Dan Burton

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, a resolution was passed at last week's annual convention of the Council of Khalistan that recommends Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh for the Nobel Peace Prize. As you know, Dr. Aulakh has served as the Council's President for the past eleven years. Dr. Aulakh has worked for the freedom of Punjab, Khalistan ever since it declared its independence in 1987 from India. The Council of Khalistan has repeatedly stated its commitment to peaceful, democratic, nonviolent means to achieve this goal. They have consistently and strongly rejected militancy. For his tireless work to liberate the Sikh homeland--Punjab, Khalistan--and for his persistence in exposing Indian repression of the people of South Asia, I believe Dr. Aulakh would be an excellent candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. I congratulate the delegates for recommending him, and I proudly add my voice to those suggesting that he receives this distinguished award. Mr. Speaker, I would like to place the resolution recommending Dr. Aulakh for the Nobel Peace Prize into the Congressional Record.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, many of us have spoken out over the years about the ongoing human-rights violations by the Indian government in Punjab. I have recently come into possession of a very interesting document on that subject. Thanks to Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, I have seen a letter written by Professor Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary of the Akali Dal (Amritsar), in which he declares that Punjab is still a police state, even under the Akali-BJP government of Chief Minister Badal. ``Human rights abuse in Punjab in the last decade and a half has shattered the lives of a number of individuals and their families,'' Professor Singh wrote. ``Effectively, Punjab has been administered as a police state,'' he added. ``No fresh legal or political initiative has been taken to reinforce rule of law and protect the most endangered primary fundamental right--the right to life.'' Jagmohan Singh writes that five false cases are still pending against longtime Sikh activist Simranjit Singh Mann, a political opponent of the Badal government. His is just one prominent case among many. Tens of thousands of Sikhs remain in Indian jails; with no charges pending against them. Alarmingly, some of them have been rotting in jail since 1984! Human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who exposed the Indian government's brutal policy of mass cremations of Sikhs, was killed in custody by the police, according to a police witness. Jaspal Singh Dhillon, another prominent human-rights activist, was picked up by the police on a false charge as recently as July of this year. And if that wasn't enough, the police even picked up his attorney! Mr. Speaker, the judicial system in Punjab is a joke, no one is given an ounce of justice. Jagmohan Singh points out that no action has been taken to punish the police who have committed these atrocities against the Sikhs. In fact, the Badal government even boasts that it has taken no action against these police officers. More than 150 atrocities have been documented since the Akali government took power in Punjab in February of 1997. Professor Singh cites 15 separate ways in which human rights are violated in Punjab. Mr. Speaker, allow me to list just a few of these horrible and inhumane acts that police commit upon the innocent people of Punjab. Professor Singh has included, among other despicable acts, the promotion of police officers based upon the number of Sikh youth they have killed; bounties offered for the murder of particular individual Sikhs; forces occupation of public places, including houses of worship, like the Golden Temple in Amritsar; extrajudicial killings of political workers, relatives of political leaders and activists; and the planting of illegal weapons and explosives on unsuspecting people who are then labeled as ``militants'' or ``terrorists.'' Jagmohan Singh strongly defends the work of the People's Commission in exposing the tyranny of the Punjab police, and supports its continuation. The Commission has come under vigorous attack from the Punjab government, which is desperately trying to interfere in its mission and close it down. The Commission issued 90 citations against police officers and has taken on 3,000 more cases. Now the government has gone to court to stop the People's Commission. I agree with Professor Singh that the Commission's work must continue so that police atrocities can be exposed, and will cease to be covered up by India's political sponsors. Mr. Speaker, Professor Jagmohan Singh's letter is a chilling description of the ongoing police state in Punjab. I am placing it into the Record, and I recommend to my colleagues that they read it carefully. Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Rahon Road, Ludhiana, September 24, 1998. Rtd. Justice V. K. Khanna, Chairperson, Panjab State Human Rights Commission, Kendriya Sadan, Sector 9A, Chandigarh. Dear Justice Khanna: Is Panjab still a police state? Human rights abuse in Panjab in the last decade and a half has shattered the lives of a number of individuals and their families. Effectively, Panjab has been administered as a police state. The situation did not change even after the election of Beant Singh's Congress government in 1992 and diminution of alleged extremist activities. The people of Panjab expected that the political and human rights environment would change with the election of the Akali Dal Badal-BJP government in February 1997. Panjab, however, continues to be a police state. The Panjabis now realize that all along they were chasing a mirage. For the last 18 months, the Badal-BJP government has taken no steps to undo the wrongs perpetuated during the last decade. No fresh legal or political initiative has been taken to reinforce rule of law and protect the most endangered primary fundamental right--the right to life. Let us examine the scenario in present day Panjab: 1. Release of Detenues: No political detenue, including those who have been languishing for more than 8-10 years without trial or protracted trial, has been released from the jails of Panjab. Their cases have not been reviewed. No attempt has been made to bring back detenues from Panjab languishing in the jails of Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. There are five false cases still pending against party president, Simranjit Singh Mann. 2. Trial of Police Officers: No attempt has been made to expedite the trial of police and other security force personnel against whom cases of human rights abuse are pending in various courts, including cases in the Panjab and Haryana Court and the Supreme Court. Actually, the prosecution has been delayed under one pretext or the other. 3. Speedy Trial of the Guilty: To ensure speedy trial, it was necessary to constitute a Tribunal with instructions to conduct day to day proceedings to try the guilty police officers, bureaucrats and politicians responsible for executing and directing crimes against humanity. Despite the poll promise to do so, the present government has failed to take any initiative in this direction. 4. Suspension or Dismissal of Police Officers: No police officer or bureaucrat, at various levels in the hierarchy, responsible for formulating policies and strategies for harassment, torture, illegal detention and extrajudicial murder of Sikh youth, in total violation of rule of law, has been suspended or dismissed by the state government. No enquiry has been constituted to expose and identify the conspiracy of the police, the high-ranking bureaucrats and the politicians in Delhi. No step has been taken in the case of the involuntary disappearance of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. The report of the police inquiry in the extrajudicial murder of former Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke has not been released. Human rights and political activists have documented the involuntary disappearance of Jathedar Kaonke at the hands of the then Senior Superintendent of Police of Jagraon police district and his officers in January 1993. No attempt has been made to order enquiries about gross abuses in all districts of Panjab to unearth cases as have been detected in the ``cremation of unclaimed bodies case'' in Amritsar district. 