Howard Berman

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I think I should then also correct myself. The version of the amendment that I read yesterday on the airplane had some very specific provisions. Apparently they are not in here now.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I was not saying the gentleman is simply an agent of the restaurant and bars. He used to catalog a series of things he felt were wrong with the way music was paid for, and that it was very difficult for people who had to pay for music to find out just which of the performing rights organizations had the music, and that was part of his whole series of criticisms. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum) to answer the gentleman from Wisconsin's initial question.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak to the comments of the gentleman from South Carolina and earlier the gentleman from Florida, who talked about our constitutional obligation. Because I think when we examine this closely, and I say this with tremendous respect for both the sincerity and the principle, not to mention the legal acumen of the sponsor of this resolution, but this is a laughable way to claim we are fulfilling our constitutional obligations, really laughable. This resolution is pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, as I understand it. 5(c) says, ``notwithstanding subsection (b),'' which is the report triggering action language, ``at any time that the United States armed forces are engaged in hostilities . . . without a declaration of war,'' there is not one here, and I will concede generally and I will concede for this purpose that we are in hostilities in Bosnia, ``without a declaration of war, without specific statutory authorization,'' and we have no specific statutory authorization, I do not consider an appropriation to be a substitute for that, ``such forces shall be removed by the President if the Congress so directs by concurrent resolution.'' If the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell) had offered a resolution under expedited procedures to test the meaning of the War Powers Act and whether or not a court would uphold it in the best possible circumstances, which is what he claims he is trying to do, he would have offered a resolution to pull the forces out now. He shirked from that, even though that is his true feeling, he acknowledged such in the Committee on International Relations, and instead has put forth this fancy-dancy thing that responds to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) by saying, I am not asking for them to come out; I am simply asking for a resolution that says that after we test this resolution, if we do not let them stay in, they will then come out. There should be a resolution right in front of us now testing our constitutional obligations, what our view is on this issue, are we for or against this particular intervention and it should be done. They have the expedited procedures we have which they say they are asking for. This resolution does not do it. I urge a no vote.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. Mr. Chairman, I join the gentleman in support of H.R. 1432, the African Growth and Opportunity Act. This bill will help sub-Saharan countries build economic self-sufficiency and reduce their isolation in an increasingly interdependent world. The bill supports U.S. aid programs that are vital in the near term, but focus on sustainable development as the only way to substantially boost living standards in some of the world's poorest countries. It promotes trade, foreign investment, debt relief, and private enterprise, including businesses run by women. At the same time, the bill requires that beneficiary countries have or must be moving towards market-based economies. It requires they be committed to accountable government, the eradication of poverty, observance of human rights: these criteria offer the best chance for prosperity and stability in the region. The debate today will go into great details on many of the provisions. There will be some amendments which make the bill even better, and others which will be designed to fundamentally gut the key provisions of this bill, but I urge support for the bill and opposition to those amendments, in the context of trying to help H.R. 1432. Mr. Chairman, opponents of H.R. 1432 say that the United States should not help Sub-Saharan Africa by dropping quotas and tariffs on textiles and apparel, even though these are the goods countries in the region can most readily produce. Opponents argue that reducing trade barriers will make U.S. imports of such goods soar, threatening U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers and workers. They vastly overstate the case. To address this concern, the Committee on Ways and Means asked the International Trade Commission to assess potential textile and apparel imports from Sub-Saharan Africa under the terms of the bill. The ITC estimated that even with duty- and quota-free treatment, textile and apparel imports from the region will not exceed three percent of total U.S. imports of such goods over the next 10 years. Sub-Saharan African imports currently account for less than one percent of total U.S. textile and apparel imports. Such modest growth, while important to Africa, clearly would pose no threat to U.S. manufacturers or workers. The bill provides for a review of the no-tariff, no-quota policy by requiring the President to report annually to Congress on the growth of textile and apparel imports from Sub-Saharan Africa. Even if imports unexpectedly rise dramatically, we can revise the policy before U.S. textile interests suffer substantial harm. Opponents also warn that the no-tariff, no-quota policy will spark a massive increase in illegal transshipments of goods from Asia. While illegal transshipment is always a concern, they again overstate the case. The bill contains strong provisions to prevent illegal transshipment. Sub-Saharan African countries will enjoy duty- and quota-free treatment only after they