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“REAGAN ADMINISTRATION ALLOWED MILITARY TECHNOLOGY TO BE SOLD TO ROGUE NATION” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3632 on May 21, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
REAGAN ADMINISTRATION ALLOWED MILITARY TECHNOLOGY TO BE SOLD TO ROGUE
NATION
(Mr. GUTIERREZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise with a sad duty today. I rise to present documents showing a direct link between campaign contributions and administration decisions that allowed military technology to be sold to a rogue nation.
Yes, the Departments of Commerce and State took a series of steps allowing military sales to international pariahs. When was this? In the 1980s, during the Reagan administration. And one country buying the equipment, Iraq, would later turn those weapons on us.
But why would Ronald Reagan do such a thing? Well, using the same tactics that other Members have used this week, I checked to see who benefited from those sales. Guess who? The same defense contractors who contributed millions and millions of dollars to the Republicans during the 1980s.
Today we are hearing accusations of treason, of aiding Communist dictators. Well, according to the 1983 Washington Post article, the Commerce Department, then under Ronald Reagan, was found to have made decisions that ``enabled the Soviet Union to improve the accuracy of its nuclear missiles.''
We want to investigate sales of military technology? We want to tie campaign contributions to administration waivers or accuse the White House of aiding Communists?
Let us investigate the President. President Ronald Reagan.
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