5. Unlawful Promotion of Police Officers: A large number of police officers, who had been promoted on the basis of the number of Sikh youth killed by them, have not been reverted to their original positions or ranks. To rub salt on our wounds, police officers like SSP lqbal Singh, who has a consistent track record of lawlessness and maltreatment has been recommended for the President's medal for his `meritorious' service. We cannot forget that it was SSP lqbal Singh, then posted in Tarn Taran, who sent a police team which tortured and extrajudicially murdered Kashmir Singh of village Pandori Rukman of district Hoshiarpur on March 14-15, 1997. Kashmir Singh was propaganda secretary of the Youth Wing of our party. Many such officers have been awarded medals for their genocidal role. On the other hand, responsible police officers, who have refused to participate in the genocide of the Sikhs, are still not on active duty. 6. ``Head Count'' of the Sikhs and Rewards From the State Exchequer: Hundreds of Sikhs have been killed and hundreds of policemen have become rich with the `head prizes'. With this unlawful enrichment, police personnel have acquired movable and immovable properties. The Panjab State Human Rights Commission should carry out a detailed enquiry into the Comptroller and Auditor General's Report of the last 15 years and prepare a report on the `head prizes'. It will also be befitting to find out the issuance of any more secret orders or circulars, as the one issued by the then Director General of Police, K.P.S. Gill on 30 August 1989 to the senior police officers ordering the liquidation of 53 alleged militants with price money against each name. 7. Impoundment of Illegal Properties of Police Officers: A survey of all the illegal properties acquired by police personnel is a prerequisite for peace in Panjab. This research will unearth properties not only bought but also those which were ``just taken over''. Such properties and moneys should be deposited with the state exchequer. Ill- gotten wealth has fuelled disrespect for human rights and further desensitized the police. 8. Police Districts and ``Peace'' in Panjab: Police districts (Khanna, Jagraon, Majitha, Tarn Taran, Batala and Barnala) were created on the ground that the law and order situation require a small command area. However, although the senior police authorities and the Badal-BJP government claim that ``peace has descended on Panjab'', the police districts have not been dismantled. De facto, the police administration has become so top heavy that senior police officers, including Senior Superintendents of Police of various districts and the Director General of Police, Mr. P.C. Dogra ingratiate a pliable section of the media in Panjab, without fear of their political masters in Panjab and in active connivance with their political masters in Delhi, to perpetuate the hegemony of the police in Panjab. The state government or the Panjab State Human Rights Commission has failed to monitor the contradictory claims of the Panjab police chief. The State Commission should procure data regarding the cost of the exchequer of these police districts and recommend the winding of the same. 9. Occupation of Public Places by Police Administration: A large number of public places, including parks, private houses, in villages and cities, have been forcibly occupied and converted into police stations, police posts and torture centers. In spite of public protests, the Badal- BJP government has failed to direct the police authorities to vacate these places. 10. Extrajudicial Acts of the Police: In the last 18 months, a number of political workers, relatives of political leaders and activists, (Kashmir Singh of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Vijayinder Singh- a nephew of party leader Simranjit Singh Mann, Avtar Singh Karimpuri, General Secretary of Bahujan Samaj Party), human rights activists (Jaspal Singh Dhillon) witnesses in human rights abuse cases (Rajiv Randhawa, Kirpal Singh) and a multitude of alleged militants, have been tortured, harassed, detained or extrajudicially killed by the police. Families of slain militants continue to face the vengeance of the police. Even in cases not related to militants, there has been a spurt in deaths in police custody. No attempt has been made by the Badal government to dignify the police and to train them to respect human rights. 11. ``Confiscation'' of Explosives: The Director General of Police has ``confiscated'' tons of explosive material. Apart from the news-story that such material was recovered from ``such and such militant'' or ``former militant'', the DGP has failed to inform the people of Panjab about the ineffectiveness of the police and other security agencies when the material was brought inside Panjab (that is, if we believe the police version to be correct). Is it inertia or is it a well planned conspiracy to allow the monster to grow and then make a big fuss to catch it? We strongly suspect that the movement of arms, ammunition and explosives in Panjab is a new strategy of the pervert masterminds of the Panjab police-Home Ministry nexus. We cannot forget that journalist Dhiren Bhagat of the Indian Post was killed by Indian security agencies, in 1993, soon after he had documented the illegal and unlawful movement of arms and ammunition by the Indian state through its secret services. We are closely monitoring the progress made by the police in recovering the huge arsenal of arms and ammunition ostensibly recovered from militants and now missing from police records and stores. According to a communication from the Additional Director General of Police (Crime), Mr. Jarnail Singh Chahal (as mentioned in internal memos to all district SSPs in Panjab in September 1997) as many as 10,451 weapons comprising AK47s, AK57s, rifles, revolvers, pistols, rocket launchers, rockets are missing. There is no iota of doubt that they have either been distributed as bounties to the pet vigilantes of the Panjab police or to the Congress leaders of Panjab. To make matters worse, a large number of such arms have been given to untrained ``special police officers'' to provide security cover to a large number of people for whom such security is not a requirement but a status symbol. The Panjab State Human Rights Commission must study the records of the Firearm Bureau at Phillaur and the police stores (Malkhanas) of police stations in the Panjab. We request the Panjab State Human Rights Commission to prepare a compilation of the total amount of explosives seized by the Panjab police in the last one year and inform the people about the disposal of the same, lest it be used to implicate more innocent youth of Panjab. 12. Extension of Services of Panjab Police Chief. We strongly urge the Commission to look into the reasons cited by the state government while granting extension to the Director General of Police, Mr. Puran Chand Dogra, six months ago. The Commission must also look into the reasons for the state government to recommend the case of DGP Mr. Dogra (bypassing the rules laid down by the Central Administrative Tribunal) for another extension of six months. Media reports say that the government has sought the extension ``to combat terrorism in Panjab''. This investigation alone by the State Human Rights Commission will be enough to know whether ``Panjab is still a police state'' and whether ``peace has descended on Panjab''. 13. Human Rights Defenders in Danger: Defending human rights is a dangerous activity in all banana republics or near-banana republics. Panjab has been governed as such. It is not for the first time; even during his earlier tenure as chief minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal resorted to extrajudicial methods to crush opposition in the state. Today, either under pressure or in complicity with the police, human rights defenders are behind bars. Those still working continue to face the wrath of the state in one form or the other. 14. Why Forgive and Forget? Human rights include civil and political rights. Therefore politics and human rights are related to each other. Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, 18 months ago, had promised to the people of Panjab to investigate the causes and factors; and identify the individuals and the political parties responsible for the tragedies in Panjab and to pinpoint the administrative and political accountability for the same. Nothing has been done so far. The present signature tune is ``Forgive and Forget''. This was the tune of the Congress and the BJP against which the traditional Akali leadership instigated hundreds upon thousands of Sikh youth to revolt! Panjab and its people have forgiven enough and forgotten a lot. Today is the time to prosecute each one of the alleged perpetrators--executive, police and political--for crimes against humanity. 