22 SEC. 7. REPORT.

23 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date

24 of enactment of this Act, and every year thereafter, the

25 President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional


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1 committees a report that describes, with respect to the

2 preceding 12-month period, the following:

3 (1) The sale or delivery of weapons or weapons4 related technologies from the Republic of Belarus to

5 any country, the government of which the Secretary

6 of State has determined, for purposes of section

7 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 1979

8 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)), has repeatedly pro9 vided support for acts of international terrorism.

10 (2) An identification of each country described

11 in paragraph (1) and a detailed description of the

12 weapons or weapons-related technologies involved in

13 the sale.

14 (3) An identification of the goods, services,

15 credits, or other consideration received by Belarus in

16 exchange for the weapons or weapons-related tech17 nologies.

18 (4) The personal assets and wealth of Alek19 sandr Lukashenka and other senior leadership of the

20 Government of Belarus.

21 (b) FORM.—A report transmitted pursuant to sub22 section (a) shall be in unclassified form but may contain

23 a classified annex.

24 SEC. 8. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

25 Congress hereby—


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1 (1) expresses its support to those in the Repub2 lic of Belarus seeking—

3 (A) to promote democracy, human rights,

4 and the rule of law and to consolidate the inde5 pendence and sovereignty of Belarus; and

6 (B) to promote its integration into the Eu7 ropean community of democracies;

8 (2) expresses its grave concern about the dis9 appearances of Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky,

10 Yuri Zakharenka, and Dmitry Zavadsky;

11 (3) calls upon the Lukashenka regime to cease

12 its persecution of political opponents or independent

13 journalists and to release those individuals who have

14 been imprisoned for opposing his regime or for exer15 cising their right to freedom of speech;

16 (4) calls upon the Lukashenka regime to end

17 the pattern of clear, gross, and uncorrected viola18 tions of relevant Organization for Security and Co19 operation in Europe (OSCE) human dimension com20 mitments and to respect the basic freedoms of

21 speech, expression, assembly, association, language,

22 culture, and religion or belief;

23 (5) calls upon the Government of the Russian

24 Federation to use its influence to encourage demo25 cratic development in Belarus so that Belarus can


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1 become a democratic, prosperous, sovereign, and

2 independent state that is integrated into Europe;

3 (6) calls upon the Government of Belarus to re4 solve the continuing constitutional and political crisis

5 through free, fair, and transparent presidential and

6 parliamentary elections, including, as called for by

7 the OSCE, through respect for human rights, an

8 end to the current climate of fear, meaningful access

9 by the opposition to state media, modification of the

10 electoral code in keeping with OSCE commitments,

11 engagement in genuine talks with the opposition,

12 and modifications to allow for genuine authority for

13 the parliament; and

14 (7) commends the democratic opposition in

15 Belarus for their commitment to freedom, their

16 courage in the face of the repression of the

17 Lukashenka regime in Belarus, and the emergence

18 of a pluralist civil society in Belarus—the foundation

19 for the development of democratic political struc20 tures.

21 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

22 In this Act:

23 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT24 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means the Committee on International ReVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 lations of the House of Representatives and the

2 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

3 (2) OSCE.—The term ‘‘OSCE’’ means the Or4 ganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

5 (3) SENIOR LEADERSHIP OF THE GOVERNMENT

6 OF BELARUS.—The term ‘‘senior leadership of the

7 Government of Belarus’’ includes—

8 (A) the President, Prime Minister, Deputy

9 Prime Ministers, government ministers, Chair10 men of State Committees, and members of the

11 Presidential Administration of Belarus;

12 (B) any official of the Government of

13 Belarus who is personally and substantially in14 volved in the suppression of freedom in Belarus,

15 including judges and prosecutors; and

16 (C) any other individual determined by the

17 Secretary of State (or the Secretary’s designee)

18 to be personally and substantially involved in

19 the formulation or execution of the policies of

20 the Lukashenka regime that are in contradic21 tion of internationally recognized human rights

22 standards.

Æ


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AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

TO H.R. 854

OFFERED BY MR. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the

following:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Belarus Democracy

3 Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress makes the following findings:

6 (1) The United States supports the promotion

7 of democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule

8 of law in the Republic of Belarus consistent with its

9 commitments as a participating state of the Organi10 zation for Security and Cooperation in Europe

11 (OSCE).

12 (2) The United States has a vital interest in the

13 independence and sovereignty of the Republic of

14 Belarus and its integration into the European com15 munity of democracies.

16 (3) In November 1996, Lukashenka orches17 trated an illegal and unconstitutional referendum

18 that enabled him to impose a new constitution, abolVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 ish the duly-elected parliament, the 13th Supreme

2 Soviet, install a largely powerless National Assembly,

3 and extend his term of office to 2001.

4 (4) Democratic forces in Belarus have orga5 nized peaceful demonstrations against the

6 Lukashenka regime in cities and towns throughout

7 Belarus which led to beatings, mass arrests, and ex8 tended incarcerations.

9 (5) Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, and

10 Yuri Zakharenka, who have been leaders and sup11 porters of the democratic forces in Belarus, and

12 Dmitry Zavadsky, a journalist known for his critical

13 reporting in Belarus, have disappeared and are pre14 sumed dead.

15 (6) Former Belarus Government officials have

16 come forward with credible allegations and evidence

17 that top officials of the Lukashenka regime were in18 volved in the disappearances.

19 (7) The Belarusian authorities have mounted a

20 major systematic crackdown on civil society through

21 the closure, harassment, and repression of non22 governmental organizations, and independent trade

23 unions.

24 (8) The Belarusian authorities actively suppress

25 freedom of speech and expression, including engagVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 ing in systematic reprisals against independent

2 media.

3 (9) The Lukashenka regime has reversed the

4 revival of Belarusian language and culture, including

5 through the closure of the National Humanities Ly6 ceum, the last remaining high school where classes

7 were taught in the Belarusian language.

8 (10) The Lukashenka regime harasses the

9 autocephalic Belarusian Orthodox Church, the

10 Roman Catholic Church, the Jewish community, the

11 Hindu Lights of Kalyasa community, evangelical

12 Protestant churches (such as Baptist and Pente13 costal groups), and other minority religious groups.

14 (11) The Law on Religious Freedom and Reli15 gious Organizations, passed by the National Assem16 bly and signed by Lukashenka on October 31, 2002,

17 establishes one of the most repressive legal regimes

18 in the OSCE region, severely limiting religious free19 dom and placing excessively burdensome government

20 controls on religious practice.

21 (12) The parliamentary elections of October 15,

22 2000, and the presidential election of September 9,

23 2001, were determined to be fundamentally unfair

24 and nondemocratic.


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1 (13) The Government of Belarus has made no

2 substantive progress in addressing criteria estab3 lished by the OSCE in 2000, ending repression and

4 the climate of fear, permitting a functioning inde5 pendent media, ensuring transparency of the elec6 tions process, and strengthening of the functions of

7 parliament.

