May 25, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E 1123

old tariffs and quotas, many ‘‘nontariff trade

barriers’’ still exist. By eliminating these barriers, the United States can greatly reduce its

$108 billion trade deficit.

One industry which is affected by these barriers is energy. American corporations, such

as Westinghouse and General Electric, control

about 30 percent of the world’s powerplants

and equipment. However, in the lucrative German market, these corporations have been

blocked. U.S. officials claim that this is blatent

trade discrimination, although it is not done

through traditional practices of tariffs and

quotas. Germany has repeatedly denied contracts to American firms and then given them

to European firms.

Another industry which has been affected is

automobile and truck tire manufacturing. Cooper Tire, despite the promises made under

NAFTA, has been shut out of the valuable

market in Mexico. New restrictions placed on

the industry by the Mexican Government have

blocked imports from the United States, while

exports to the United States have increased.

The Clinton administration has made some

steps by putting pressure on the German Government. This pressure must be continued to

help American corporations prosper in overseas markets. This will help to alleviate the

trade imbalance which the United States now

suffers.

The article referred to follows:

[From the Washington Post, May 14, 1995]

PROTECTIONISM PLAYS A SUBTLER HAND

(By Martha M. Hamilton)

GE had a recent experience in Germany

that was similar to the Westinghouse problem in Cottbus, according to U.S. trade officials.

GE spent more than a year and $750,000 bidding for the right to supply turbine generators for a power plant in Lippendorf in the

former East Germany, only to find itself excluded from the final round of negotiations

for the $250 million contract. Asea Brown

Boveri’s German subsidiary was awarded the

contract.

GE and U.S. trade officials have been

joined by the European Union in protesting

the actions of the Veag, the privatized eastern German electric utility. The EU agreed

that Germany doesn’t allow foreign companies a fair crack at its public sector contracts—a market valued at about $160 billion.

So far, administrative reviews and challenges in German courts have failed to provide GE with the remedy it seeks, and Germany has maintained there was no unfair

discrimination against GE.

Last month, U.S. Trade Representative

Mickey Kantor and Commerce Secretary

Ronald H. Brown wrote Germany’s minister

of economics, Guenther Rexrodt, that they

consider the GE case ‘‘a test’’ of Germany’s

willingness to abide by the rules of the

memo of understanding and willingness to

allow U.S. companies fair access to public

sector contracts. Brown is expected to meet

with Rexrodt later this month.

One argument that U.S. trade officials

hope will persuade Germany to open up public sector contracts is that the German public is paying a higher price than needed for

services because its markets are protected

from competition.

GE still hopes it may win the Lippendorf

contract, according to Gadbaw. He said challenging the German government has been

hard for GE, which doesn’t like to find itself

suing a potential customer. ‘‘We had to

weigh the fact that we are very successful in

the German market in a whole range of product lines with the fact that one of our principal product lines was being shut out of

that market,’’ he said.

H.R. 971 AND ITS EFFECTS ON

INDIAN TRIBES

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HON. BILL RICHARDSON

OF NEW MEXICO

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, May 24, 1995

Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, last week

when the House passed H.R. 961, the Clean

Water Amendments of 1995, certain provisions were included in the bill that would seriously undermine the tribes’ authority to regulate their environments through Clean Water

Act programs. These provisions, amending

section 518 of the Clean Water Act, would

change current Federal law and the established Federal policy of maintaining a government-to-government relationship between

tribes and the Federal Government, a relationship that has been affirmed by every President

of the United States for the past 30 years. The

practical effect of the amendments would be

to reverse the current authority for tribes to

safeguard their environments, as currently provided for in the Clean Water Act. This would

leave reservation waters less protected, and

less capable of being protected, than the rest

of the Nation’s waters. In certain situations,

this arguably would abrogate Federal obligations to the tribes.

The implementation of the Clean Water Act

provisions for tribal authority since 1987 has

been an environmental success story. The impetus for these amendments is a few hypothetical situations which stem from long-standing disputes over tribal-State jurisdiction.

These jurisdictional disputes are the product of

the variety and contradictions among the

changing Federal laws and policies governing

tribal land tenure over the past century and a

quarter—including termination, assimilation,

and the General Allotment Act. If the authority

to set water quality standards is determined by

the checkerboard pattern of tribal and non-Indian fee lands left by these laws and policies,

it would create a water management scheme

that is administratively unworkable and environmentally destructive.

State-tribal cooperative agreements may be

an effective tool for environmental management where those agreements are freely negotiated and mutually agreeable. However, the

agreement process outlined in H.R. 961 will

likely lead to coerced negotiations. Also, the

amendments will create burdensome procedures for dispute resolution and judicial review. They also may sharply limit tribal authority to regulate waters within reservation boundaries, a function consistent with tribal self-governance and the general trend to allow more

local control over local environments.

In the past few years, EPA and the tribes

have begun to build strong partnerships to

protect tribal environments. The bill as passed

will undermine that progress and should not

be a part of any reforms to the Clean Water

Act.

RIVERWOOD INTERNATIONAL’S

MACON PAPERMILL AWARDED

ISO 9002 CERTIFICATION

HON. SAXBY CHAMBLISS OF GEORGIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, May 24, 1995

Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. Speaker, Riverwood

International Corp. is a global paperboard,

packaging, and packaging machinery company headquartered in Atlanta, GA, with 1994

annual sales of $1.3 billion and 6,200 employees worldwide. On May 17, 1995, Riverwood

International announced its Macon papermill,

in Georiga’s Eighth Congressional District,

was awarded ISO 9002 certification, reflecting

the companies adoption of international quality

standards for its global packaging customers.

The first steps in the implementation process for Macon was the formation of a Quality

Improvement Team. This team became the

guide to the installation of the ISO standards.

The Quality Improvement Team consists of

department managers, the director of manufacturing, and the vice president/resident manager. Department managers were chosen to

participate on the team because they could

provide the implementation resources in their

respective area. The largest single resource

recognized was the participation of the operational personnel.

ISO 9002 certification includes all of the production and installation systems of a facility,

and covers all areas of the mill from the

woodyard to warehouse. The mill, which received its certification from Lloyd’s Register

Quality Assurance Ltd., has the capacity to

produce more than 500,000 tons per year of

coated and linerboard.

We should all be proud of the economic

leadership provided by Riverwood in conjunction with the fine people of Macon, GA. This

unique focus on team-work and commitment

to the community are examples we should

strive to emulate. Congratulations to all of the

folks at Riverwood who worked so hard to

gain this distinction.

TRIBUTE TO THE LATE RICHARD

E. LEMASTER

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HON. JOHN SHADEGG OF ARIZONA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, May 24, 1995

Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to

recognize the heroism of Mr. Richard E.

Lemaster, who was, on this date, posthumously awarded the distinguished National

Hero award by the National Association of Letter Carriers for his heroic actions of February

15, 1994. On that date, Mr. Lemaster lost his

life while rescuing his niece and attempting to

rescue his brother and sister-in-law from their

burning mobile home. Mr. Lemaster’s widow,

Margie Lemaster, her son, Chris, Mr.

Lemaster’s brother and sister in-law and several other members of his family were present

in the District of Columbia today for the award

ceremony in his honor. I would like to formally

acknowledge ultimate sacrifice made by Mr.

Richard E. Lemaster, a U.S. Postal Service

letter carrier for more than 23 years, and a

true American hero.