demonstrate that they have effective visa systems in place to guard against transshipments and counterfeit documents. The bill directs the U.S. Customs Service to monitor and report annually to Congress on the operation of those systems. It also penalizes those who circumvent the visa systems. Exporters who illegaly transship goods will lose duty-free benefits for two years. H.R. 1432 is a welcome change in U.S. policy that views Sub-Saharan countries as potential partners and not simply aid recipients. Africa's economic progress ultimately will depend on the policies that states in the region adopt. This bill guides them in the right direction. I strongly support H.R. 1432, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in congratulating Isabelle Glen-Lambert, who is surely one of the youngest political activists in California. Isabelle--just seven years old--led a successful petition drive in her school to allow all students fair access to all of the playground equipment. I am not surprised to see such political sophistication in one so young, considering that here grandfather, my long time friend Bill Lambert, is the Director of Governmental Relations for the United Teachers of Los Angeles. It is clear that Isabelle has inherited Bill's endless energy, imagination and determination, and perhaps has even outdone him! Mr. Speaker, Isabelle's extraordinary accomplishment was chronicled in the Los Angeles Daily News in the following story. I recommend it to my colleagues as a shining example of that wonderful old saying, ``where there's a will, there's a way.'' Playtime Politics at Work--7-Year-Old Shows Lobbyist's Acumen (By Terri Hardy) Like any good lobbyist, Isabelle Glen-Lambert has roamed the hallways of the state Capitol, schmoozed with legislators and passed out her business card along the way. Her most successful foray into activism so far: She directed a petition drive at Calvert Elementary School in Woodland Hills that won students fair access to use all of the playground equipment. Isabelle is 7--perhaps the youngest political activist in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She comes by it naturally: Her grandfather is Bill Lambert, lobbyist for United Teachers Los Angeles. ``Isabelle's been weaned on the legislative process,'' said her dad, Floyd Glen-Lambert. The second-grader's most impressive campaign began last month, when Calvert's principal announced that the school's playground equipment was no longer going to be open to all students by grade level. The principal had found that too many children were using the equipment at the same time, causing some to get hurt. So without consulting students, she directed that only those children seen behaving well would be awarded with a ticket and allowed to play there. ``I didn't get real upset until I started talking it out with my friends,'' said the spunky Isabelle. ``It wasn't fair that you had to get those dumb tags.'' Isabelle stewed about the problem, but knew that it was possible to change the system. After all, she'd been to Sacramento with her grandfather, watching high-powered deal making. She'd talked to politicians herself, handing out her own ``lobbyist'' cards, that her father--a commercial printer-- had made. (Asked about her grandfather, Isabelle had a quick response: ``He's never been a law--he's still a Bill,'' then let out a guffaw.) A possible solution to the playground problem dawned when Isabelle's mother remembered that as a youngster, she had circulated a petition among her classmates so girls would be allowed to wear pants at school. One morning at breakfast, Isabelle shared her plan-- ``Daddy, I've made my decision, I'm going to make a petition.'' ``We kicked it around a little bit, she wrote it, and put it on a clipboard,'' Glen-Lambert said. Her first signature came from her 5-year-old sister, Rosie. Several names later, she walked into the principal's office. ``I wanted to give her the biggest hug,'' said Calvert Principal Shelley Rivlin-Hollis. ``It indicated she had a real sense of security here, and also that she had an understanding of the democratic process.'' Rivlin-Hollis decided that the best way to handle the petition--the first she'd gotten as principal there--was to have the school's student council debate the issue. Representatives from grades three to five chose sides of the question and then interviewed students, teachers and yard monitors to back up their arguments. The ``great debate'' was held in early December. Those on the ``pro'' side argued that more children got hurt under the old system, which allowed use of the apparatus by rotating the chance to play on the equipment grade level by grade level. ``Less people got hurt when it was an award, in fact, no one got hurt then,'' said Rocio Carbajal, a 10-year-old student council member. But Derrik Clark, 11, countered that ``no matter what kind of area, if kids aren't careful, they're going to get hurt.'' Jerry Johnson, 10, tipped the scales when he argued that everyone should have access. ``Even when some people are bad, they still want to play there,'' he said. In a close vote, the council supported Isabelle's petition--with the new proviso that it would now be rotated by classroom, not based on grade level or good behavior, keeping the amount of children in the area down and limiting the chance of injury. ``Kids identified the issue and solved the problem, everyone was happy with the resolution,'' Rivlin-Hollis said. Glen-Lambert said he was thrilled that the children were allowed their say. ``We have shared decision making at this school, but sometimes people forget about the children,'' Glen-Lambert said. And Isabelle? She was happy just to get back on the monkey bars. ``Look around this place,'' said Isabelle, gesturing at the wide expanse of blacktop playground. ``Do you see anything else good to play on?'' Although pleased with the experience, it hasn't swayed the little girl from her aspiration to become a singer. ``Would I like to be a lobbyist? No,'' she said. ``When I went up to Sacramento, it seemed like a lot of work.''