8 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL

9 SOCIETY IN BELARUS.

10 (a) PURPOSES OF ASSISTANCE.—The assistance

11 under this section shall be available for the following pur12 poses:

13 (1) To assist the people of the Republic of

14 Belarus in regaining their freedom and to enable

15 them to join the European community of democ16 racies.

17 (2) To encourage free and fair presidential,

18 parliamentary, and local elections in Belarus, con19 ducted in a manner consistent with internationally

20 accepted standards and under the supervision of

21 internationally recognized observers.

22 (3) To assist in restoring and strengthening in23 stitutions of democratic governance in Belarus.

24 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR ASSISTANCE.—To carry out

25 the purposes of subsection (a), the President is authorized


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1 to furnish assistance and other support for the activities

2 described in subsection (c), to be provided primarily for

3 indigenous Belarusian groups that are committed to the

4 support of democratic processes.

5 (c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may be

6 supported by assistance under subsection (b) include—

7 (1) the observation of elections and the pro8 motion of free and fair electoral processes;

9 (2) development of democratic political parties;

10 (3) radio and television broadcasting to and

11 within Belarus;

12 (4) the development of nongovernmental organi13 zations promoting democracy and supporting human

14 rights;

15 (5) the development of independent media

16 working within Belarus and from locations outside

17 the country and supported by nonstate-controlled

18 printing facilities;

19 (6) international exchanges and advanced pro20 fessional training programs for leaders and members

21 of the democratic forces in skill areas central to the

22 development of civil society; and

23 (7) other activities consistent with the purposes

24 of this Act.

25 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.— There are authorized to be

2 appropriated to the President to carry out this sec3 tion such sums as may be necessary for each of the

4 fiscal years 2005 and 2006.

5 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro6 priated pursuant to the authorization of appropria7 tions under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain

8 available until expended.

9 SEC. 4. RADIO BROADCASTING TO BELARUS.

10 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to

11 authorize increased support for United States Government

12 and surrogate radio broadcasting to the Republic of

13 Belarus that will facilitate the unhindered dissemination

14 of information.

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi16 tion to such sums as are otherwise authorized to be appro17 priated, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums

18 as may be necessary for fiscal year 2005 and each subse19 quent fiscal year for radio broadcasting to the people of

20 Belarus in languages spoken in Belarus.

21 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO SANCTIONS

22 AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF BELARUS.

23 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that the sanctions described in subsections (c) and

25 (d) should apply with respect to the Republic of Belarus


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1 until the President determines and certifies to the appro2 priate congressional committees that the Government of

3 Belarus has made significant progress in meeting the con4 ditions described in subsection (b).

5 (b) CONDITIONS.—The conditions referred to in sub6 section (a) are the following:

7 (1) The release of individuals in Belarus who

8 have been jailed based on political or religious be9 liefs.

10 (2) The withdrawal of politically motivated legal

11 charges against all opposition figures and inde12 pendent journalists in Belarus.

13 (3) A full accounting of the disappearances of

14 opposition leaders and journalists in Belarus, includ15 ing Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, Yuri

16 Zakharenka, and Dmitry Zavadsky, and the prosecu17 tion of those individuals who are responsible for

18 their disappearances.

19 (4) The cessation of all forms of harassment

20 and repression against the independent media, inde21 pendent trade unions, nongovernmental organiza22 tions, religious organizations (including their leader23 ship and members), and the political opposition in

24 Belarus.


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1 (5) The implementation of free and fair presi2 dential and parliamentary elections in Belarus con3 sistent with OSCE commitments.

4 (c) DENIAL OF ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES

5 OF BELARUSIAN OFFICIALS.—The President should use

6 his authority under section 212(f) of the Immigration and

7 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) to deny the entry into

8 the United States of any alien who—

9 (1) holds a position in the senior leadership of

10 the Government of Belarus; or

11 (2) is a spouse, minor child, or agent of a per12 son inadmissible under paragraph (1).

13 (d) PROHIBITION ON LOANS AND INVESTMENT.—

14 (1) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FINANC15 ING.—No loan, credit guarantee, insurance, financ16 ing, or other similar financial assistance should be

17 extended by any agency of the United States Gov18 ernment (including the Export-Import Bank and the

19 Overseas Private Investment Corporation) to the

20 Government of Belarus, except with respect to the

21 provision of humanitarian goods and agricultural or

22 medical products.

23 (2) TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY.—No

24 funds available to the Trade and Development AgenVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 cy should be available for activities of the Agency in

2 or for Belarus.

3 (e) MULTILATERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—It is

4 further the sense of Congress that, in addition to the ap5 plication of the sanctions described in subsections (c) and

6 (d) to the Republic of Belarus (until the President deter7 mines and certifies to the appropriate congressional com8 mittees that the Government of Belarus has made signifi9 cant progress in meeting the conditions described in sub10 section (b)), the Secretary of the Treasury should instruct

11 the United States Executive Director of each international

12 financial institution to which the United States is a mem13 ber to use the voice and vote of the United States to op14 pose any extension by those institutions of any financial

15 assistance (including any technical assistance or grant) of

16 any kind to the Government of Belarus, except for loans

17 and assistance that serve humanitarian needs.

18 SEC. 6. MULTILATERAL COOPERATION.

19 It is the sense of Congress that the President should

20 continue to seek to coordinate with other countries, par21 ticularly European countries, a comprehensive, multilat22 eral strategy to further the purposes of this Act, including,

23 as appropriate, encouraging other countries to take meas24 ures with respect to the Republic of Belarus that are simi25 lar to measures described in this Act.


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1 SEC. 7. REPORT.

2 (a) REPORT.— Not later than 90 days after the date

3 of the enactment of this Act, and not later than 1 year

4 thereafter, the President shall transmit to the appropriate

5 congressional committees a report that describes, with re6 spect to the preceding 12-month period, and to the extent

7 practicable the following:

8 (1) The sale or delivery of weapons or weapons9 related technologies from the Republic of Belarus to

10 any country, the government of which the Secretary

11 of State has determined, for purposes of section

12 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 1979

13 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)), has repeatedly pro14 vided support for acts of international terrorism.

15 (2) An identification of each country described

16 in paragraph (1) and a detailed description of the

17 weapons or weapons-related technologies involved in

18 the sale.

19 (3) An identification of the goods, services,

20 credits, or other consideration received by Belarus in

21 exchange for the weapons or weapons-related tech22 nologies.

23 (4) The personal assets and wealth of Alek24 sandr Lukashenka and other senior leadership of the

25 Government of Belarus.


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1 (b) FORM.—A report transmitted pursuant to sub2 section (a) shall be in unclassified form but may contain

3 a classified annex.