15. The Only Incomplete Positive Step: The only positive step take by the present government is the formation of the Panjab State Human Rights Commission. Unfortunately no changes have been made in the powers and authority of the commission. The commission can investigate only those cases that fall within the last one year. So, the commission, according to the current mandate, cannot redress the fears, grievances and genuine complaints of families of victims of the last decade and a half. From Police state to People's Commission . . . In this frightening police state scenario, what should the people do? The people have come together and formed a People's Commission that will listen to their woes and deliberate upon the merits of each case of violation of human rights in the Panjab, irrespective of the time lag. The Commission has been formed at the initiative of dedicated human rights and political activists under the aegis of the ``Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Panjab.'' This Commission comprises of Retd. Chief Justice D. S. Tewatia, Retd. Justice H. Suresh and Retd. Justice Jaspal Singh. After the first session of the commission at Chandigarh on 8-9-10 August 1998, the affected families see a glimmer of hope. The People's Commission is the people's response to the non-fulfillment of election promises by the present government at the state level and the incapability of the ruling coalition at the Centre to rectify the wrongs of yesteryears. If people can form governments surely they can form commissions as well; can they not? Now, the Congress, the BJP and the Police (the trinity responsible for gross human rights abuse in the Panjab through acts of omission and commission) are pressurizing the Badal government to wind up the People's Commission, calling it ``illegal'' and ``harbinger of disturbance'' and other names. We appeal to the Panjab State Human Rights Commission, to advise the state government, not to stoke the fires that are lying buried. Though we contest the ``quality of peace'' that has ``descended on the Panjab'', any attempt by the state ``not to let people cry for their beloveds'' will boomerang. The endorsement of the Panjab State Human Rights Commission of the work of the People's Commission will go a long way to enhance respect for human rights and to smother the politically motivated propaganda against this humble attempt by the people to assuage the hurt of victims and their families. This certainly is part of the moral mandate of any human rights body, more so of a state-sponsored Human Rights Commission. Moreover the labour of the People's Commission will not go in vain. The report of the People's Commission will not meet the same fate of hundreds of Commissions set up by the Indian state under the Commissions of Enquiry Act. It will perhaps be useful for the Human Rights Commission to conduct a statistical analysis of the total number of Commissions of enquiry instituted by the state and those whose recommendations have been accepted. The focus of the work of the People's Commission is also not at loggerheads with the working of the judiciary as is being propagated by the wanton statements of the Panjab Advocate General, Congress and BJP leaders and the Panjab police chief. Their consternation is more about the uncovering of truth about their shameful deeds. Those opposing the People's Commission will do well to remember that before the official Srikrishna Commission was setup to pinpoint the responsibility for the riots in Bombay in 1992- 93, a People's Commission was set up by an independent body, The Indian Peoples Human Rights Commission. Justice S.M. Daud and Justice H. Suresh made an extensive enquiry and submitted a report on the role of the government and the police in the rioting in Bombay. The report was first published in August 1993. The evidence collected by that People's Commission made the task of witnesses much easier when they deposed before the official Srikrishna Commission. It may also be noted that the panel of judges on the Indian People's Human Rights Tribunal have conducted enquiries into the firing in Arwal in Bihar in 1987, the burning of 646 huts of tribals in Vishakapatnam district by the Andhra Pradesh government in 1988, the role of the Provincial Armed Constabulary in the riots in Meerut in 1988, the role of the Karnataka government in anti-Tamil riots and the role of the Tamil Nadu government in anti-Kannadiga riots in 1992. At the international level, the journey for trial of guilty officers, bureaucrats and political leaders responsible for crimes against humanity, which started with the Nuremberg trials has fructified this year in the formation of an International Criminal Court. The Panjab State Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights Commission will do well to train the Indian police, paramilitary and military forces to recognize the harsh reality that sooner or later nemesis will catch up. Transparency and not secrecy is the watchword. ``Reasons of state'', ``demoralization of the police forces'' and ``amendments to the Criminal Procedure code to make it difficult to prosecute police officers'', ``orders of superiors'', ``ignorance of law, especially international and humanitarian law'' will not be adequate to protect either the protagonists or the perpetrators of human rights abuse. We are concerned that no serious effort has been made by the government of Panjab or the Commission to popularize the commission and its work among the people of Panjab. No public sitting of the commission has taken place since its formation. The people of Panjab are eager to know the number of cases in which suo moto action has been taken by the Commission. We look forward to the first annual report of the Panjab State Human Rights Commission and we anxiously wait to see how it nails down the state government and the police machinery. Should the commission require details on the above points, we shall gladly furnish them. We appeal to you and through you also to the overindulgent Advocate General of Panjab, Mr. Gurdarshan Singh Grewal, to advise the present State government in Panjab whether it wants to join the sanguineous trinity of the Police-Congress- BJP or to find a respectable place in contemporary history, particularly in a year, when the international community, inspite of India's abstention, has formed the International Criminal Court to try individual cases of gross human rights abuse. (Prof.) Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, responsible for overseeing the economy and efficiency of the federal government, I rise to recognize our Federal Inspectors General, who in the twenty years since their inception, have been a critical asset in the war against waste, fraud and abuse in our Federal Government. Twenty years ago this month, the Government Reform and Oversight Committee worked to establish Inspectors General in the largest executive agencies. Today, the Inspector General Act of 1978 provides for Inspectors in 27 major agencies and in 30 of our smaller Federal agencies. Inspectors General were established to correct deficiencies in the way Government agencies addressed performance problems: deficiencies in organizational structure which placed audit and investigative units under the supervision of the officials whose programs they were to examine; deficiencies in procedures which allowed agency officials to intervene in audits and investigations; and deficiencies in amount of resources devoted to preventing and detecting waste, fraud, and abuse. In addition to their original duties of conducting audits and investigations under the 1978 Act, IGS are playing key roles under recent management reform laws that were enacted to address financial and programmatic problems within agencies. Among them, the Chief Financial Officers Act and the Government Performance and Results Act. The IGS hard work with regard to these laws enables agencies and the Congress to further address serious management and financial problems, making our government more efficient, more effective, and less costly. Not only the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, but the entire Congress has come to rely heavily on the critical work of the Inspectors General. Their audits and inspections help root out serious problems in Federal programs and bring them into the light of day, saving taxpayers billions of dollars every year. The following statistics compiled by the Presidents' Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) and the Executive Council on Integrity and Efficiency (ECIE) illustrate the impact of IGS. In Fiscal Year 1997, IG audits and inspections identified a total of $25 billion in funds that could be put to better use; more than 15,000 individuals and businesses were successfully prosecuted; restitutions and investigative recoveries resulting from IG investigations returned $3 billion to the Government; and more than 6,000 individuals or firms were disqualified from doing business with the Federal Government. Mr. chairman, American taxpayers deserve no less from us than to provide the utmost accountability for their hard-earned money. On this, the eve of the twentieth year anniversary of the Inspector General Act of 1978, I salute our Inspectors General and thank them for their extremely important work on behalf of the American taxpayers. I urge my colleagues to support S.J. Res. 58 and join me in recognizing and thanking our Federal Inspectors General.