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to rule XXII, clause 4, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 2604.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to my good friend Eduardo Palacios, who for 27 years has been a bona fide hero to hundreds if not thousands of immigrants in the San Fernando Valley. In 1971, Eduardo started an immigrant rights and resource clinic in a tiny one-room office in the City of San Fernando. Today these kinds of centers are common, but that wasn't the case in the early 1970s. Eduardo was motivated by humanitarian concerns and a strong sense of Chicano pride. He witnessed Mexican immigrants who were being exploited by unscrupulous businesses. Language and culture prevented many from seeking or receiving help. By offering his services, Eduardo filled a huge need. Soon after opening, the clinic moved into a room with a couple of desks and file cabinets in Santa Rosa Church. The clinic adopted the name Immigration Services of Santa Rosa. Using a corps of dedicated volunteers, Eduardo expanded the clinic to include job referrals, medical assistance, food and shelter. He was doing everything possible to provide his clients with the tools to make a good living in this country. It's hard to believe that Eduardo was doing this work while employed full-time at Harshaw Chemicals. In 1983, he left his job with Harshaw to devote himself to assisting immigrants. Two years later Immigration Services of Santa Rosa was accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals, which led to more clients. The timing could not have been better; new arrivals were now coming to Southern California from Central America as well as Mexico. Immigration Services of Santa Rosa is a family affair. In 1988, Eduardo hired his daughter, Victoria Aldina, as Assistant Executive Director; three years later his son, Carl Alan, joined the organization as Administrative Director. Together the Palacios have been a godsend for Spanish-speaking immigrants. I ask my colleagues to join me today in saluting Eduardo Palacios, a leader in the effort to improve the lives of immigrants. His compassion, sensitivity and extraordinary energy inspire us all. I am proud to be his friend.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, Ron Dellums started his political career as an ``outsider''--working to change the establishment and speaking out against the Vietnam War. Twenty-eight years later, he has risen to the top of the establishment and is a distinguished authority on military policy. When contemplating his progress, two points stand out: One--He has advanced in stature while holding fast to the values and ideals that first brought him to Congress, and Two--In a very unique manner, he has earned enormous respect for his ideas and his leadership, even from those who vehemently disagree with him. I'm sure that many in the military thought that the ascension of Ron Dellums the Chairmanship of the House Armed Services Committee was Armaggedon itself. Instead, they found a careful and intellectual examination of the military establishment that won Ron Dellums the regard of many of its staunch defenders, as well as those who thought that most military dollars would be better spent elsewhere. Ron Dellums has been a champion for peace, for social justice, for human rights, for the environment, for arms control, for equality and for the working men and women of America. --and all this while maintaining his position as one of the best dressed Members in Congress... It is impossible to overstate the range and depth of his influence. We will greatly miss his leadership.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, my colleague Mr. Waxman and I want to bring to your attention, our close personal friend, Los Angeles City Controller Rick Tuttle (L.A.'s elected financial officer), will receive the L.A. City's ``Employee of the Year'' Award on December 10, 1997. We would like to take this opportunity to recognize, at a national level, what the people of Los Angeles have known for decades and we, individually, have known for all of our professional lives: Rick Tuttle is an extraordinary individual who has made a major mark by contributing his time and talents to elevate the quality of life of Los Angeles. The ``Employee of the Year'' award will be presented to Rick by the All City Employees Benefits Service Association (ACEBSA) for his outstanding achievements in a city career that spans 12 years. In announcing the selection, ACEBSA President, Jay R. Sloan said, Mr. Tuttle heads one of the City's most important and largest departments. His record as an outstanding leader speaks for itself. His career sparkles with achievement. Few people have been as dedicated, and have contributed so much time, energy and passion, as Rick has to the City of Los Angeles. He has made an enormous mark not only on the City but on the larger society as well. It would be impossible to list all of Rick's honors, but we would like to mention a few. Among the awards Rick has received are the Equal Justice in Government Award from the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; the Distinguished Public Service Award presented by the Pacific Southwest Region of the Anti-Defamation League; Lifetime Membership Award from the Los Angeles Business Council; the Distinguished Leadership Award for 1996 presented by the Association of Government Accountants. He has served as Director of the Los Angeles West Chamber of Commerce, a Director of the UCLA Religious Conference at UCLA and has been an active leader of the California Democratic Party for 30 years. As our immediate successor as statewide President of the California Federation of Young Democrats, as a friend and ally for over 30 years, Rick has an impressive commitment to community improvement. His awards and achievements have come over three decades of professional excellence: as a Dean of Students at UCLA, as an elected trustee of the Los Angeles Community colleges and as L.A. city's Controller since 1985. We, of course, have a personal involvement with the entire Tuttle family. His wife, Muff Singer, served as campaign coordinator and the first Administrative Assistant to Howard Berman. Muff left government employment to pursue a career as a successful writer of children's books and to devote herself to raising a family. Rick and Muff's daughter, Sarah, has been raised with a respect for community involvement and is already a pride to her community. From his time of his courageous civil rights involvement in the early 1960's (from Wesleyan University he went south to register voters and to fight for civil rights) to his courageous and fierce guardianship of L.A. city's budget as City Controller, Rick has been an exemplar of the best of public service. Each of us have known Rick, and his wife, Muff, personally and professionally for more than thirty years. He is a close personal friend, trusted advisor, and a model of what an elected official ought to be. Our admiration of him is indescribable.