4 SEC. 8. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

5 Congress hereby—

6 (1) calls upon the Lukashenka regime to cease

7 its persecution of political opponents or independent

8 journalists and to release those individuals who have

9 been imprisoned for opposing his regime or for exer10 cising their right to freedom of speech;

11 (2) expresses its grave concern about the dis12 appearance of Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky,

13 Yuri Zakharenko, and Dmitry Zavadsky and calls

14 upon the Lukashenka regime to cooperate fully with

15 the Belrussian civil initiatve ‘‘We Remember’’ and to

16 extend to this organization all necessary information

17 to find out the truth about the disappearances;

18 (3) calls upon the the Lukashenka regime to co19 operate fully with the Parliamentary Assembly of the

20 Council of Europe (PACE) and its specially ap21 pointed representatives in matters regarding the res22 olution of the cases of the disappeared; and

23 (4) commends the democratic opposition in

24 Belarus for their commitment to participate in Octo25 ber 2004 Parliamentary elections as a unified coaliVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00086 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 tion and for their courage in the face of the repres2 sion of the Lukashenka regime in Belarus.

3 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

4 In this Act:

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means the Committee on International Re8 lations of the House of Representatives and the

9 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

10 (2) OSCE.—The term ‘‘OSCE’’ means the Or11 ganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

12 (3) SENIOR LEADERSHIP OF THE GOVERNMENT

13 OF BELARUS.—The term ‘‘senior leadership of the

14 Government of Belarus’’ includes—

15 (A) the President, Prime Minister, Deputy

16 Prime Ministers, government ministers, Chair17 men of State Committees, and members of the

18 Presidential Administration of Belarus;

19 (B) any official of the Government of

20 Belarus who is personally and substantially in21 volved in the suppression of freedom in Belarus,

22 including judges and prosecutors; and

23 (C) any other individual determined by the

24 Secretary of State (or the Secretary’s designee)

25 to be personally and substantially involved in


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1 the formulation or execution of the policies of

2 the Lukashenka regime that are in contradic3 tion of internationally recognized human rights

4 standards.


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.....................................................................

(Original Signature of Member)

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. ll

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. ROSLEHTINEN, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. PENCE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. BROWN of

Ohio, and Mr. SHERMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was

referred to the Committee on lllllllllllllll

RESOLUTION

Urging the appropriate representative of the United States

to the 60th session of the United Nations Commission

on Human Rights to introduce a resolution calling upon

the Government of the People’s Republic of China to

end its human rights violations in China, and for other

purposes.

Whereas the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, is the

most important international forum for discussing human


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rights and expressing international support for improved

human rights performance;

Whereas according to the Department of State, the United

States Commission on International Religious Freedom,

and international human rights organizations, the Government of the People’s Republic of China continues to

commit well-documented human rights abuses against the

Chinese people;

Whereas the People’s Republic of China has yet to demonstrate its willingness to abide by internationally accepted norms of freedom of belief, expression, and association

by repealing or amending laws and decrees that restrict

those freedoms;

Whereas the Government of People’s Republic of China continues to ban and criminalize groups it labels as cults or

heretical organizations;

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China

has repressed unregistered religious groups and spiritual

movements and persists in persecuting persons on the

basis of unauthorized religious activities using such measures as harassment, surveillance, job discrimination, exorbitant fines, prolonged detention, physical abuse, incarceration, and closure or destruction of places of worship;

Whereas international human rights organizations have documented that torture, maltreatment, the use of confessions

extracted through torture, and other abuses while in detention are rampant in the Chinese legal system;

Whereas the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners has

been particularly harsh;


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Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China

launched a brutal campaign to eradicate Falun Gong

from their country;

Whereas since this time large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested, subjected to harsh reeducation efforts, and some have even been tortured to death;

Whereas Falun Gong practitioners continue to report harassment and acts of violence at the hands of foreign nationals which have occurred against them during peaceful

protests in the United States and other countries;

Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the possibility of links between attacks

against Falun Gong practitioners in the United States

and the Government of the People’s Republic of China;

Whereas Catholic and Protestant believers continue to face

severe repression in China which include difficulties gaining recognition from the government, holding services,

and training clergy;

Whereas underground Catholics who remain faithful to the

Pope and in communion with Rome face particularly

harsh persecution;

Whereas many Catholic and Protestant leaders and believers

have been imprisoned or subject to house arrest including

Su Zhimin, a Catholic Bishop who was reportedly arrested in 1997 and who is currently reported to be in

very poor health;

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China

continues to exert tight control over the religious and cultural institutions of Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims, using torture, arbitrary arrest, and detention withVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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out public trial against these individuals for peacefully

expressing their religious or political views;

Whereas the whereabouts of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the boy

identified by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama,

are still unknown;

Whereas Gendun Choekyi Nyima was 6 years old when the

Chinese authorities took him and his family away in

1995;

Whereas it is believed that the Chinese authorities are holding him in a secret location;

Whereas Tibetans caught displaying photos of the 11th Panchen Lama or the Dalai Lama face harassment, fines,

and detention;

Whereas in January 2003, the Government of the People’s

Republic of China executed a Tibetan man named

Lobsang Dhondup without due process and despite repeated assurances to United States officials that his case

and that of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche would be would reviewed by the Chinese Supreme People’s Court;

Whereas this review never happened and Tenzin Delek

Rinpoche remains on death row, in the second year of his

suspended death sentence;

Whereas enforcement by the Government of the People’s Republic of China of its one-child per family policy has been

cruel and inhumane and has included the use of forced

abortion and forced sterilization;

Whereas this one-child per family policy has led to the abandonment and infanticide of baby girls and a disproportionate number of male children in China, which will have

serious and detrimental sociological impacts on China for

years to come;


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Whereas 14 years after the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, many protesters remain in

prison and no independent investigations have taken

place regarding the massacre that occurred during those

demonstrations;

Whereas authorities in the People’s Republic of China have

continued their efforts to extinguish expressions of protest or criticism and have detained and sentenced scores

of citizens associated with attempts to organize peaceful

protests, to expose corruption, to preserve their ethnic

minority identity, and to use the Internet for the free exchange of ideas;

Whereas many prisoners in China are confined to state run

psychiatric hospitals for simple acts of expressing their

thoughts on political issues, like veteran human rights activist and prisoner of conscience Wang Wanxing;

Whereas many Chinese prisoners are in Laogai, forced labor

camps in which inmates are subject to various forms of

cruel and forced labor;

Whereas the International Committee of the Red Cross and

other international human rights organizations have been

denied access to the Chinese prison system;

Whereas it well documented that organs taken from executed

prisoners are sold for use in transplants in China and

abroad;

Whereas the percentage of transplant kidneys estimated to be

derived from executed prisoners in China has been put as

high as 90 percent of all transplanted kidneys in China;

Whereas organs reported to be harvested from executed prisoners in China include corneas, kidneys, and hearts;


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Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China

agreed during the December 2002 session of the United

States-China Bilateral Human Rights Dialogue to invite,

without conditions, the United States Commission on

International Religious Freedom, the United Nations

Special Rapporteurs on Religious Intolerance and Torture, and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to visit China;

Whereas none of these visits have taken place in the last year

and, in the case of the United States Commission on

International Religious Freedom, two agreed upon trips

were canceled because of unacceptable conditions placed

on the visit by the Government of the People’s Republic

of China, including refusing the Commission entry into

Hong Kong;

Whereas the United States decision not to introduce a resolution calling upon the People’s Republic of China to end

its human rights violations in China at the 59th session

of United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva was based, in part, on the belief that the aforementioned agreements signaled a good faith commitment on

the part of Chinese officials to improve human rights

practice in China;