Mr. BURTON

Mr. BURTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to observe and pay tribute on the occasion of the eleventh anniversary of the Council of Kahlistan. Wednesday, October 7th, marked eleven years since the Sikh people of Punjab declared their independence from India, naming their new country Khalistan. Immediately after this declaration, they appointed the Council of Khalistan to lead their struggle for independence. Since then, under the leadership of Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, the Council has conducted a peaceful, democratic, nonviolent effort for a free and sovereign Khalistan. I believe that the breakup of India is inevitable, despite the brutal campaign of state terrorism which is designed to hold it together by force. Even Sharad Pawar, the Leader of the Opposition in the Indian Parliament, recently said that if India does not get its house in order quickly, it could fall apart like the Soviet Union. He joins Nehru biographer Professor Stanley Wolpert, Columbia University Professor Ainslee Embree, and Dr. Jack Wheeler of the Freedom Research Foundation, who have all predicted India's breakup. India's desperation to keep its multinational state together is showing. Recently the Vishwa Hindu Prashad (VHP), a Hindu fundamentalist organization affiliated with the Fascist RSS, praised the rape of four Catholic nuns in the state of Madhya Pradesh, calling the rapists ``patriotic youth'' and calling for all foreign missionaries to be expelled from the country. The ruling BJP, which was elected on a Hindu Nationalist platform, is the political wing of the RSS. So much for Indian secularism! Clearly, there is no place for Christians in Indian democracy. There is no place for Sikhs, Muslims, aboriginal Dalits, Tamils, Assamese, Manipuris, or other ethnic and religious minorities either. Recently, a large group of Sikh and Kashmiri protesters showed up at the United Nations headquarters to protest the visit of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. They chanted slogans of independence for their people, and they attempted to inform the public about India's human-rights violations. The flyer they circulated read, ``A religiously intolerant country can never be democratic.'' Earlier this year in New Delhi, at the largest internal protest against Indian nuclear weapons tests, demonstrators carried signs that read, ``We are Sikhs, not Indians.'' This is a strong expression of the Sikh Nation's demand for freedom. Still India continues its efforts to keep the country together by force. India votes against the United States at the United Nations more often than any other country, except Cuba. It even publicly endorsed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. According to published reports, India has also provided the raw materials for nuclear development to Iran and other anti-American countries. The Congress should move immediately to support freedom and real stability in this troubled region. We must maintain the sanctions that have been put in place against India. In addition, we should cut off the aid that helped build India's nuclear weapons. My colleagues should also vote to support the Sikhs and Kashmiris in their struggle for freedom by demanding a free and fair plebiscite in those states, so that they themselves can determine their future in a democratic way. This is the only way to make sure that the breakup of India comes about peacefully like the former Soviet Union, not violently. Taken together, these steps will ensure that all the people and nations of South Asia can live in freedom, peace, prosperity, and dignity. I am placing the article on Sharad Pawar into the Record for the information of my colleagues. [From the India-West, August 7, 1998] India May Suffer Soviet Fate: Pawar Pune (PTI)--The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar Aug. 2 expressed the fear that the country might go the erstwhile Soviet Union way unless concerted efforts are taken to strengthen its economy in the wake of international reaction to its carrying out nuclear tests. Pawar was speaking at a function to release a book, ``Hiroshima,'' by noted Marathi writer D.B. Kher on the after effects of bomb explosion in Japan Aug. 6, 1945. Pawar said through the erstwhile USSR was a nuclear power it collapsed, and added that India should not become over- confident after the Pokhran-II tests. He said India should also be very vigilant as the economy of Pakistan was in the doldrums. It might take any dangerous step out of frustration. ``We should not forget the fact that Pakistan had a history of aggression against India and hence we should be on guard,'' he said.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, today I want this Congress to focus on a government that has spent years practicing torture on its own people. However, when you go home and turn on the evening news, good luck trying to find any story that reveals this particular human rights issue. And better luck getting this administration to pay any attention to the plight of thousands of innocent civilians. We speak of tragedies all over the world this time of year. We speak of the struggles in Africa, Cambodia, and Burma. We reprimand China for its draconian abortion policies and illegal human organ sales. We threaten to stop international military and educational training (IMET) from Indonesia for abuses in East Timor. We even criticize longstanding allies like Turkey for its treatment of its Kurdish citizens without addressing the brutal murders carried out by the PKK, a Kurdish Marxist terrorist organization. Unfortunately, there is one human rights issue that continues to escape the attention of this administration, some members of this Congress and the media. That issue involves the plight of the Sikhs in Punjab or Khalistan; the plight of the Kashmiris; the plight of christians in Nagaland; and the plight of the ``untouchables'', the lowest caste in India's system. Mr. Speaker, the Indian Government is one of the world's worst human rights abusers in the world. You may ask, well if that's true why doesn't the word know? Since the 1970's, Amnesty International and other human rights groups have been barred from India. Mr. Speaker, even the Government of Cuba allows Amnesty into their country. In fact, there are half-million Indian soldiers occupying Punjab, and another half-million troops occupying Kashmir. Since 1947, India has killed over 200,000 christians in Nagaland; 250,000 Siks in Punjab from 1984-1995; and 53,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988. For the last sixteen years, I have been coming to this well to call attention to Punjab, where the Indian military receives cash bounties for the slaughter of innocent children. And to justify their actions, they are labeled ``terrorists.'' According to our own State Department, India paid over 41,000 cash bounties to police for killing innocent people from 1991-1993! Also in Punjab, Sikhs are picked up in the middle of the night only to be found floating dead in canals with their hands and feet bound together. Some Sikhs are only so fortunate, many are never found after their abduction. Recently, the India Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Supreme Court that it had confirmed nearly 1,000 cases of unidentified bodies that were cremated by the military! And it does not get any better in Kashmir. Women, because of their Muslim beliefs, are taken out of their homes in the middle of the night and are gang-raped while their husbands are forced to watch and wait inside at gunpoint. It was hoped that the new governments in Delhi and Punjab would stop the repression which the Indian supreme court describes as ``worse than a genocide!'' Mr. Speaker, opponents will say the recent election in Punjab of a Sikh dominated coalition and the fact that an ``untouchable'' is now the President of India is evidence of their democratic progress. But, I can tell you that this new government in Punjab is closely aligned with the authoritarian BJP Prime Minister Vajpayee of India and India's ``untouchable'' President is merely a figurehead. Mr. Speaker, would democracies continue the rampant campaign of genocide? On July 22, 1998, Baljit Singh, A Sikh youth of Burj Dhillwan village, died of complications from torture-style brutality inflicted by the Punjab police. Also in July of 1998, police picked up Kashmira Singh of the village of Khudiah Kalan on the pretext that they were investigating a theft. They then tortured him for 15 days. They rolled logs over his legs until he couldn't walk; they submerged him in a tub of water; and they slashed his thighs with razor blades and stuffed hot peppers into the wounds. On April 1, 1998, Brother Luke, a Roman Catholic priest was murdered in the eastern state of Bihar. His body was found with a bullet hole through the head. He was a member of Mother Teresa's world-renowned charity organization. This is the fourth priest in 2 years that has been murdered in India. On October 30, 1997, Reverend A.T. Thomas was found beheaded also in Bihar, apparently killed for aiding the no-caste ``untouchables.'' Amnesty International has linked the Bihar state government to the murder of Rev. Thomas! The Catholic Bishops Conference of India has criticized the government for doing nothing to protect Catholic priests and for failing to prosecute those responsible. On July 12, 1997, in Bombay, 33 Dalits (black untouchables) were killed by Indian police during demonstrations. On July 8, 1997, 36 people were killed in a train bombing in Punjab. Two ministers of the Punjab Government have blamed the Punjab police. The bombing occurred a day after 9 policemen were convicted of murder! On March 5, 1997, a death squad picked up Kashmir Singh, an opposition party member. He was thrown in a van, tortured, and murdered. Finally, his bullet-ridden body was dumped out on the roadside. These military forces operate beyond the law with complete impunity! Mr. Speaker, the United States should not support a government that condones widespread abuses with our hard-earned tax dollars! It is time India is held accountable for its continued violation of basic human rights! The Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, ``untouchables,'' and women of India are desperately looking to this Congress for help. The time has come for action, it is time for America to take a stand! Considering all this, the President still requested $56.5 million in development assistance for India in fiscal year 1999. That is an increase in almost $1 million over last year. As everyone is aware, as a result of India's recent nuclear test, the President has imposed a broad range of sanctions on India for violation of section 102(b) of the Arms Export Control Act. Also known as the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1994, or more popularly, the Glenn Amendment--it prohibits a variety of assistance and commercial transactions between the U.S. and any country if the President determines that that country--if it is a non-nuclear-weapon state--has detonated a nuclear explosive device. India has disregarded regional and international stability by placing missiles and exploding thermonuclear weapons, fission weapons, and hydrogen bombs near the Pakistan border. Indeed, their behavior has been clearly unacceptable, and they are being properly punished. I applaud the President for his fortitude. And, if the President continues to follow through with the current law, this should send a strong signal to the Indian Government that it is not going to be business as usual with the United States. Mr. Speaker, the American people are tired of helping bullies who punish their own people and threaten neighbors. India is still the 5th largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid in the world; India is the world's largest borrower from the world bank with more than $44 billion in loans; India votes against the U.S. at the United Nations more often than any other country, except Cuba. It does not justify sending more hard-earned tax dollars to a country that claims to be the largest democracy in the world, but obviously shares none of our most cherished values. Democracies don't commit genocide! Let's put the brakes on the foreign aid gravy train to India! Ask the President not to waiver on his stance with India!

