The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“OBSTRUCTION OF FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE BUSINESS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S16450-S16451 on Nov. 1, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
OBSTRUCTION OF FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I wish to elaborate on some remarks I made yesterday about the objection pending against the short-term extension of the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act.
Yesterday, the distinguished majority leader came to the Senate floor and said that although he would like to pass the extension, it is being blocked by the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. The majority leader went on to say that the Senator from North Carolina is within his rights to block this legislation, and indeed he is because every Senator has that right.
I want this morning to ask the distinguished chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee to consider changing his mind about holding up the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act.
I spoke yesterday and indicated that in July a group of Members of this body joined together, Republican and Democrat, in cosponsoring a bill which would extend the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act for 18 months, and virtually every Member joined in expressing support for that course.
Here we are in November, and the act has been suspended as of last night, which means that economic aid to the Palestinians committed to by this Nation has stopped. The PLO office in Washington will be forced to close its doors. And as my colleagues know, this is because of an unrelated issue that is going on. That unrelated issue is the dispute over the State Department authorization bill.
Negotiations have been ongoing on that bill between Senator Kerry and Senator Helms. It is my understanding that at present they are stalemated, but because of failure to reach an agreement, the Foreign Relations Committee has been virtually shut down. I think this is wrong in the interest of U.S. foreign policy and of the Senate weighing in on these issues.
We have been unable to take up any ambassadorial nominations in business meetings for a period of weeks, to report them out to the full Senate for confirmation. At the present time, there are at least 18 ambassadorial nominees waiting to have their nominations considered by the committee. They include nominees to serve in some of the most important countries in the world.
The nominee for China has had a hearing, but is pending action in the committee; the same is true for the nominees for Pakistan and Indonesia. These include Jim Sasser, Tom Simons and Stapleton Roy. Nominees for other countries are waiting. South Africa: James Joseph is waiting. Sri Lanka: Peter Burleigh is waiting. Thailand:
William Itoh is waiting. Cambodia: Kenneth Quinn is waiting. Malaysia: John Malott is waiting. Oman: Frances Cook is waiting. Lebanon: Richard Jones is waiting. The Cameroons: Carl Twining is waiting. The Marshall Islands: Joan Plaisted is waiting. Fiji: Don Gevirtz is waiting.
Also on hold are nominations for special adviser on the New Independent States, James Collins, and United States coordinator for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, Sandra Kristoff.
In addition, 273 Foreign Service officers who have been nominated for standard promotions are on hold. So we have 273 Foreign Service officers on hold. We have 18 ambassadorial appointments on hold, at least 5 of them considered to be critical, like those for Pakistan or China.
Now, when we do not have an Ambassador in the country, U.S. interests do not receive the attention that they deserve. In some countries, this is more critical than others. Probably the most critical at this time is China. And Senator Sasser, who could have been in New York this past week to participate in the summit between President Clinton and President Jiang Zemin of China--could have been--was not.
I think the American people deserve to have their interests represented abroad. So by failing to confirm Ambassadors, the Senate is not doing its job to help protect U.S. interests abroad. Not only do our interests suffer, but I think the lives of a number of hard-working and dedicated Americans are put on hold. These are people who, often at considerable personal risk, serve the American people with pride and distinction overseas.
Last night I had a phone call from one of them. He said, ``Can you just tell me when I might be confirmed?'' And I had to say, ``No, I'm sorry. I can't tell you.''
Earlier, I had another call from a nominee who had his house on the market and had received an offer on the home. Does he sell it or does he not sell it? ``Sorry. I can't help there.''
Mr. President, this is no way to run a railroad, let alone the Government of the most powerful country in the world.
There are also two extremely important arms control treaties that are awaiting Foreign Relations Committee action: The START II Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Let me mention what Start II does. The START II Treaty, signed by the Bush administration and not yet ratified by this Congress, is the farthest reaching arms reduction treaty ever signed in the history of this Nation. It will require the United States and Russia to eliminate literally thousands of intercontinental ballistic missiles, including those which carry multiple warheads. The treaty would also eliminate missile silos and testing and training launchers.
The Foreign Relations Committee held extensive hearings on the START II Treaty both in this Congress and during the 103d Congress. We have heard from the administration, from military officers and from outside experts, virtually all urging that we ratify this treaty.
I know of no significant opposition to the ratification of the START II Treaty. Nevertheless, the committee is unable to begin consideration of it. This is wrong.
The same is true of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Let me tell you what the Chemical Weapons Convention does. The convention, also signed by the Bush administration, will ban an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. It will make it harder and more costly for proliferators and terrorists to acquire chemical weapons. It will create an intrusive monitoring regime that will make it very difficult for signatories to conceal violations of the convention.
The Chemical Weapons Convention has been signed by 159 countries and ratified by 38 to date, yet the U.S. Senate has still not had the opportunity to consider the treaty. The Foreign Relations Committee has had hearings on the convention, and it can be considered at any time. But, once again, the committee has been prevented from carrying out its duty.
Should this happen? As I said earlier, it is any Member's right to stop a piece of legislation, but when you have hundreds of Foreign Service officers, 18 Ambassadors, and two treaties held hostage to a piece of legislation that is not related, one has to begin to consider what effects this has.
Mr. President, one of the things that I learned in my brief stay here is that what goes around, comes around, and that it does not make good, logical, long-term sense to engage in holds when this can easily be replicated at another time but in the same place by the opposition party.
This committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, has been through some of the most painful and hotly contested foreign policy issues of our time: the Vietnam war, aid to Central American rebels and sanctions against South Africa. But never during all that time, to the best of my knowledge, has the committee been shut down and ceased to function. Now, on the basis of a dispute about the bureaucratic reorganization of our foreign policy institutions, the conduct of the U.S. foreign policy is being put on hold.
I believe this is wrong. I believe it is irresponsible. I believe it is a dereliction of our duties as U.S. Senators. There simply is no justification for curtailing the entire role of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy over one single reorganizational issue.
Pursuant to the unanimous consent agreement of September 29, Senator Helms and Senator Kerry have been engaging in serious negotiations to try to reach an agreement. Their staffs have met repeatedly over the last month. I am hopeful that progress can be made.
So at this time I would like, respectfully, and with a great deal of friendship, to call upon the chairman of the committee to withdraw his objection to consideration of a short-term extension of the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act, to allow the committee to take action on START II and the Chemical Weapons Convention, to report out the 18 ambassadorial nominations and 273 Foreign Service promotions, and to continue negotiating toward an agreement on the State Department authorization bill.
I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
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