Whereas when well-founded, balanced, and accurate resolutions regarding human rights in China were raised in

previous sessions of the United Nations Commission on

Human Rights, the Government of the People’s Republic

of China strongly pressured other countries to oppose the

consideration of those resolutions;

Whereas since the last session of the United States China Bilateral Human Rights Dialogue, a number of very troubling incidents have occurred, including—


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(1) the arrests of a number of democracy advocates,

(2) the detention and torture of 18 Tibetans who

were forcibly repatriated from Nepal with the cooperation

of Chinese officials, in contravention of international law,

(3) the ongoing forced repatriation of North Korean

nationals, who upon return to North Korea will face almost certain arrest, torture, or even death,

(4) the arrest and sentencing of Internet essayists

and labor protesters,

(5) the execution of Lobsang Dondrup and continued detention of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, and

(6) the continued refusal to allow access by United

States diplomats and family members of the accused to

the trials of those detained for political or religious activities;

Whereas the People’s Republic of China has signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but has

yet to take the necessary steps to make the treaty legally

binding;

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China

is a party to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to Refugees and its 1967 Protocol;

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China

is a party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading

Treatment or Punishment; and

Whereas the Constitution and laws of the People’s Republic

of China purport to provide for fundamental human

rights, however, the protections of these rights are often

ignored in practice: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That—


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1 (1) it is the sense of Congress that—

2 (A) the United State Government should

3 continue to insist that the People’s Republic of

4 China adhere to fundamental human rights

5 principles and allow its citizens the full enjoy6 ment of those rights;

7 (B) at the 60th Session of the United Na8 tions Human Rights Commission in Geneva,

9 Switzerland, the appropriate representative of

10 the United States should introduce a resolution

11 calling upon the People’s Republic of China to

12 end its human rights violations in China and

13 meet internationally recognized standards for

14 human rights;

15 (C) the United States Government should

16 take the lead in organizing multilateral support

17 to obtain passage by the Commission of such a

18 resolution and should draft the resolution in

19 such a way as to highlight specific human

20 rights abuses;

21 (D) all countries with representatives at

22 the 60th Session of the United Nations Human

23 Rights Commission should support passage of

24 such a resolution and resist efforts by rep25 resentatives of the People’s Republic of China


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H.L.C.

1 to oppose the consideration or passage of such

2 a resolution; and

3 (E) United States Government officials

4 and officials from other governments should

5 continue to speak out in international forums

6 and elsewhere against Chinese repression of re7 ligious and political freedom, persecution of Ti8 betans, Falun Gong practitioners, Catholics,

9 Protestants, and Uighur Muslims, the unjust

10 arrest and detention of religious leaders and po11 litical dissidents, harsh conditions in Laogai

12 and other prisons, coercive family planning poli13 cies, and the forced return of North Korean ref14 ugees; and

15 (2) Congress urges the Government of the Peo16 ple’s Republic of China—

17 (A) to take the necessary measures to stop

18 the persecution of all religious practitioners and

19 to safeguard fundamental human rights;

20 (B) to stop the forced return of North Ko21 rean refugees, to allow the United Nations

22 High Commissioner for Refugees access to

23 North Koreans inside China, and to work with

24 the United Nations High Commissioner for

25 Refugees to develop a viable solution to the huVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00097 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 manitarian crisis involving North Korean refu2 gees;

3 (C) to end its coercive one-child per family

4 policy and ensure that no national, provincial,

5 or local government officials subject women to

6 forced abortions or sterilizations;

7 (D) to immediately hold an open and

8 transparent investigation into the 1989 crack9 down on pro-democracy demonstrators in

10 Tiananmen Square, to release all the prisoners

11 held in connection with that event, and to pay

12 compensation to the families who lost their

13 loved ones;

14 (E) to release from detention all prisoners

15 of conscience, persons held because of their reli16 gious activities, and persons of humanitarian

17 concern, including, but not limited to, Rebiya

18 Kadeer, Su Zhimin, Yang Jianli, Wang

19 Bingzhang, Jampel Changchub, Phuntsog

20 Nyidron, Sonam Phuntsog, Ngawang

21 Phulchung, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, Geshe

22 Sonam Phunsok, Gong Shengliang, Xu

23 Guoxing, Huang Aiping, Li Minglong, Ji

24 Qingjun, An Shuxin, Jiang Surang, Han

25 Dingxiang, Shi Enxiang, Ma Shunbao, Zhang


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H.L.C.

1 Chunguang, Aisha Awazi, Yusaiyin Wubuli,

2 Wang Zhiwen, Yao Jie, Ji Liewu, Liang

3 Shaolin, Li Nanshan, Du Daobin, Xu Yong

4 Ling, and United States citizen Charles Lee;

5 (F) to release the 11th Panchen Lama

6 identified by Dalai Lama and allow him to un7 dertake his rightful role;

8 (G) to allow the Chinese people to practice

9 freely and openly their religious beliefs;

10 (H) to adhere to the provisions and guide11 lines of the International Covenant on Civil and

12 Political Rights, the United Nations Convention

13 Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, In14 human, or Degrading Treatment or Punish15 ment, and the 1951 Convention Relating to

16 Refugees and its 1967 Protocol; and

17 (I) to allow, immediately and without re18 strictions, visits to China by the United States

19 Commission on International Religious Free20 dom, the United Nations Special Rapporteurs

21 on Religious Intolerance and Torture, the

22 United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary

23 Detention, and the International Committee of

24 the Red Cross.


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1

IV

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 15

Commending India on its celebration of Republic Day.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 27, 2003

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. DAVIS of

Florida, Mr. WEINER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. MCNULTY, Mrs.

MYRICK, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. ABERCROMBIE,

Mr. KIRK, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. FROST, Mr. MATHESON, Mr.

ROYCE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr.

HOLT, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. LOBIONDO, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. TOM DAVIS of

Virginia, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Commending India on its celebration of Republic Day.

Whereas the Republic of India is the world’s largest democracy;

Whereas on January 26, 1950, India adopted its Constitution, which formalized India as a parliamentary democracy;

Whereas the celebration of India’s Republic Day on January

26th is the second most important national holiday after

Independence Day;


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•HCON 15 IH

Whereas the framers of India’s Constitution were greatly influenced by the American Founding Fathers James

Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams;

Whereas among the rights and freedoms provided to the people of India under its Constitution is universal suffrage

for all men and women over the age of eighteen;

Whereas India’s Constitution adopted the American ideals of

equality for all citizens, regardless of faith, gender, or

ethnicity;

Whereas the basic freedoms we cherish in America such as

the freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom of religion are also recognized in India;

Whereas Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi is recognized around

the world as the father of India’s nonviolent struggle for

independence;

Whereas people of many faiths, including Hindus, Muslims,

Sikhs, and Christians, were united in securing India’s

freedom from colonial rule and have all served in various

capacities in high-ranking government positions;

Whereas the Republic of India has faithfully adhered to the

principles of democracy by continuing to hold elections on

a regular basis on the local, regional, and national levels;

Whereas the people of the United States and the Republic of

India have a common bond of shared values and a strong

commitment to democratic principles; and

Whereas President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Atal

Bihari Vajpayee are elected leaders of the world’s two

largest democracies and are actively cultivating strong

ties between the United States and India: Now, therefore,

be it


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•HCON 15 IH

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That Congress—

3 (1) commends India on its celebration of Re4 public Day; and

5 (2) reiterates its support for continued strong

6 relations between the United States and India.