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, that means that I am now going to be the oldest. Mr. Speaker, you can tell an awful lot about people by their children. And I regret that I never had the chance to meet Lee Hamilton's mom and dad, because they sure raised a wonderful son. I know his brother is a minister. I have never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I understand he is a wonderful guy as well. Let me just say that in the time that I have worked with Lee Hamilton on the Committee on International Relations, I have not known a nicer fellow than Lee Hamilton. Obviously, we have strong differences of opinion on issues, but Lee handles those strong differences in a way that even though you strongly differ with him, you still like him. That is very difficult in a body such as this. Sometimes our tempers get awfully hot and we explode and we say things that we do not mean, and we even say things about our colleagues that we should not say. But Lee Hamilton has never made that mistake. I have watched him year after year on this floor and in the committee, and he handles those issues with diplomacy and understanding and tact. And he has just been an exemplary Member of this body and an exemplary member of the Committee on International Relations. I, too, am a great admirer of athletic prowess, and I was talking to Lee just a few moments ago. I knew that he had won the Trester award when he was in high school back in 1908, excuse me, 1948. I am just teasing, in 1948. And it came to my attention tonight that he was disabled in the State championship game by a torn cartilage in his knee, and they worked all afternoon trying to fix it so he could play that night, and he was only able to play about 3 or 4 minutes. With all deference to the team that won the State championship in 1948, I am confident that if Lee Hamilton had been able to play the whole game in sound physical condition, his team would have been the State champion. But I doubt, Lee, if you would have won the Trester award had that happened. Let me just say, once again, in closing that Lee Hamilton will be missed by both Democrats and Republicans in this body because he is a good man. He is a kind man. He is a thoughtful man. He is a caring man. And he is a man that will be remembered by every Member who has served with him as a great Congressman. Thank you, Lee, for all your service.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I will not take the full 60 minutes. I will just take a few minutes here tonight to talk about my mother, Bonnie Lois Kelly. She was born in February 1920, and she died last Wednesday. We had the funeral on Saturday. She was one of those unique individuals that never gets much attention, but she did a tremendous job in raising three children through a great deal of hardship. She was five feet and one-half inch tall, but, to me and my brother and sister, she was ten times that height. She married when she was 18 to a brutal person, my father, who was 6- foot-8 and who terrorized her and my brother and sister and I for 12 long years. I can remember during all that time, every time that my father started to mistreat me or my sister or my brother, she would stand between us and take the body blows and stand up for us, no matter what the cost, and many times the cost was almost her life. She finally was able to get away from him when I was 12 years old, after 13 years of married torture. I can remember many times she would take us to the police department in the middle of the night. Back in those days there was not much sympathy from a lot of the people in blue toward abused wives and children. I can remember one night the police told her that if she did not take the children home at that moment, which was about 1 o'clock in the morning, with her face all bruised, that they would arrest her, which I could not understand. Anyhow, she finally met a really nice fellow, after she was divorced from my father. Incidentally, my father came in through the floor of the house where we lived on the West side of Indianapolis with a sawed- off shotgun and took her away after breaking down the door, and we did not know whether she was dead or alive for many days, and we spent quite a bit of time at the Marion County Guardian's Home while she was away. But, thankfully, she was able to get away from him and survive. She finally met a very nice man, Kindeth A. Kelly, who ended up becoming my stepfather on December 23rd, 1950. He and my mother were married for 48 years. He worked in a foundry as a sand hog and later as a foreman of that foundry for a long, long time, I think it was 30-some years, and my mother worked in Ayres Tea Room as a waitress for 18 years. The thing I recall about her was that she never complained. She would get up every morning and go to work at the tea room, work all day long on her feet, and come home at night and fix dinner for us, and I never heard her complain once. Those were very difficult times. Looking back on those times, I realize how really wonderful she was. I do not recall that I told her very many times how much I appreciated her, but I did, and I was able to at least convey some of that to her in her last days. There are so many things that you would like to say about your mother at a time like this, and you just cannot recall all of them. But she was really something special. She instilled in her children a love of nature, a love of art, and a love music and poetry. In fact, she requested that I memorize a lot of poems when things were going very difficult for the family in my formative years. Those poems, that poetry, gave me a lot of strength and courage during some very difficult times that I encountered in my life. One of the poems that she asked me to commit to memory was one that I would like to just recite for my colleagues who may be paying attention tonight, Mr. Speaker. When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you are trudging seems all uphill; When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest, if you must, but don't you quit. 'Cause life is queer with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns; And often the goal is nearer than it seems, To a faint and faltering man. Often the loser has given up, When he might have captured the victor's cup; And he learned too late when the night came down, How close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out, The silver tint on the clouds of doubt; So stick to the fight, When you're hardest hit; It's when things go wrong, That you mustn't quit. My mother was not a quitter; my stepfather, who really was my father because he treated us so well, was not a quitter; and I will never forget as long as I live the wonderful things that she did for me and the things she taught me.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, due to a death in my immediate family, I was not present during today's floor proceedings. Had I been here, I would have voted ``Yea'' on rollcall vote number 457; ``Yea'' on rollcall vote number 458; ``No'' on rollcall number 459; and ``Yea'' on rollcall vote 460.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, Today I want this Congress to focus on a government that has spent years practicing torture on its own people. However, when you go home and turn on the evening news, good luck trying to find any story that reveals this particular human rights issue. And better luck getting this administration to pay any attention to the plight of thousands of innocent civilians. We speak of tragedies all over the world this time of the year. We speak of the struggles in Africa, Cambodia, and Burma. We reprimand China for its draconian abortion policies and illegal human organ sales. We threaten to stop international military and educational training (IMET) from Indonesia for abuses in East Timor. We even criticize longstanding allies like Turkey for its treatment of its Kurdish citizens without addressing the brutal murders carried out by the PKK, a Kurdish Marxist terrorist organization. Unfortunately, there is one human rights issue that continues to escape the attention of this administration, some Members of Congress and the media. That issue involves the plight of the Sikhs in Punjab or Khalistan; the plight of the Kashmiris; the plight of Christians in Nagaland; and the plight of the ``untouchables'', the lowest caste in India's caste system. Mr. Speaker, the Indian Government is one of the world's worst human rights abusers. You may ask, well if that's true, why doesn't the world know? Since the 1970's, Amnesty International and other human rights groups have been barred from India. Mr. Speaker, even the Government of Cuba allows Amnesty into their country. In fact, there are half-million Indian soldiers occupying Punjab, and another half-million troops occupying Kashmir. Since 1947, India has killed over 200,000 Christians in Nagaland; 250,000 Sikhs in Punjab from 1984-1992; and 53,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988. For the last sixteen years, I have been coming to this well to call attention to Punjab, where the Indian military receives cash bounties for the slaughter of innocent children. And to justify their actions, they are labeled ``terrorists''. According to our own State Department, India paid over 41,000 cash bounties to police for killing innocent people from 1991-1993! Also in Punjab, Sikhs are picked up in the middle of the night only to be found floating dead in canals with their hands and feet bound together. Some Kikhs are only so fortunate, many are never found after their abduction. Recently, the India Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the supreme court that it had confirmed nearly 1,000 cases of unidentified bodies that were cremated by the military! And it does not get any better in Kashmir. Women, because of their Muslim beliefs, are taken out of their homes in the middle of the night and are gang-raped while their husbands are forced to watch and wait inside at gunpoint. It was hoped that the new governments in Delhi and Punjab would stop the repression which the Indian Supreme Court describes as ``worse than a genocide!'' Mr. Speaker, opponents will say the recent election in Punjab of a Sikh dominated coalition and the fact that an ``untouchable'' is now the President of India is evidence of their democratic progress. But, I can tell you that this new government in Punjab is closely aligned with the authoritiarian BJP Prime Minister Gudjaral of India and India's ``untouchable'' president is merely a figurehead. Mr. Speaker, would democracies continue the rampant campaign of genocide? On July 22, 1998, Baljit Singh, a Sikh youth of Burj Dhillwan Village, died of complications from torture-style brutality inflicted by the Punjab police. Also in July of 1998, police picked up Kashmira Singh of the village of Khudial Kalan on the pretext that they were investigating a theft. They then tortured him for 15 days. They rolled logs over his legs until he couldn't walk; they submerged him in a tub of water; and they slashed his thighs with razor blades and stuffed hot peppers into the wounds. On April 1, 1998, Brother Luke, a Roman Catholic priest was murdered in the eastern state of Bihar. His body was found with a bullet hole through the head. He was a member of Mother Teresa's world-renowned charity organization. This is the fourth priest in 2 years that has been murdered in India. On October 30, 1997, Reverend A.T. Thomas was found beheaded also in Bihar, apparently killed for aiding the no-caste ``untouchables.'' Amnesty International has linked the Bihar state government to the murder of Rev. Thomas! The Catholic Bishops conference of India has criticized the government for doing nothing to protect Catholic priests and for failing to prosecute those responsible. On July 12, 1997, in Bombay, 33 Balits (black untouchables) were killed by Indian police during demonstrations. On July 8, 1997, 36 people were killed in a train bombing in Punjab. Two ministers of the Punjab Government have blamed the Punjab police. The bombing occurred a day after 9 policemen were convicted of murder! On March 5, 1997, a death squad picked up Kashmir Singh, an opposition party member. He was thrown in a van, tortured, and murdered. Finally, his bullet-ridden body was dumped out on the roadside. These military forces operate beyond the law with complete impunity! Mr. Speaker, the United States should not support a government that condones widespread abuses with our hard-earned tax dollars! It is time India is held accountable for its continued violation of basic human rights! The Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, ``untouchables,'' and women of India are desperately looking to this Congress for help. The time has come for action, it is time for America to take a stand! Considering all this, the President still requested $56.5 million in development assistance for India in fiscal year (FY) 1999. That is an increase of almost $1 million over last year. As everyone is aware, as a result of India's recent nuclear test, the President has imposed a broad range of sanctions on India for violation of section 102(b) of the Arms Export Control Act. Also known as the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1994, or more popularly, the Glenn Amendment--it prohibits a variety of assistance and commercial transactions between the U.S. and any country if the President determines that that country--if it is a non-nuclear-weapon state--has detonated a nuclear explosive device. India has disregarded regional and international stability by placing missiles and exploding thermonuclear weapons, fission weapons, and hydrogen bombs near the Pakistan border. Indeed, their behavior has been clearly unacceptable, and they are being properly punished. I applaud the President for his fortitude. And, if the President continues to follow through with the current law, this should send a strong signal to the Indian Government that it is not going to be business as usual with the United States. Mr. Speaker, the American people are tired of helping bullies who punish their own people and threaten neighbors. India is still the 5th largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid in the world; India is the world's largest borrower from the World Bank with more than $44 billion in loans; India votes against the U.S. at the United Nations more often than any other country, except Cuba. It does not justify sending more hard-earned tax dollars to a country that claims to be the largest democracy in the world, but obviously shares none of our most cherished values. Democracies don't commit genocide! Let's put the brakes on the foreign aid gravy train to India! Ask the President not to waver on his stance with India!

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, September 18, 1998, I was absent from the House due to a serious illness in my immediate family. As a result, I missed three rollcall votes. Had I been present, I would have voted ``No'' on rollcall vote number 450; ``no'' on rollcall vote number 451; and ``aye'' on rollcall vote number 452.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, due to a death in my immediate family I was not present during today's House proceedings. Had I been here, I would have voted in the following way: ``Yea'' on roll call number 453; ``Yea'' on roll call number 454; ``Yea'' on roll call number 455; and ``Yea'' on roll call number 456.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, let me just say to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions) that I neglected to say that the gentleman likewise is a very valued member of our committee and I really appreciate all the things that he does for this country. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder), another valued member of the committee, who had a great special order last night.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana for all the service he gives to his constituents and the country by working so hard on the committee. I really appreciate it. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Horn).

Mr. BURTON

Mr. BURTON. Mr. Speaker, I cannot give the information in the memo, but after having read it, along with some of our legal staff on the committee, there is nothing in there that would lead to anybody other than the Attorney General's position of not appointing an independent counsel. In fact, I think that some of the remarks that are made by Mr. LaBella come close to condemnation of the Attorney General for not acting on the mandatory section of the statute. So, that is the only thing that I found in the memo that she could be concerned about. That is why I believe it should be made available to every Member of Congress and to the American people.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Yes, and we have investigated Republicans as well as Democrats. But we need an independent counsel who is not beholden to anybody to get to the bottom of this whole thing.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Davis). He is, as I said, a valued member of the committee and he does a heck of a job for his constituents. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, for over 2 years now, despite overwhelming evidence, the Attorney General of the United States has refused to follow the law and the recommendations of her FBI director and the chief campaign finance prosecutor to appoint an independent counsel in the campaign finance scandal. She has politicized the office over which she has control, the Justice Department of the United States. Reports about disarray in this investigation at the Justice Department abound. After 2 years of this investigation, key players such as John Huang and James and Mochtar Riady, close friends of the President, have not been brought anywhere near to justice. White House and DNC officials are almost entirely off of the hook. The Attorney General and her political advisors have inherent conflicts in making a decision about an investigation involving their boss, the President, and his closest friends. These conflicts are obvious to everyone but the Attorney General and the political appointees by the President made by the President at the Justice Department. Last December, last December, we learned that FBI director Louie Freeh had recommended an independent counsel for the campaign finance investigation. He wrote that there could not be a more compelling case, there could not be a more compelling case for an independent counsel. The Attorney General ignored his compelling and sound advice. Then the investigation continued to limp along with the Attorney General failing to focus on any of the key White House and DNC officials or even John Huang, the individual who solicited millions in illegal foreign money after being personally placed at the DNC, the Democratic National Committee, by Bill Clinton. In fact, the core of the investigation should be focused on all of the foreign money that flowed into the DNC conference from around the world. Illegal campaign contributions from Macao, China, Taiwan, Egypt, Indonesia, and South America. Yet the numerous 90-day reviews continually ignore this big picture and focus on isolated matters such as the Vice President's phone calls. We clearly had cause for concern even before the LaBella memo became known to the public. The Attorney General before our committee said that, within 30 days, she would make a decision on an independent counsel. The 30 days have long past, even though our committee passed a contempt of Congress citation against the Attorney General. Thirty days have long since past. She has not appointed an independent counsel. Instead, she has extended by 90 days investigations into Mr. Ickes and the Vice President. In July of this year, we learned that the chief prosecutor, Mr. Charles LaBella, who was appointed by the Attorney General, also recommended an independent counsel. He provided the Attorney General with a detailed 94-page memo outlining the specific information he had compiled which he informed her mandated by law, mandated the appointment of an independent counsel under the law. Again, the Attorney General ignored his advice. This is the man she personally appointed to head the investigation. At that point, in late July, the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight subpoenaed both the Freeh and LaBella memoranda in order to fully access the sound legal arguments which the Attorney General was rejecting. The Attorney General refused to provide the memos to the Congress. She refused to provide any legal rationale for her refusal. On August 6, 1998, the committee held the Attorney General in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with a valid congressional subpoena. The committee still has not received the memos. Earlier this month, we did have an opportunity to read through a redacted copy. That is where they cross out anything that is related to the Grand Jury investigation. We