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 1085 is a bill prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel that codifies without substantive change certain general and permanent laws related to title 36, concerning patriotic and national observances, and title 49, concerning transportation. This is part of the Law Revision Counsel's program of recommending technical changes to the positive law titles of the United States Code which consolidate and streamline existing law. The bill makes no substantive changes, and I urge the Members to support it. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time on my side, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to my good friend Eduardo Palacios, who for 27 years has been a bona fide hero to hundreds if not thousands of immigrants in the San Fernando Valley. In 1971, Eduardo started an immigrant rights and resource clinic in a tiny one-room office in the City of San Fernando. Today these kinds of centers are common, but that wasn't the case in the early 1970s. Eduardo was motivated by the humanitarian concerns and a strong sense of Chicano pride. He witnessed Mexican immigrants who were being exploited by unscrupulous businesses. Language and culture prevented many from seeking or receiving help. By offering his service, Eduardo filled a huge need. Soon after opening, the clinic moved into a room with a couple of desks and file cabinets in Santa Rosa Church. The clinic adopted the name Immigration Services of Santa Rosa. Using a corps of dedicated volunteers, Eduardo expanded the clinic to include job referrals, medical assistance, food and shelter. He was doing everything possible to provide his clients with the tools to make a good living in this country. It's hard to believe that Eduardo was doing this work while employed full-time at Harshaw Chemicals. In 1983, he left his job with Harshaw to devote himself to assisting immigrants. Two years later Immigration Services of Santa Rosa was accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals, which led to more clients. The timing could not have been better; new arrivals were now coming to Southern California from Central America as well as Mexico. Immigration Services of Santa Rosa is a family affair. In 1988, Eduardo hired his daughter, Victoria Aldina, as Assistant Executive Director; three years later his son, Carl Alan, joined the organization as Administrative Director. Together the Palacios have been a godsend for Spanish-speaking immigrants. I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting Eduardo Palacios, a leader in the effort to improve the lives of immigrants. His compassion, sensitivity and extraordinary energy inspire us all. I am proud to be his friend.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month two of our colleagues, Mr. Matsui and Mr. Kolbe, attended an interesting seminar on United States-Japan trade issues. I was unable to attend but received a copy of the remarks presented by Norifussa Kagami, executive director of the Export-Import Bank of Japan. The seminar, I understand, brought together a range of viewpoints on the bilateral trading relationship between the United States and Japan--a topic of increasing concern to the Congress as we consider the impact of financial problems in Asia, including in Japan, on American markets and economic stability. Both the United States and Japan have an intense interest in resolving the region's economic difficulties. As Mr. Kagami mentions, Japan has already played a very constructive role in assisting Thailand. I imagine that they will be called upon to do much more in the coming months. As ranking member of the Asia and Pacific Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, I welcome efforts at constructive cooperation between Japan and the United States in international financial markets and, of course, efforts taken by Japan to expand American exports to Japan in order to resolve our outstanding trade issues. I think my colleagues will find Mr. Kagami's remarks of interest and following is an abridged text of his address: Speech by Norifusa Kagami, Senior Executive Director, the Export-Import Bank of Japan 1. Opening My name is Norihusa Kagami and I am from the Export-Import Bank of Japan. It is my great honor to be here. I would like to express my appreciation to Congressman Mel Levine for taking the chairmanship and acting as the moderator today. I am honored to have the presence of Congressmen James Kolbe and Robert Matsui today. They are both playing a leading role in discussion of U.S. trade issues with other countries. What I would like to do in this presentation is to talk about the role played by JEXIM in U.S.-Japan trade relations. I would also like to touch on our Bank's financial operations in the Americas. But first, I will give you a brief overview of what JEXIM is. 2. An Overview of JEXIM Our Bank was founded in 1950 with a mandate to provide support to Japan's external economic policy from the financial side. Since then, as a governmental financial institution, with government-owned capital stock of 985.5 billion yen or roughly 8.2 billion US dollars today, JEXIM has responded to Japan's changing political agenda over the years in the ways it has provided loans, guarantees and equity investment. Our financial resources are obtained mainly through borrowings from the Trust Fund of the Ministry of Finance and bonds issued in the international capital markets. The Trust Fund Bureau manages funds deposited in savings accounts at Japanese post offices and state-sponsored basic pension funds. Our operational aim is to supplement and encourage the activities of private financial institutions. As an independent bank, our policy is to ensure repayment and cover operational expenses through our income. JEXIM is authorized to extend the following four main financing instruments. First, ``export credit'' encourages exports of ships and plants. Second, ``import credit'' encourages imports of energy resources and large-scale finished products such as aircraft. Third, our Bank finances Japanese direct investment abroad to help Japanese firms expand their operations overseas. Fourth is untied loans, which are loans that do not require purchase of goods and services from Japan and are provided primarily to the developing countries. Let me say that, in our total operations, the share of export credit has been on a steady decline. In Japan, export transactions for which our Bank provides some financing accounts for a little less than 1 percent of total exports today. Now let me take up untied loans. These loans are usually cofinanced with the World Bank, IMF or other multilateral financial institutions and are intended to improve economic infrastructure in developing nations or to strengthen international financial order. Later I will refer to this loan modality when we discuss the financial support JEXIM provided to a new debt strategy for Latin American countries under the Brady Plan. Very recently, JEXIM has also provided an untied loan in the yen equivalent of 4 billion dollars to Thailand so that it can effectively cope with its currency crisis. This was made amid concerns that the crisis was spilling over to other Asian countries. This loan was extended to support the economic readjustment program drawn up by the Thai government in consultation with the IMF. Its objective was to uphold a stable international financial order. This untied loan forms part of the international financial package put together by the IMF and participated in by other multilateral institutions as well as Asian countries. JEXIM's contribution was the largest, comparable with the amount committed by the IMF. 3. U.S.