Æ


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IV

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 526

Expressing the sympathy of the House of Representatives for the victims

of the devastating earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2003,

in Bam, Iran.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 11, 2004

Mr. NEY (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. GUTKNECHT,

Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. BURTON of

Indiana, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. HONDA, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida,

and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) submitted the following resolution; which

was referred to the Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sympathy of the House of Representatives

for the victims of the devastating earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2003, in Bam, Iran.

Whereas approximately 40,000 men, women, and children, including a United States citizen, perished in an earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2003, in Bam,

Iran;

Whereas the people of the United States immediately expressed their sincerest sympathy by sending aid to the

victims of the earthquake in Iran;


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2

•HRES 526 IH

Whereas 90 percent of the 2,000 year-old city of Bam was

destroyed;

Whereas the magnificent buildings in Bam belonged not only

to the people of Iran, but to our common world heritage;

Whereas President George W. Bush lifted sanctions on Iran

temporarily in order to enable United States relief organizations to swiftly send aid to Bam;

Whereas United States aid channeled through United Statesbased relief organizations and charities has been warmly

welcomed by the people of Iran;

Whereas United States aid workers have been received with

generosity and great appreciation in Iran;

Whereas the United States generosity has confirmed that the

United States holds no ill will toward the people of Iran;

and

Whereas the spirit and compassionate conduct of the United

States has won it tremendous goodwill among the people

of Iran: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) expresses its heartfelt sympathy for the vic3 tims of the earthquake that occurred on December

4 26, 2003, in Bam, Iran, and their loved ones;

5 (2) expresses its heartfelt gratitude and appre6 ciation for the courageous work of the United States

7 and international aid personnel saving lives in Iran;

8 and

9 (3) welcomes the President’s decision to issue a

10 general license for donations to nongovernmental enVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00104 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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•HRES 526 IH

1 tities engaged in humanitarian relief activities in re2 sponse to the earthquake in Iran.

Æ


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H.L.C.

.....................................................................

(Original Signature of Member)

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. l To recognize more than 5 decades of strategic partnership between the United

States and the people of the Marshall Islands in the pursuit of international peace and security, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. POMBO (for himself, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Ms. BORDALLO,

Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. LEACH, Mr. LANTOS, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr.

CASE, Mr. CARDOZA, and [see attached list of cosponsors]) submitted the

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

lllllllllllllll

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

To recognize more than 5 decades of strategic partnership

between the United States and the people of the Marshall

Islands in the pursuit of international peace and security,

and for other purposes.

Whereas on November 20, 2003, Congress, recognizing our

Nation’s historical responsibilities over the Former Trust

Territory of the Marshall Islands and its successful transition from Trust Territory status to full independence in


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H.L.C.

free association with the United States beginning in

1986, approved the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act, which was signed into law by President Bush

on December 17, 2003, becoming Public Law Number

108–188;

Whereas the Compact of Free Association, as amended by

Public Law 108–188, embodies and extends the close political, economic, and social partnership, as well as the

strategic mutual security alliance, between the Republic

of the Marshall Islands and the United States under the

terms of the bilateral association between our nations;

Whereas this partnership for peace and alliance for the security of our nations and the world began in 1944, when

the heroic armed forces of the United States and its allies, with the courageous assistance of the people of the

Marshall Islands at the risk of their own safety, liberated

the Marshall Islands from Japanese military occupation;

Whereas the friendship and cooperation between the United

States and the people of the Marshall Islands that began

during World War II continued during the next 4 decades, during which the United States exercised powers of

government in the Marshall Islands under a Trusteeship

Agreement with the United Nations;

Whereas during the Marshall Islands trusteeship era the aim

of the United States was to promote international peace

and security through its nuclear weapons testing program

which was viewed as a critical element to the success of

United States global leadership during the Cold War;

Whereas the United States testing program conducted in the

Marshall Islands and the strategy of nuclear deterrence

sustained by the United States and its allies, was carried


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H.L.C.

out in the hope that understanding its destructive power

would be the strategy for which we could arm the world

with reasons for peace among nations;

Whereas from 1946 to 1958 the United States detonated 67

atmospheric nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands,

representing nearly 80 percent of all the atmospheric

tests ever conducted by the United States, and enabling

atmospheric tests in the continental United States to be

terminated and relocated at the greatest possible distance

from large cities and densely populated areas;

Whereas on March 1, 1954, the hydrogen weapons test codenamed Bravo yielded explosive power approximately

1,000 times greater than the weapon used in the 1945

wartime nuclear attack on Hiroshima, Japan;

Whereas the Bravo test created a mushroom cloud 25 miles

in diameter, and produced a crater 6,000 feet in diameter, vaporizing 6 islands at the Bikini Atoll;

Whereas the Bravo test and the 12 year nuclear testing program has been the defining experience of the modern era

for the people of the Marshall Islands, and these momentous events created a common bond between the people

of the Marshall Islands and the United States military

and civilian personnel who shared hardships and suffering with the people of the Marshall Islands during the

testing program, as well as the United States citizens in

areas affected by the mainland testing programs and

weapons production industry;

Whereas the people of the Marshall Islands, having learned

first hand the dangers of nuclear weapons, freely chose

in United Nations observed acts of self-determination in

1982 to enter into the Compact of Free Association in


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H.L.C.

order to become a sovereign nation allied more closely

with the United Sates than any other nation under any

other alliance;

Whereas from the time of choosing self-determination, the

Marshall Islands worked closely with Congress and the

executive branch to bring about a strong understanding

of the unique relationship between their islands and the

other United States insular areas;

Whereas the United States nuclear testing program put the

people of these remote islands on the front line in the

Cold War struggle to preserve international peace, promote nuclear disarmament, support nuclear nonproliferation, and provide facilities critical to the development by

the United States of a deployable missile defense system

to reduce the risks of nuclear missile attacks; and

Whereas as a member state in the United Nations, the world

body that once had oversight of United States stewardship of the trusteeship for the people of the Marshall Islands and their island homelands, the Republic of the

Marshall Islands has an unmatched record of working in

conjunction with the leadership of the United States in

the pursuit of international peace and security, the rights

and well-being of the peoples of the world, and in the

War on Terrorism: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That Congress recognizes as an historic

3 achievement of friendship more than 5 decades of strategic

4 partnership between the United States and the people of

5 the Marshall Islands in pursuit of international peace and

6 security, and recognizes with solemn regard for the cost


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H.L.C.

1 of preserving peace, the importance of the nuclear weapon

2 test code-named Bravo at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Is3 lands on March 1, 1954.


