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[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 88 (Thursday, May 25, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H5590-H5591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

            ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF AMERICA'S FOREIGN AID PROGRAM

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks, and include extraneous 
matter.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, we have been debating the foreign aid bill 
for the last few days and we have heard a lot of criticisms about 
foreign aid programs. Some are justified and some are not, but 
undoubtedly some good things have been accomplished. I would like to 
include in the Record, following my remarks, a recent Cincinnati Post 
guest column written by my friend, Dan Radford, executive secretary-
treasurer of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, who has had a very 
productive working relationship with the U.S. Information Agency.
  Working under a grant from USIA, the AFL-CIO's Free Trade Union 
Institute has worked closely with trade union leaders from Ukraine and 
Kazakhstan. A delegation from those former Soviet States recently 
visited Cincinnati to get some positive exposure to our political and 
economic system, with the local labor council serving as host.
  It is my hope that as we move toward a more streamlined and 
productive foreign policy apparatus, we will be able to work with 
groups like this and continue in a more efficient way to provide the 
means for such positive dialog.
  I include the Radford article in the Record at this time as a 
valuable contribution to the discussion.
  The text of the article is as follows:

        Labor Unions Help Nurture Democracies in Eastern Europe

                         (By V. Daniel Radford)

       Semyon Karikov and Gennady Nikitin, trade union leaders 
     from Ukraine and Kazakhstan, visited our city recently to 
     learn about the role institutions like unions play in the 
     community and in our system of government. Their visit was 
     made possible by the AFL-CIO's Free Trade Union Institute 
     under a grant from the U.S. Information Agency. We at the 
     Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council served as their local hosts. 
     I had already been on several educational exchange trips to 
     Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic under the same 
     FTUI/USIA program.
       Why are these exchanges important, and why should our 
     government support these types of activities? Simply put, 
     because it is in our direct interest to help the countries of 
     Eastern Europe to build institutions--like unions--that bring 
     the rule of law and economic stability to their countries.
       Educational exchanges can assist in this process. During 
     their visit, for example, Karikov and Nikitin met with county 
     and city officials from both political parties, with union 
     leaders and rank and file members, and with community 
     political activists. They were given an overview of labor's 
     role in protecting workplace rights and in expressing the 
     voice of workers in politics and economics of a democratic 
     society. They can take these lessons about involvement back 
     to their unions and communities at home.
       While Semyon and Gennedy visited our city, we learned 
     something too, about how hard life is in the countries of the 
     former Soviet Union. Workers labor in dangerous conditions 
     with no safety equipment and return home to eat their meager 
     meals in the dark and cold because there is no heat or 
     electricity. At times they go weeks and sometimes months 
     without pay; they continue working just to keep their jobs.
       Workers in Eastern Europe are still struggling for 
     democracy. In Ukraine and Kazakhstan democracies are not 
     established, and the rule of law doesn't exist. In Ukraine, 
     for example, a man summoned to the police station for 
     questioning was tried, convicted, and carted away to prison 
     on the spot. In both countries, the so-called ex-communists 
     have teamed up with former security officers and mafia-like 
     criminal elements to dominate many aspects of society.
       So, for humanitarian reasons alone, the U.S. should remain 
     engaged in helping those who seek to build democracy in 
     Eastern Europe.
       It is in our own interest as well: the lack of stability in 
     Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and other countries in the former Soviet 
     Union directly threatens the United States. Organized crime 
     groups in Russia alone are roughly ten times larger than the 
     American Mafia. According to FBI Director Louis Freeh ``these 
     same crime groups also pose a significant and direct threat 
     to the United States * * * (they) are engaged in a wide range 
     of criminal activities, including complex tax and health care 
     fraud schemes, extortion, money laundering, and drug 
     trafficking.''
       An even more ominous threat, Secretary of Defense William 
     Perry recently warned, ``are (the) still more than 20,000 
     nuclear weapons in four countries of the former Soviet Union; 
     Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.'' He points out 
     that these weapons ``could be reconstituted into a threat or 
     that some of them could find a way to rogue regimes.''
       A growing web of international organized criminals who can 
     control--and sell--sizable stockpiles of nuclear weapons: 
     it's a crisis waiting to happen.
       Only a firm, stable government and economy can keep these 
     weapons and criminals under control. Democracy with worker 
     participation can help stabilize nations like Kazakhstan and 
     the Ukraine.
       As we have witnessed with Solidarity in Poland, unions have 
     been key in advancing the spread of democracy in the region. 
     And, as we see here at home, unions have a crucial balancing 
     voice in a market economy. During my FTUI visits, I saw 
     Eastern European unions taking steps toward greater political 
     and community involvement, pushing for free elections, a free 
     press, and an understanding and control of economic forces. I 
     think our educational exchanges helped move this process 
     along.
       It's fair to ask ourselves if in this time of cost cutting, 
     we can afford programs like the one that brought Semyon and 
     Gennady here. [[Page H5591]] In light of the potential 
     serious threats the U.S. and rest of the world faces, and 
     because of the benefits we all can gain from an exchange of 
     ideas, we should consider whether we can afford not to.
     

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