-Japan Trade Issues--JEXIM's Role in Trade Friction Problems Next, I would like to take this opportunity to address the role played by JEXIM in Japan's trade issues, especially our bilateral trade frictions. Since late 1960's when the textile trade first posed a problem between the U.S. and Japan, we have had lingering problems with automobiles since 1979 and other issues. In fact, they are still ongoing issues between our two countries. In this context, our Bank takes credit for our contribution toward easing trade friction. We have made available various financing modalities. Among them are facilities for imports of manufactured goods and direct investment abroad. Let me now describe them in detail. A. Credit Facility for the Import of Manufactured Goods JEXIM has a credit facility specifically for the import of manufactured goods that helps directly reduce trade and current account surpluses. This facility was set up on November 1, 1983 to foster the imports of manufactured goods to Japan. It was instituted as a result of the Japanese government's comprehensive package of economic measures in October, 1983 and in the context of a more general objective of broadening our economic interactions with other countries and promoting better external relations. In addition, after our government decided on the emergency economic package on September 16, 1993, this facility was expanded to further increase imports. I am happy to report to you that these efforts, made by JEXIM as well as by the Japanese government, are being reflected in a rising trend of the ratio of manufactured goods to total Japanese imports. It climbed from 28.2 percent in 1983 to 58.9 percent in 1996. JEXIM has provided financing to Japanese importers of American products to fund a variety of imports, including aircraft and communications satellites, from Boeing, AT&T, Motorola and U.S. companies. In fact, during the period from 1983, the year these loans were first made available, to 1996, imports from the United States accounted for 91 percent of the total cumulative loan commitments from this facility; undoubtedly an overwhelming portion. Further, after the revision of the Export-Import Bank Law in May, 1984 in which this facility was expanded to cover financing to exporters, JEXIM has extended direct loans to foreign exporters. Of eight such commitments, five were given to American corporations to date. One recent example was credit provided to GM and Ford for their capital investments in order to produce right-hand drive automobiles to be exported to Japan. B. Financing Direct Investment in the United States JEXIM has contributed to a decrease in the trade surplus not only with import credit but also with financing equity investment. It bolsters overseas operations of Japanese corporations and also induces economic and industrial collaboration in host countries, thereby promoting the international horizontal division of labor. As to investments in the United States, our Bank has helped increase U.S. employment as well as alleviating trade frictions through financial support to direct investments of our domestic automakers and semiconductor and other electronic manufacturers. One recent project involves a 300-million dollar direct loan to a joint semiconductor production venture by American and Japanese firms in Manassas, Virginia. Currently, JEXIM is reviewing financial support to Amtrak for the Northeast corridor high-speed train project whose aim is to improve the rail linkage between Washington, D.C., New York and Boston. We are now working toward the final signing of the loan agreement. C. Equity Participation Another function JEXIM performs is equity participation. The first project of this kind was an investment in the United States. In 1993 our Bank made equity investment totaling 1.5 billion yen or 12 million dollars together with the port authority of Los Angels and set up a firm that manages a construction project for a coal loading terminal in Los Angels port. The terminal will be used to export coal to East Asian countries including Japan. For our economy, it will facilitate imports of coal, while it will help boost the American coal industry. As I have described so far, JEXIM has been making numerous cooperative efforts to date to promote projects in the United States to the extent that they are relevant to Japan. We intend to make further efforts in this area. 4. Japan-U.S. Cooperation in Third Country Economies Now I would like to describe our role in third country economies from the perspective of U.S. Japan cooperation. A. Formulating Projects for Private Infrastructure Development Globalization is a common trend seen in business activities today, and the same trend has been noticeable in our Bank's trade financing. The trend has been conspicuous especially in private infrastructure projects. These projects employ project financing, a financing modality where lenders take as security for their loans earning flows to be generated from the completed project and does not require sovereign guarantee of the host country. They have been carried out by international consortia of corporations, banks and consultants. This phenomenon can be accounted for by several underlying factors: a need to share the various risks inherent to such large-scale projects in developing countries that do not have sovereign guarantee; and a need to generate large profits by carrying out the project at low cost, through an optimum combination of the enterprises with their particular comparative advantages in order to emerge as a winner in global competition. B. Paiton Coal-Fired Thermal Power Project Japan and the United States have formed a strong cooperative relationship in carrying out private infrastructure development projects in developing countries or more generally projects in third countries. I note that the export-import banks of both countries have played an important role in this process. JEXIM and US Xim Bank entered into a Cooperation Agreement in 1991 and have since taken part in many projects together, mainly in East Asia. The project to build a coal-fired thermal power station by P.T. Paiton Energy Company in Indonesia, for which loan commitments were made in 1995, may be cited as a representative example of joint projects pursued by the two institutions. This was a large-scale project worth 9 hundred million dollars. It attracted world attention. And those who participated in this financing were not only US Xim Bank but also OPIC (the Overseas Private Investment Corporation) and the leading banks of the United States and Japan. I may add that among the American participants in this project are Mission Energy Company as the project sponsor and General Electric as equipment supplier. C. Sakhalin II Project The Sakhalin II Project may be cited as another example of US-Japan joint finance projects. This is an ongoing project, now at the final stage toward the signing of the loan