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“TRIBUTE TO ARLENE E. WILSON” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E910 on June 7, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO ARLENE E. WILSON
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HON. PHILIP M. CRANE
of illinois
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 7, 2000
Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, today I want to praise the work of Arlene E. Wilson, a Specialist in International Trade and Finance at the Congressional Research Service. Dr. Wilson is retiring after 23 years at CRS, where she conducted major studies, briefings, and seminars on international trade and financial issues for Members of Congress and Congressional staff. Dr. Wilson's knowledge of trade and international finance is so broad and deep and her communication skills so excellent that she is able to explain the European Monetary Union and make U.S. antidumping laws understandable.
Dr. Wilson holds a B.A. in history from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, an M.A. in economics from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in economics from New York University. Prior to coming to CRS in 1977, Dr. Wilson was a research associate at the New York Stock Exchange and a lecturer in economics at Marymount College in New York City, and at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Over the years, she has written 72 reports for Congress, many on international finance issues such as trade and payments balances, the international banking system, and the European Monetary Union. Eight of her reports appeared in committee prints; six others were published by the Fund for Public Policy Research in Studies in Taxation, Public Finance and Related Subjects--A Compendium.
Dr. Wilson has proven to be an authority on foreign trade as well as one on international finance. During one of the most intense trade debates in recent memory, Dr. Wilson led the CRS team covering the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the early 1990s and has written on many aspects of NAFTA: the broad economic perspective; economic comparisons of the United States, Mexico, and Canada; U.S. jobs at risk; the peso-dollar exchange rate; the Mexican peso devaluation; and the impact of NAFTA after it went into effect.
Before NAFTA, Dr. Wilson coordinated the CRS efforts on the U.S.-
Canada free trade agreement. She led a workshop and wrote up proceedings on the potential effects of the agreement on the United States and coordinated the work of 16 CRS analysts on the agreement's possible effects on U.S. industries. Her study examining the U.S.-
Canada agreement after one year was printed in the Bulletin of The Atlantic Council of the United States.
An expert on almost every aspect of the World Trade Organization, Dr. Wilson has written on the antidumping and services agreements reached during the Uruguay Round, on trade and the environment, and on fast-
track trade negotiating authority. She had principal responsibility of analyzing future negotiations in the WTO. Even after she leaves, her work on the WTO will continue to assist Congress as we face a decision on our participation in the WTO.
From 1983 to 1987, Dr. Wilson served as Head of the International Section in the Economics Division. She participated in the U.S. Congressional Task Force for Interparliamentary Cooperation in 1995 and 1996, and spoke on the European Monetary Union for the USIA Germany Speaker Program in 1997 and at the Foreign Service Institute of the Department of State in 1998, 1999, and 2000. She coauthored a course guide entitled ``International Economics'' for a course sponsored by the University of Maryland.
Dr. Wilson is without question an expert in her field. She has served the Congress at the highest level of expertise and has assisted us on virtually every major trade issue of our time. We wish her well on her retirement and thank her for her outstanding service.
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