92187i.AAF
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Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman? 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. Faleomavaega? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentleman observes the right to object. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman, I want to express my deepest appreciation to you and our senior Ranking Member, Mr. Lantos, for bringing this resolution before the Members and our Committee for consideration, House Resolution 364. This resolution 

commemorates a very unique 50-year strategic relationship between the Republic of the Marshall Islands and our nation. 

Again, I want to first offer my commendation to the Chairman 

of the House Resources Committee and the chief sponsor of this 

bill, Mr. Pombo from California, and also the senior Ranking Member of the Resources Committee, the gentleman from West Virginia, Mr. Rahall, for their support and sponsorship of this legislation. 

Again, I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Lantos, for 

your support and leadership in bringing this resolution for markup 

by our Committee. I also want to thank the Chairman of our Asia 

Pacific Subcommittee for his support and leadership in this resolution, my good friend, the gentleman from Iowa, Mr. Leach. 

Mr. Chairman, just a couple of months ago with your leadership 

and Mr. Lantos and Members of our Committee, we successfully 

provided for the passage of the renewal of the Compact of Free Association between the Marshall Islands and the Federated States 

of Micronesia and our nation. 

Mr. Chairman, for the history of the Members of our Committee, 

during World War II in the Pacific theater the Marshall Islands, 

along with other Pacific island groups, played very critical roles as 

major staging areas for thousands of our Marines and soldiers who 

fought valiantly against the military dictatorship of Japan. The 

Marshall Islands also have become one of the most important strategic interests in the region simply because of the fact that we have 

the largest missile testing facility at Quadulan, as well as the fact 

that since the 1950s and the 1960s we detonated over 67 nuclear 

devices so as to better our understanding of nuclear weapons systems. 

It was this tiny group of the Marshall Islands that really sacrificed tremendously, allowing several of their islands in Atolls to 

allow us to do this testing procedure. It was in 1954 that the most 

powerful hydrogen bomb was ever exploded. It was called the 

Bravo shot, and was estimated to be 1,000 times more powerful 

than the bombs that we dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

For this reason, Mr. Chairman, the leaders of the Republic of the 

Marshall Islands and certainly Chairman Pombo and those of us 

who are Members of the Committee want to thank you for your 

leadership for allowing this resolution to be brought for consideration. I urge passage of this legislation. 

What time that I have left, Mr. Chairman, I yield to my good 

friend, the distinguished lady from California, Ms. Watson. 

Ms. WATSON. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the right to object. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady reserves the right to object. 

Ms. WATSON. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend Congressmen 

Pombo and Faleomavaega for introducing this resolution that recVerDate Mar 21 2002 09:27 Jul 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00111 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M022504\92187.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
108

ognizes the 5 decades of strategic partnership between the United 

States and the people of the Marshall Islands. I wholeheartedly 

support this resolution and urge my colleagues to do likewise. 

In particular, this important resolution recognizes the fiftieth anniversary of the Bravo nuclear weapon test, which occurred on 

March 1, 1954, of a device that yielded approximately 1,000 times 

greater explosive power than the bomb dropped in Hiroshima. 

The United States has had a long and close relationship with the 

people of the Marshall Islands. During World War II, the 

Marshallese people joined the allied forces in liberating the islands 

from Japanese military rule. At the end of World War II, the 

United States began a 4-decade trusteeship of the Marshall Islands, culminating in Marshallese independence in 1982 under the 

terms of the Compact of Free Association with the United States. 

Appropriately, Congress just last year renewed the Compact of 

Free Association, which is the guiding document for American relations with the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia. 

The United States nuclear testing program in the Marshall Islands did enormous and long-term damage to the health of the 

Marshallese people and the environment if the islands. My good 

friend and colleague, Mr. Faleomavaega, accompanied me to these 

islands last year, and we still found people bearing long lasting injuries and suffering the greatest of poverty, along with a disconnect 

from health services. 

Despite the close political and strategic and social relationships 

between the United States and the people of the Marshall Islands, 

I do not believe that we can forget the ongoing legacy of health 

issues facing the residents of the Marshall Islands, which are directly tied to the numerous nuclear tests conducted by the United 

States in those islands. 

Congress and the Administration, therefore, must continue to 

play a role in addressing the legacy of health issues and the loss 

of land the Republic of the Marshall Islands has undergone as a 

result of nuclear weapons testing in that area 50 years ago. 

I want to let the Chairman know and my colleagues that to fly 

over that area and see islands that were blown off the map, nothing but the rim of the island at the water level is appearing, the 

way people had to leave their homes and go to other islands, which 

have lost its topsoil, their topsoil, and not able to grow a grain and 

have to have food flown in every day. It is heart breaking. 

As we commemorate March 1 as the fiftieth anniversary of the 

Bravo test and celebrate the nearly 60 years of friendship and 

amity between America and the Marshallese people, let us also reaffirm our nation’s responsibilities for problems and issues related 

to our nation’s testing of nuclear devices in the Marshall Islands. 

Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Chairman? 

Ms. WATSON. I withdraw my reservation. 

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

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY [presiding]. The gentleman is recognized on his reservation 

Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to say a 

couple words about H.R. 854 only because I think it is important 

109

to tell our colleagues still remaining, and also the public generally, 

that on the Wednesday before the President’s Day recess, Speaker 

Hastert made time in his very busy schedule to meet with eight 

Belarusians who had come to this country. He invited several 

Members, Mr. Shimkus and I were able to attend. 

The reason for this is that these eight Belarusians represented 

five opposition parties in Belarus. They call themselves Forum Five 

Plus. They span the spectrum from right of center to Communist, 

but they are advancing a slate of 100 candidates for the upcoming 

Parliamentary election. 

As the gentleman well knows, it is his legislation that examines 

the lack of progress and democracy in human rights and civil 

rights in Belarus. Personal freedoms do not exist in any substantial 

extent in Belarus, and these five parties and the slate of candidates 

they will support in general, are really courageous. 

I think it is important that we shine the international spotlight 

of scrutiny on the upcoming election so that Mr. Lukashenko does 

not in fact thwart this effort to move ahead to a democracy and 

does not in fact jeopardize the life and safety of these candidates 

and the political parties. 

I volunteer to pledge to the Speaker that the Europe Subcommittee will be holding hearings on this and doing other things 

to bring the international spotlight of scrutiny to bear on Mr. 

Lukashenko and the Belarusian elections. 

I would close under my reservation by commending the gentleman from New Jersey for the legislation which he offered which 

was unanimously approved by the Europe Subcommittee in April 

of last year. 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Would Mr. Bereuter yield on his reservation? 

Mr. BEREUTER. I would yield on my reservation. 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. I thank my friend for yielding. 

I just want to thank him for his strong support for this bill, for 

holding a markup earlier last year, I should say, on the Belarus 

Democracy Act. It is a bill that seeks to strengthen civil society, to 

promote free and fair elections, human rights monitoring, free 

press, which is nonexistent in Belarus or at least to any extent. 