were able to read through a redacted version of the memorandum and meet with the Attorney General about this important document. The Attorney General's claims that this redacted version of the LaBella memo would provide a road map to the investigation is simply not true. I read it. There is nothing of a road map to anything in there except the decisions made by the Attorney General which appear to be protecting the President and the Vice President of the United States. I will not go into the content of the LaBella memo. The memo does confirm, as I said, our worst fears, that the Attorney General of the United States, the one who is supposed to be the chief administrator of justice in this country, is clearly applying a different standard of law enforcement when it comes to the President and the Vice President than she does to any other American citizen. There is truly a dual standard, one for everybody except the President and the Vice President of the United States. The Attorney General has taken what is obviously the White House position that the President is above the law in a way that no other citizen in this country can expect. There is something extremely wrong with the way that the Reno Justice Department dispenses justice, if you want to call it that. It is unseemly to have an Attorney General putting partisan interest above justice. As the New York Times observed last December, ``Every decision she has made and comment she has offered has minimized the offenses and excused the conduct of the White House and the Democratic Party. The person who is supposed to be the Nation's chief prosecutor, ever alert for the signs of infraction, sounds instead like a technicality hunting defense lawyer.'' This is a quote right out of the New York Times. Indeed, when we met with the Attorney General regarding the LaBella memorandum, she exhibited this defense lawyer type of mentality or behavior. She refused to allow Mr. LaBella to explain his memo. And even though the public integrity chief Lee Radek, whose illogical views she has adopted as her own, was present at the meeting, the Attorney General refused to allow these individuals to speak for themselves and would not let them describe their reasons why they took the positions that they did. I mean they were both sitting right there. I asked Mr. LaBella questions, and I asked Mr. Radek questions, and the Attorney General would not let them answer for themselves. Mr. Radek, it should be noted, told the New York Times that he considers the independent counsel statute an insult and a knife in the back to top Justice Department officials. It is clear that Mr. Radek will continue to recommend that the Attorney General not follow a law which he does not like. What is amazing is that the Attorney General believes she can pick and choose what laws she wants to follow, even though the Congress of the United States has passed it. Janet Reno did not always hold this position. When she first became Attorney General, she testified to the following regarding the independent counsel statute, and I quote the Attorney General directly: ``The reason that I support the concept of an independent counsel is that there is an inherent conflict whenever senior Executive Branch officials are to be investigated by the Department of Justice and its appointed head.'' The Attorney General. The Attorney General serves at the pleasure of the President, so she is convicted by her own statement. There should be an independent counsel without any political influence being exerted on them whatsoever to investigate the President and Vice President. It has been stated by the FBI director Louis Freeh; the chief investigator of this whole scandal, Mr. LaBella; Mr. DeSarno, the head of the FBI task force investigating it; and her own words. Yet, she still will not appoint an independent counsel. Certainly the President has to be pleased with the Attorney General's failure to follow the recommendations of the FBI director and the chief prosecutor to appoint an independent counsel to investigate the President's conduct in campaign finance and fund-raising. This refusal places Janet Reno as the first Attorney General since President Nixon's Attorney General John Mitchell to investigate the President who appointed her. Every Attorney General since John Mitchell has turned over such political investigations to someone outside of the Justice Department if for no other reason than to eliminate the appearance of impropriety. Quite simply, the Attorney General is derelict in her duties to enforce the laws equally. She is giving the President special dispensations that no other citizen could hope to enjoy. The recent 90-day reviews are merely a smoke screen to avoid following the advice she has been given for 2 years to appoint an independent counsel for the entire campaign finance matter. It is just another delaying tactic to get us past the election. It is the people in the public integrity section of the Justice Department who has so strongly opposed an independent counsel and have fought the appointment of one from the beginning of the campaign finance scandal and who are conducting these so-called 90-day reviews. All these latest 90-day reviews accomplish is to push these decisions past the November elections into next January, another partisan act which demonstrates that the Attorney General continues to protect the President time and again during this investigation. The American people have a right to know that the Attorney General is not following the law. The FBI director and the chief prosecutor in this investigation have said as much in their memos to her concluding that an independent counsel is necessary under the mandatory section of the independent counsel statute. But it is not only their view. It is not only their view. Listen to others who have recognized the attorney as wrong in her interpretation of the law in this matter. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat in the other body said recently, ``Two years ago, we should have had an independent counsel to inquire into the Chinese attack on our political system through political contributions in the 1996 campaign. How she,'' the Attorney General of the United States, Janet Reno, ``cannot have done that, I do not know.'' That is a condemnation from the President's own party of the Attorney General. A person who is not generally a friend of mine and one who disagrees with me quite frequently, columnist Al Hunt, not someone that I usually quote either, said, ``The Attorney General is getting terrible advice from Lee Radek from the public integrity section over there at Justice who despises independent counsels.'' But Charles LaBella's position here is even more compelling than FBI Director Louie Freeh who came to the same conclusion earlier, about 8 months earlier. If Janet Reno does not name an independent counsel, her credibility as Attorney General is destroyed. This is from a fellow who normally is very supportive of the administration. Janet Reno's former deputy observed last year, and this is her deputy, ``I served in seven administrations,'' he said ``and I have never seen the Justice Department so dominated in the policy realm by the White House. An Attorney General who is dominated by the White House in protecting the President does a disservice to the justice system.'' Our committee continues to seek these memos because of the need to inform the American people of the threats to our judicial system by an administration which thinks that it is above the law. No one in this country should be above the law. The law as was said earlier by one of my colleagues from Texas should be administered equally, whether it is the lowest person in the United States or the person occupying the highest office, the President of the United States. The law should be applied equally. Unfortunately, this politicized Justice Department has one standard for everybody except the President and Vice President; and that is not only unseemly, I believe it is unlawful. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield first to my colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Horn), a valued member of our committee.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. It is now 116 people have taken the Fifth Amendment or fled the country, 116.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Yes, and I am happy that the gentleman from Virginia brought that up. The Attorney General said before our committee that she was afraid that if they even gave us a redacted copy where they crossed out certain grand jury material, that this would still lead to people that they may want to prosecute or question and it might impede their investigation. I read that, and I am not at liberty----

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Yes, I would. And I would like to add that the Attorney General has appointed independent counsels for some of the periphery of this administration, but whenever it gets close to the Oval Office or people close to the Oval Office, there is a reluctance to go ahead and appoint an independent counsel. Instead of doing this piecemeal, as has been the case by the Justice Department, there should be one independent counsel to look at the whole campaign finance scandal, the money that has come from all over the world illegally.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California. And I am happy to yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Davis), my colleague and another valued member of the committee.