agreement in December. In this deal, JEXIM, EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), and OPIC are collaborating to move forward in Russia a joint oil development project among the United States, Europe, and Japan. We believe it is a significant international cooperative project. Let me mention that Marathon Oil Company is participating in this project as the largest sponsor. D. 30 Percent Content Rule for Export Credit Projects undertaken by international consortiums bring out the best of what JEXIM does. While official export credit ordinarily requires a fairly high ratio of home goods content in the export contract JEXIM takes a more flexible position, requiring only about 30 percent Japanese goods content. In other words, the remaining 70 percent that we finance is open to goods and services from other countries. As I mentioned before, project financing is usually structured by an international consortium. And it is a fact that on numerous occasions, Japanese and American firms form such consortia. That means American participants can obtain financing from our Bank on the same terms and conditions as their Japanese counterparts, provided that the 30 percent content rule is fulfilled. A point I would like to make is that JEXIM is contributing to the expansion of U.S. exports even if it is not apparent on the surface. 5. Conclusion If we want to shape a sustainable good economic relationship between the United States and Japan, collaboration in third country economies is a factor of great significance. In this context, JEXIM recognizes the growing importance of its collaboration with U.S. official financial institutions. I would like to say now that this is a good occasion for me to hear American perspectives. I will be grateful if you share your thoughts with me on the points I have made. Thank you.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am going to vote for this bill, and I personally want to thank the Chair and the ranking member and the subcommittee and the House for considering a number of issues critical for California in a favorable light. I am unhappy about the Census language, but I will still support the bill for the reasons later to be explained by the gentleman from Ohio. But what I would like the other party to explain to me is the strange logic by which, when they do not get the language they want, the Mexico City language on family planning programs abroad, they appropriate the money for family planning, and then, to retaliate for not getting that language, they take their highest priority for the last 3 years, the reform of the international relations bureaucracy, and kill it. They take their desire to leverage lower assessments in New York at the U.N. through very well calibrated conditions on arrearages and destroy it, and then risk all the consequences of financial instability that come from the currency fluctuations by destroying the IMF new borrowing authority. What a bizarre and strange reaction when they provide and appropriate the family planning funds which cause them to get so angry and strike out after all these things. I support the gentleman from Wisconsin's motion to recommit, and I urge the body to do so.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, while I agree with a number of the points made by my dear friend and the ranking member of the Committee on International Relations, I come to a different conclusion on the issue of House passage of this bill, and I rise in support of the passage of H.R. 2930. I think it pays to take a couple of moments to just restate sort of what we know about contributions to the Iranian missile program. First of all, we know it has been clearly reported, it is not in dispute, that Iran has developed, has a nuclear weapons program. It is also quite clear that Iran has also embarked on a program to develop medium and long-range missiles. The Iranian missile program has been contributed to recently by a number of transfers of technology in parts from the Russian SS-4 intermediate range ballistic missile, and apparently Iran Shihab-3 and Shihab-4 missiles are being designed with Russian assistance to expand to a range of 930 to 1,250 miles. There have been additional reports that Iran is working toward developing a multistage intercontinental missile with a range of 3,500 missiles. When we take their nuclear program and their missile program together, I think everyone in this Chamber can understand just how dangerous this can be if Iran is successful in its pursuits in these areas. The more sophisticated weapon assistance that Iran receives from abroad, the quicker Iran will realize its goal of a long-range weapon delivery system. Robert Pelletreau, who was then Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, testified, only by imposing a real and heavy price can we and other countries convince the Iranian leadership that changing its threatening behavior is in Iran's own interest. That threatening behavior continues, and this legislation is another effort to convince other countries that a real and heavy price must be paid for aiding Iran's weapons program. I would just like to deal with a couple of the points raised by the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Hamilton], the ranking member of the full committee. There are some flaws in this legislation, but I think he would agree, the legislation is significantly improved from the form in which it was introduced. The kind of conduct that it has focused on deals now with violations of the Missile Technology Control Regime and other efforts that are governed by that regime that the administration, and only the administration, certify constitutes significant contributions to the Iranian missile program. The report that is required by this legislation can now be classified at the discretion of the administration, and it is clear from the report language accompanying this bill that the national security waiver, which has been put into this bill, may be utilized where an entity in any country, and specifically in Russia, has made an improper and illegal transfer. Remember, Russia has committed to adhering to the Missile Technology Control Regime, but when they make such a transfer, if the administration is assured that they will no longer do so and believes that it is important that those sanctions be waived, they are able to use the national security waiver to do that. So that even with some of the other flaws, particularly the credible information threshold, which is too low a threshold, I think this legislation is worthy of our support, because it is a forcing mechanism and it is a statement by the House of Representatives that this is a critical problem, that our relationships with Russia and its ability to control the entities within that country that are contributing to this program are going to be seriously affected by its future conduct. There is no doubt that this administration now is heavily engaged in this issue. They are pressing the Russians hard to cut off that aid. President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and Ambassador Wisner have raised our concern with the Russian leadership, although there is some evidence that assistance continues