I agree because I, too, met with the unified opposition. I have 

known many of them for a number of years, including Mr. Labedco, 

who is a very courageous and heroic human rights activist and 

former Parliamentarian who was disenfranchised when 

Lukashenko just dissolved the Supreme Soviet after an election 

that was adjudicated to be largely free and fair. 

I want to thank my friend for his strong support for the bill, and 

I yield back to him. 

Mr. BEREUTER. I thank the Chair for his initiative as I indicated. 

I would just say one concluding thing, and that is that the NATO 

Parliamentary Assembly, where I have served since 1986, has revoked the membership, in this case the associate membership, of 

only one country in the 50 year history of the Assembly and that 

was, in fact, Belarus because after repeated warnings they were 

taking all the steps backwards from democratic institutions and 

free election. 

110

With that, Mr. Chairman, I will yield back. I withdraw my reservations, and shortly hereafter I will ask general leave for all 

Members to submit statements on all of the bills that are being 

considered under unanimous consent. 

Thank you. 

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman? 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Flake? 

Mr. FLAKE. I reserve the right to object. 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The gentleman is recognized. 

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to commend the gentleman from American Samoa, Mr. Faleomavaega, for bringing this 

forward. I have had the opportunity now twice to visit the Marshall 

Islands, and in doing so you realize pretty quickly the strategic relationship and the importance of our relationship with the people 

of the Marshall Islands. 

I think it is important that we make sure that they know that 

that relationship is important. I commend those who worked on the 

Compact of Free Association. It is a good document and really 

charts the course for the foreseeable future. 

I commend the resolution and withdraw my right to object. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman? 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Faleomavaega? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Before I withdraw my reservation to object, 

I want to commend my good friend from Arizona, Mr. Flake, and 

Ms. Watson from California for their supportive statements in this 

resolution. Again, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. 

I withdraw my reservation. 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The gentleman withdraws his reservation. 

Any other reservations? 

[No response.] 

Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous consent 

that under general leave all Members may submit their statements 

on the various resolutions that are being considered by unanimous 

consent. 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Without objection. 

Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The gentleman’s unanimous consent 

request is agreed to. 

Let me conclude. The unanimous consent request made by Chairman Hyde is ordered, and the markup is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 2:24 p.m. the Committee was adjourned.] 

(111)

A P P E N D I X 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE HENRY J. HYDE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, AND CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INTER- NATIONAL RELATIONS

H.R. 3782

I was pleased to introduce H.R. 3782, the ‘‘Counter-Terrorist and Narco-Terrorist 

Rewards Program Act,’’ along with the distinguished Ranking Democratic Member 

of this Committee and our colleague from Illinois, Mark Steven Kirk. This bill 

makes changes and modifications to the long-established U.S. State Department Rewards Program to reflect the growing links between illicit drugs and the financing 

and support of terrorism. 

The State Department Rewards Program has clearly prevented acts of terrorism 

in the past, has helped bring to justice long-sought terrorists, such as the individual 

who fled to Pakistan after assassinating our CIA employees in Virginia, and has 

served as a valuable intelligence tool in the global war on terrorism. The Rewards 

Program could do even more, if we enact this bill, with its reforms. 

It is time for a renewed, expanded reward authority in the State Department, one 

that tackles and contends with the growing links, as recently reported in the press, 

of the illicit drug trade and the financing and supporting of terrorism. Our terrorist 

enemies may very well be changing their methods and means, and we need to be 

even more flexible and creative than they are. 

H. R. 3782 would:

• Clarify that any information provided which can be used to disrupt terrorist 

financing networks, including information related to illicit narcotics production or international trafficking, is eligible for reward monies.

• Provide authority to the Secretary of State to give rewards other than money 

for information related to terrorism and narco-terrorism, such as vehicles, appliances, commodities, and other goods and services.

• Add authority for the Secretary of State to conduct media surveys and create 

or purchase advertisements for the rewards program.

• Require the Administration to submit a plan to the Congress that maximizes 

the publicity surrounding the reward for Osama bin Laden’s capture.

• Raise the statutory maximum amount of terrorist and narco-terrorist rewards 

from $5 million to $25 million.

• Provide the Secretary of State the authority to raise the reward for the capture of Osama bin Laden to $50 million, or double the current authorized reward.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DOUG BEREUTER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEBRASKA

H.R. 854—BELARUS

Mr. Chairman, as Chairman of the Europe Subcommittee I speak 

in support of H.R. 854 regarding the promotion of democracy, 

human rights and rule of law in Belarus. The Europe Subcommittee unanimously reported this bill, as amended, in April of 

2003. 

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Before turning to the author of the legislation for more detail regarding the contents of the bill, I want to restate that the current 

lack of democracy, civil and human rights and real freedom for its 

citizens in Belarus is outrageously unacceptable. 

All of us here are interested in the independence and sovereignty 

of Belarus and its integration into the European community of democracies. Unfortunately, the current government in Minsk does 

not seem interested in and certainly has not demonstrated even a 

rudimentary commitment to democracy and citizen freedoms. 

Two days before the President’s Day Recess, this Member attended a meeting hosted by Speaker Hastert in which he, Mr. 

Shimkus and I met with eight members of the Belarus opposition 

political parties known as the ‘‘Coalition 5 Plus’’. Although they 

represent the entire spectrum of political ideology, they were 

united in the goal of promoting democracy in Belarus and to oppose 

the dictatorship of Mr. Luchashenko. The progress of the Five-Plus 

coalition in unifying the democratic opposition and developing a 

common platform and slate of candidates for democratic change has 

given new momentum to the struggle for freedom. In preparation 

for the October elections the Five-Plus coalition has brought together independent trade unions, NGO’s, and a number of prominent leaders to wage a unified campaign for a slate of parliament 

candidates. We support their courageous efforts and should continue to encourage them to move forward with their plans to bring 

democracy to Belarus. 

Also, during that meeting, I volunteered a pledge to the Speaker 

that the Europe Subcommittee would hold a hearing on Belarus 

and would follow the upcoming Parliamentary elections with great 

interest. We need to shine the spotlight of international security. 

The provisions of this legislation are an appropriate approach to 

a regime which refuses to recognize the realities of the 21st century. 

I urge adoption of this bill. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE EDWARD R. ROYCE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

H. CON. RES. 15—COMMENDING INDIA ON ITS CELEBRATION OF REPUBLIC DAY

Mr. Chairman: 

I want to say a few words about this resolution, of which I’m an original cosponsor. 

We rightly spend much of our time in this committee focused on what’s wrong 

throughout the world—whether it be the authoritarian regime of Robert Mugabe in 

Zimbabwe, or Kim Jong Il in North Korea. 

In this context, I think it is proper for the committee to recognize positive developments—in this case, the vibrant democracy that is India. 

India adopted its Constitution on January 26, 1950, which formalized her identity 

as a parliamentary democracy. The framers of India’s Constitution were greatly influenced by our Founding Fathers, and many of the same freedoms enshrined in our 

Constitution are in India’s Constitution. 

Today, India is the world’s largest democracy. That is an impressive distinction. 