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California. Mr. Speaker, I see that my time has about expired. Let me just end by saying, once again, for my colleagues, that there are 116 people, many friends of the administration, many people who are in the administration, who have taken the Fifth Amendment or fled the country. They do not want to talk to our committee. They do not want to talk to anybody because of the threat of self-incrimination, the threat that they might go to jail for what they have done; 116. That is unparalleled in American history, as far as any administration is concerned, unparalleled. Millions and millions of dollars have come in from Egypt, from China, from Taiwan, from Macao, from Indonesia, from South America, into the campaign coffers of the Clinton/Gore campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Much of that money has not been returned. The American people have a right to know what was given in exchange for these contributions. Foreign governments like communist China do not give great sums of money to foreign candidates, like the administration here in the United States, unless there is some reason for it. They do not give those large amounts of money just because they think we are nice. They want something in exchange. That is what we have to get to the bottom of. That is what we have to illuminate for the American people. Now, they ran out the investigation, they ran out the time on the investigation of Senator Thompson in the other body. The investigation of the independent counsel, Mr. Starr, is about to be concluded. Our investigation in the House, I think they hope, would conclude at the end of this legislative session. I want my colleagues to know that we will write an interim report at the end of this month, and should we have the same control next January that we have right now and should I be the chairman of this committee come next January, if the American people have not had all the facts given to them about these illegal campaign contributions that may have jeopardized our national security or compromised our foreign policy, then we will pick up the ball in January and go forward and get the facts for the American people. That is a promise I make to the people tonight.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, the effort by political leaders in Punjab to shut down the People's Commission is very disturbing. This commission was formed after the Akali Dal Government in Punjab, which promised to expose the genocide against the Sikhs, said that it would not appoint a commission to do so after all. In fact, the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, proudly boasts that his government has taken no action to punish any of the police officers responsible for this genocide. This commission is not solely a Sikh organization. It was established by the Coordination Committee on Disappearance in Punjab, led by a Hindu human-rights activist, Ram Narayan Kumar. The three commission members are respected former Justices of the Indian Supreme Court, and two of the three are Hindus. And you might recall Mr. Speaker, it was the Indian Supreme Court that described the situation in Punjab, Khalistan as ``worse than a genocide.'' From August 8-10, 1998, the commission investigated 90 cases of genocide during its first meeting, and, as result, has requested those involved to bear the responsibility of their actions. Currently, the commission is investigating 3,000 more cases. In a country where over 250,000 Sikhs have been extrajudicially murdered by the police and other agents of the government since 1984, it is no wonder that the authorizes don't want the truth to get out. They are afraid that when the light of truth shines on them, they will be exposed as collaborators in the genocide against the Sikhs. America is the moral conscience of the world. We must not let this effort to bury the genocide and evade responsibility for these crimes succeed. It is our solemn duty to do whatever we can to make sure that the People's Commission is able to complete its work, and that the people responsible for these murders, abductions, and other acts of torture are exposed and brought to justice. Mr. Speaker, I call on the President to instruct our Ambassador to India to intervene on behalf of the commission. I further urge my colleagues to impose tough sanctions on India until the commission has completed its efforts to expose the genocide; and I urge the United States of America to go on record for self-determination for the Sikhs of Punjab, Khalistan, so that they can decide their own fate in a free and fair election. That way, the repressive actions of the police can finally come to an end and real democracy can come once and for all to Punjab, Khalistan. On September 3, 1998, the Hindustan Times ran a very informative article on the effort to close the People's Commission. I am placing it in the Record for the information of my colleagues. I hope we all will read it and consider the information therein. The Hindustan Times 09/03 Govt's Disregard for People's Panel Irks Rights Activists NEW DELHI: Human rights activists are irked by the Government's disregard bordering on disdain, for the People's Commission that has been hearing complaints of human rights violations in Punjab since the time when the State was in the thick of terrorism. ``How can the Government ignore the necessity to determine the facts,'' wondered Mr. Ram Narayan Kumar, convener of the committee for Coordination on Disappearance in Punjab. He was particularly livid that the commission was sought to be branded as ``extra-judicial'' by official agencies. The commission is the brainchild of Justice (Retd) Kuldip Singh, who is a member of the Coordination Committee that functions as an umbrella organisation of Punjab-based human rights groups. The People's Commission was constituted, as a follow-up to the committee's first convention in December last year, as a functional-forum to defend human rights guaranteed under the Indian laws. The complaints the People's Commission has been hearing, Mr. Kumar claimed, were based on facts revealing disappearances, custodial deaths and police torture. ``The truth must come out. The incidents cannot be dismissed as forgotten past,'' he averred. Mr. Kumar has to his credit two books providing a historical perspective to the human rights situation in the border State. According to him, the political leaders, bureaucratic and intellectuals were indifferent to the problem of civil liberties and human rights. ``Nobody is interested in fact finding. But the facts cannot be suppressed. Thousands of those whose kin have disappeared are awaiting justice,'' Mr. Kumar said. Speaking on behalf of the committee, he claimed that the cases under scrutiny were based on extensive research work, ``We want to propose reforms on the strength of facts and the existing law. Any attempt to vitiate the atmosphere might prove to be dangerous.'' The Akali Dal had promised, before coming to power, that it would have a detailed inquiry conducted into the human rights violations. ``But now they want to forget the past,'' he said. During its first three-day session starting Aug. 8, the People's Commission heard complaints about alleged human rights violations at the time when Punjab was in turmoil. The ``Bench'' comprising three retired judges--Justices D.S. Tewatia, Justice H. Suresh and Justice Jaspal Singh--took up complaints of illegal abductions, custodial deaths, disappearances, summary executions and en masse illegal cremations. The programmes adopted by the committee are aimed at countering, through an informed public opinion, the ongoing campaign for immunity for policemen charged with human rights violations; initiate a debate on vital issues of State power; organise compensation for the victims, and bring about change in domestic laws in conformity with the United Nations' instruments on torture and enforced disappearances. Mr. Kumar dismissed the claims that the commission has been acting on the basis of one-sided stories. ``We are willing to go into cases presented by widows of policemen killed by militants, we would be equally keen to study the instances they have documented,'' he said. The commission's next sitting is scheduled from Oct. 23-25 in Ludhiana. However, the legal validity of its actions is doubted by experts.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Let me say to my colleague, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder), that he is one of the most valued members of our committee and he works his tail off, and I hope everybody knows that. I really appreciate his taking this special order tonight, and I apologize for being an interloper, but the gentleman makes such important points that I think they need to be reinforced, and that is that there have been 116 people flee the country or take the fifth amendment. And people do not do that unless they are trying to hide from the truth. The thing that bothers me is that many people in this country, and I think the gentleman has alluded to this, many people in the country are saying, why are these investigations going on so long? Why is the Congress spending all this money? Well, the reason is that the White House has blocked us every way they can from getting information. Many of the people that the gentleman has mentioned here tonight used to work for the White House, were close associates of the President of the United States, and they have taken the fifth amendment against self-incrimination. And it looks like, to many people, that this is an orchestrated effort by the White House to keep facts from getting to the American people. And they feel like if they can run out the clock, and they did it on Senator Thompson, if they can run out the clock to the end of this session, that we will all stop and the American people will never get the facts. We have had to almost hold the President's chief counsel, Mr. Ruff, in contempt of Congress in order to get him to give us information. We have had to take the Attorney General, who has blocked us from getting information, and have the committee vote a contempt citation against her, which is still pending and that may come up before this body. And the reason is they are blocking for the President. It is okay to investigate other people, but leave this President alone. Leave him alone. Never mind that illegal campaign contributions have come in from Egypt, from Macao, from Indonesia, from China, from Taiwan, from South America, from all over the world. And the American people have a right to know, as the gentleman so eloquently stated tonight, the American people have a right to know if our foreign policy has been for sale, if our national defense has been jeopardized, because this President and this administration was so intent on making sure that they were reelected that they were willing to jeopardize these issues, our national security and our foreign policy. All I would like to say tonight is that the American people have a right to know. And I want to thank the gentleman very much tonight for coming down and taking this special order and illuminating this issue for the American people, because I believe once the American people get all these facts, they are going to say that no matter who it is, from the lowest person in this country to the highest office in this land, if they break the law, they need to be held accountable. And I thank the gentleman for yielding.