to flow. I believe the administration should view the House passage of this legislation as aiding and assisting their efforts to persuade the Russians to cut off all aid to the Iranian missile program and to enforce export controls which will ensure no additional aid leaks out. I wish that the majority had not combined this bill with the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act of 1997. My fear is that the result of combining these two important pieces of legislation will mean that when this bill gets over in the Senate, neither one will pass. That decision to combine has been made. Both bills are important. I might point out, by the way, that both Russia and Iran have now ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, so that passage of the implementing legislation is quite important on its own. My only hope is that if the Senate chooses, for whatever reason, to sever the two bills and send the chemical weapons implementation legislation back to us tomorrow and before we adjourn for the year, that we will take that legislation up separately. But both bills are important, and the decision has been made to combine them, and I would urge my colleagues to support its passage.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter], who is controlling time for the majority, if he would yield an additional 3 minutes to me.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to Sybil Brand, a woman of extraordinary compassion and a keen sense of social justice. Now in her 90's, Mrs. Brand has devoted her life to helping people in need. We would all do well to emulate her example. Born in Chicago, Mrs. Brand moved with her family to Los Angeles when she was only 2. Her involvement in charitable service began at the tender age of 12, when she and her friends made diapers for patients at Childrens' Hospital. The material was donated by her father, A.W. Morris. In her teens, Mrs. Brand volunteered as a nurse's aid in the orthopedic ward of the hospital, bringing gifts and cheer to children with disabilities. These early acts of charity led to the work that would make Mrs. Brand both beloved and honored throughout in southern California. Nearly 40 years ago, she was appointed to the Institutional Inspection Committee of the Public Welfare Commission. She was appalled at the overcrowded conditions, and skillfully used her position to lobby for change. She spoke to law enforcement and elected officials and worked hard to get the voters to approve funding for another facility. Due primarily to her efforts, the Sybil Brand Institute was constructed to house female prisoners in Los Angeles. Mrs. Brand is the only living woman to have a correctional institute bear her name. Mrs. Brand has received hundreds of commendations from civic and charitable organizations, including her selection as Woman of the Year by the cities of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles and by the Friars Club Charity Foundation. In recognition of her 50 years of service to the people of Los Angeles and her 90th birthday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in May 1992, honored Mrs. Brand at a ceremony held in the Grand Hall of the Music Center. I ask my colleagues to join me and the Chaplain's Eagles of the Los Angeles Probation Department in saluting Sybil Brand, who has worked tirelessly to make this a better world. She is an extraordinary example of what one dedicated individual can accomplish. We thank her for her service to the human family.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to Dr. Fred Krinsky, a rabbi, professor of political science and fanatic Dodger fan--Brooklyn and Los Angeles--who died last month at the age of 73. Despite being diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes at the age of 8, Dr. Krinsky lived a life of extraordinary energy and achievement. He never wavered in his desire to bring together people of diverse backgrounds and to foster the growth of Judaism in areas with small but devoted Jewish communities. Born in Poland, Dr. Krinsky came with his family to the United States when he was 3. He grew up in Brooklyn, which explains his passion for the Dodgers. ``Passion'' is too weak a word: Dr. Krinsky spent much of his life in agony over the fact that Dodger catcher Mickey Owen dropped a crucial third strike in the 1941 World Series against the New York Yankees. Dr. Krinsky received his master's and doctorate degrees in political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He was also ordained as a rabbi through a private Orthodox Yeshiva in Brooklyn. Dr. Krinsky taught at Syracuse University from 1947 to 1960 and the University of Southern California from 1960 to 1972. He moved to Los Angeles 2 years after the Dodgers, but he always insisted it was mere coincidence. Dr. Krinsky was an ardent Zionist who led several trips to Israel. His class on Middle Eastern politics at Pomona College, where he was chair and chair emeritus in government from 1972 to 1997, was one of the most popular on campus. Former students would return to hear the magic of his words and the wisdom of his views. Dr. Krinsky firmly believed that only through dialog could Israelis and Arabs--and Jewish- Americans and Arab-Americans--resolve their differences over the Middle East. Dr. Krinsky's legacy includes four reform congregations in southern California and a fifth in Scottsdale, AZ. In each case he was the founding rabbi. I ask my colleagues to join me today in saluting Fred Krinsky, whose courage and humanity were an inspiration to us all. He will be sorely missed by his family and friends.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation. I want to particularly focus on the language put into this bill by the adoption of the rule dealing with the Russian sale of missile technology to Iran. This is a critical issue. In fact, both aspects of this bill involve a critical issue: The delivery of of enhanced missile capability, and in the case of the Russian transfers, very specifically technology, which violates commitments made by the Russian promise to adhere to the missile technology control regime. I want to congratulate the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Harman] for being probably the leader on this side of the Congress, the House side of the Congress, in raising this issue now for many, many months. The administration has now clearly become focused on this issue. They have appointed a special emissary to negotiate on this. It is receiving attention at the highest levels of our Government. The gentlewoman deserves congratulations for bringing this resolution to this point and to the attention of this body.

Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I just wanted to point out that I agree with gentleman's analysis about the dangerous nature of these transfers, about the destabilizing impact, about the need to do everything we can to stop it. But I just want to say, in all fairness, the administration has been intensely focused on trying to get these transfers stopped. We have reason to believe as a result of their efforts that things will change, so I just think the administration on this one is not the enemy, they are the gentleman's and my ally.

Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise both in support of the underlying bill which I think is a very sensible effort to augment our ability to ascertain the human rights situation in China by strengthening our on- the-ground operations there and the Gilman-Markey amendment which, to me, without prejudicing what our decision would be, enhances Congress' ability and the administration's ability to ensure that the representations and commitments made by the Chinese in the area of nuclear proliferation are being implemented and forced by expanding the time in which Congress has to review and decide whether to allow or disapprove of the agreement which has been certified. China's past record of abiding by its international commitments not to aid the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is not a good one. Congressional skepticism about Chinese promises is clearly warranted. There is time to consider the agreement, and the extension of that time and the expedited procedure which would allow a decision to be implemented without the threat of filibuster or delay in the other body is very critical in reducing the skepticism and reinforcing congressional support for the agreement should the record of implementation bring us to that conclusion. So for that reason, I think both the Chinese and the administration should welcome this. This gives us a greater time to determine if, in fact, it is true that the representations made have been kept, the commitments made with respect to export controls and the implementation of a meaningful export control regime are being followed through. By reducing our concern, it leads people to come to a fact-based conclusion by adding to the time we have to look at it. My fear is that if the existing law remains in place, we will be rushed into a decision, we will be forced to make decisions based on the past record rather than the present record, and so I think the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] and the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Markey] have an excellent amendment here, and I urge the body to adopt it.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 672, the Copyright Clarification Act, and particularly the Senate amendment thereto. In 1995, the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling in La Cienaga Music Corp. versus ZZ Top, which threatens the validity of copyright for musical works created prior to 1978. This decision poses a severe hardship for thousands of songwriters, many of whom I am proud to count as my constituents. What these composers and songwriters did was nothing more than to rely on an industry standard of many decades duration, which provides that the distribution of a phonorecord does not constitute publication of a musical work. This long-time understanding of copyright law has been ratified and reaffirmed by the Second Circuit over 20 years ago. American songwriters had every reason to consider this issue to be a matter of settled law. But the LaCienaga decision took that settled law and cast it on its head, threatening to thrust into the public domain hundreds of thousands of musical works which presently enjoy copyright protection. This post-hoc penalty on copyright owners for failure to comply with copyright formalities, in reliance upon settled law, struck the members of the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property and, I am happy to say, the members of the other body as well, as grossly unfair. We concluded that the Ninth Circuit had reached an anomalous and insupportable result which in the interest of fundamental fairness begged to be corrected. That is what the legislation before us would do. I commend this bill to my colleagues and urge its passage.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1493 which was introduced by my good friend from California, Mr. Gallegly. I enjoyed working with my colleague in the drafting of this bill as it addresses issues which seriously affect our home State. This bill will require the Attorney General to establish a program in local prisons to identify, prior to arraignment, criminal aliens and persons unlawfully present in the United States. The bill directs the Attorney General to detail Immigration and Naturalization Service employees to selected city and county incarceration facilities. This program is different from the Institutional Hearing Program [IHP], which I also strongly support, where INS employees are stationed at State and Federal penal institutions to identify aliens convicted of deportable crimes. The IHP exists so that deportable criminal aliens can be placed into deportation proceedings while incarcerated, and then removed from the United States upon completion of their sentence. H.R. 1493 will compliment the IHP as it will help identify deportable aliens AFTER arrest and BEFORE arraignment. This prearraignment process will identify unlawful residents and persons previously convicted of deportable crimes even if they are never tried for or convicted of the offenses for which they have been arrested. These individuals can then be turned over to the INS for removal from the United States. This bill is subject to appropriations and participating facilities are phased in over a 4-year period. The CBO has estimated that this program will cost between $40 million and $200 million over the 1999- 2002 period. I'm sure we can all agree that funding directed toward identifying and deporting criminal aliens is well spent. Illegal immigration is a Federal problem, but its impact is felt primarily on the local level. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to allocate resources to combat the many hardships which are in turn thrust upon those at the local level. I will continue to fight for programs which recognize this simple, but vital fact. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2265, the NET Act. The enactment of H.R. 2265 is essential to the continuing growth of the Internet. Daily business developments attest to the pressing need for content to fill the pages of our newest medium for entertainment and mass communications. But that content will simply not be available unless its creators can be assured that their intellectual property will be protected. The decision of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts in 1994 in U.S. v. LaMacchia, however, created a loophole which leaves copyright owners virtually defenseless against those who infringe copyright not for profit, but for the pure fun of it, as a top executive of the Recording Industry Association of America put it at the legislative hearing on H.R. 2265. We simply must make clear that there is no hacker defense to criminal copyright liability. Copyright owners' exclusive rights of public performance, distribution, and reproduction must be protected no less from the grad student who thinks content on the Internet should be free than from the pirate who reaps a fortune from his counterfeiting operation. The end result is the same: the substantial loss of revenue to intellectual property owners, increasingly as technology makes it possible for more and more content to be moved over digital networks. In enacting H.R. 2265, we make clear that the computer theft of copyrighted works is subject to criminal penalties, and in so doing exercise our constitutional responsibility to protect copyright. I urge my colleagues to vote for this important legislation.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, the rules of the House and my friendship for the gentleman from California compel me to restrain myself in characterizing and in dealing with the gentleman's characterizations of this issue. But, Mr. Speaker, all I can say is on so many different issues the gentleman is factually wrong. Mr. Speaker, 245(i) is not a rolling amnesty. It is not a stagnant amnesty. It is not an amnesty. Mr. Speaker, 245(i) is about where an individual can adjust their status. It has nothing to do with what their status was before; 245(i) has nothing to do with a stay of deportation or a defense against deportation. An individual who is in this country illegally can be deported at any time, and nothing about 245(i) provides a defense or a stay of that deportation. And 245(i) does not allow any single individual to cut ahead of anyone else. It only applies when their number comes up and, as the gentlewoman from Florida has mentioned, it only involves where they actually make their status adjustment. It allows no one to cut ahead. The gentleman from California [Mr. Rohrabacher] keeps saying he is for compromise. The gentleman fought the 1-year bill in 1994. He fought it in 1995. He fought it in 1996. He keeps calling it an amnesty. He keeps saying it is a way to keep out of being deported. He keeps saying it allows people to jump ahead of line against lawful immigrants. Each time the gentleman is wrong. Each year the gentleman is wrong. Now the gentleman says compromise, but he writes language which insists on the House position, which is no extension. The gentleman could have so easily drafted this motion to instruct to say that he would agree with the Senate with an amendment, and the amendment could have been the grandfather clause, the amendment could have been the compromise he now claims to have. Mr. Speaker, I suggest that the gentleman from California does not want to see 245(i) extended for 1 day. This is not about a permanent extension. This is about destroying this program and having people believe it is something far different than it really is.