It’s growth as a world power is creating the chance for peace and stability in South 

Asia. 

Last month, the committee had a chance to meet with India’s Foreign Minister 

to discuss the growing bilateral relationship in the areas of space and science. This 

resolution signals Congress’ interest in furthering this important relationship. 

I urge the passage of the resolution. 

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PREPARED STATEMENTS OF THE HONORABLE RON PAUL, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS

H. RES. 499

Mr. Chairman, though it appears that bringing this bill forward in this manner 

is essentially a political exercise by those on the other side of the aisle, I would like 

to comment briefly on what the bill actually does rather than the manner in which 

it is brought forth. This is a bill that seeks Congressional access to information regarding the exposure of the identity of one of our clandestine agents, possibly as 

an act of political retaliation. I think that we most certainly are entitled to know 

this information in our Congressional oversight role. So, I do not think this request 

is preposterous in the slightest. 

Those who argue that we should kill this request in Committee to prevent it from 

coming to the floor are using the specious argument that because the judicial branch 

of government is already looking into the matter, we should just sit back and do 

nothing. As has been pointed out, however, there is ample precedent for Congress 

conducting a simultaneous investigation of matters such as this. So, I am afraid I 

do not buy the argument of those who seek to bury this legislation. 

This is a serious matter and one deserving of Congressional attention. Yet once 

again Congress is demanding to be left out of the loop. Once again Congress is 

shirking its oversight responsibility. Though some here wish to bury this legislation 

because it might embarrass the president, it is interesting that shirking our Constitutional duties with regard to Iraq—refusing to declare war and instead granting 

the president the right to use force as he sees fit—has actually left the president 

much more vulnerable, as the stated reasons for going to war have not proven out. 

We are in a position now where we are debating the correctness of the Iraq war 

after the fact, rather than beforehand as the Constitution requires. This is why the 

Framers of our Constitution put so much effort into crafting a system where the 

powers are separated and subject to checks and balances. So, I don’t think we are 

doing anything good by once again abrogating our responsibilities and authority. 

This constant weakening of the Legislative Branch of government does not bode well 

for the future of our constitutional republic. 

H.R. 854—THE BELARUS DEMOCRACY ACT

Mr. Chairman, I am strongly opposed to this counter-productive legislation. HR 

854 leads us down the road to sanctions and closes the door to peaceful negotiations, 

trade, diplomacy, and improving relations with the Republic of Belarus. 

In particularly Orwellian fashion, the Belarus Democracy Act states that ‘‘the 

United States has a vital interest in the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus . . .’’ and then proceeds to undermine the independence and sovereignty of that country throughout the remainder of the legislation. It appropriates 

‘‘such sums as may be necessary’’ to affect the outcome of the coming elections in 

Belarus. The money will be used to fund one political party over another—something that is rightly illegal in both Belarus and here in the United States. Is it the 

place of the United States to decide which political party should win elections in 

Belarus? I do know that one of the ‘‘opposition parties’’ that this bill intends to finance is the communist party. Is that the kind of party we want to ask the American taxpayer to finance? 

Part of this legislation demands to know the personal wealth of the president of 

Belarus and his top officials. Is this any of our business? If this is to become the 

standard, perhaps we should begin by scrutinizing the personal wealth of the scores 

of oppressive leaders who have enjoyed billions of dollars in US foreign aid through 

the decades. 

Dealing with the substance of the bill, like most everyone here I am no expert 

on Belarus. I don’t know whether these findings are accurate. I do know that some 

of the ‘‘disappeared’’ people have turned up in places like London and elsewhere. 

As we have seen with the sudden ‘‘disappearance’’ and re-appearance of Russian 

President Vladimir Putin’s rival in their upcoming elections, these are often political 

publicity stunts. I do know that some of the human rights groups that have monitored the elections condemned in this legislation have come to different conclusions. 

I do know that Belarus lives at peace with its neighbors. 

The problem when we get into the business of ‘‘democracy-building’’ or ‘‘nationbuilding’’ abroad is that, the immorality of doing so aside, we simply do not know 

enough about these countries to make coherent policy decisions. We are expected to 

appropriate ‘‘such funds as may be necessary’’ to affect a political outcome in a foreign country without knowing a thing about who or what we are funding. I find this 

terribly irresponsible. 

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There is a much better approach to international relations. Time and time again 

we see that peaceful trade and good relations with other countries does much more 

to foster democratization and liberalization than sanctions, diplomatic expulsions, 

and accusations. 

I think constructive engagement is a much better approach to relations with 

Belarus and with the rest of the world. That is why yesterday I introduced HR 

3823, the ‘‘Belarus Freedom Act of 2004,’’ which extends permanent normal trade 

relations to Belarus. More engagement with Belarus, more trade, more contacts, will 

go much further toward fostering peace and freedom than sanctions, intervention 

in their internal electoral politics, and isolation. 

I urge my colleagues to reject this legislation and instead to co-sponsor my proengagement bill. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE NICK SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN

H. RES. 499—CONCERNING VALERIE PLAME

We all agree that revealing Ms. Plame’s identity as a CIA agent is a crime and 

has serious security ramifications. We all agree that the revealing of her identity 

should be investigated. And we all agree that we must punish those who revealed 

her name to the full extent of the law. To the extent that the supporters of this 

resolution are concerned with these questions, I share and applaud their efforts. 

The issue before us is how to best proceed. As a former intelligence officer, I understand the dangers of not handling this investigation properly. The Attorney General has appointed a capable prosecutor, Mr. Fitzgerald, to uncover this criminal activity. Mr. Fitzgerald has been given extraordinarily wide latitude in his investigation. He has called high-level witnesses from the administration, including the 

President’s press secretary and political advisor. And he has demanded and received 

extensive cooperation. Press reports indicate that the grand jury investigation will 

lead to indictments. While Congress does not have access to the grand jury’s proceedings, to protect everyone involved, these reports suggest that the proper action 

is being pursued. 

This resolution directs the agencies to provide documents to Congress related to 

Ms. Plame. This could disrupt the criminal investigation that Mr. Fitzgerald is pursuing. Therefore, I will vote to report this resolution adversely. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE BARBARA LEE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

H. RES. 499—RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY RE DISCLOSURE OF CIA OPERATIVE’S IDENTITY

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to speak in support of this resolution of 

inquiry, of which I am a cosponsor, and I firmly believe that our committee should 

favorably report it out and that the House should immediately act on it. 

The disclosure of an agent’s name for political reasons is inexcusable and dangerous. Confidential information should never be the subject of political game-playing. 

These questions rise to very high levels of the executive branch and they raise 

allegations of serious abuse of political power in order to embarrass Administration 

critics and deflect attention from the real truth about weapons of mass destruction 

in Iraq. 

H. Res. 499 requires the Administration to provide Congress with the information 

it needs to fulfill its Constitutional oversight obligations. 

This is a national security issue which warrants our oversight. 

We have witnessed a wide pattern of the apparent distortion of intelligence information. 

It needs to stop, and we need to get the facts about this case and about the broader misuse of intelligence. I yield back the balance of my time.

Æ