Jane Harman

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I regret this annual ritual to attempt to deny regular trading status to a country comprising one quarter of the world's population. The United States has normal trade relations with every country in the world except six: Afghanistan, North Korea, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia. We even grant normal trade relations status to Iran, Iraq, Burma, and Libya. It is not to our advantage to put China in the same category as these rogue states, and impose trade restrictions. By denying normal trade relations with China we hurt ourselves. China is the world's largest nation and a vast untapped market for U.S. goods and services. We can deny MFN to China, but other countries won't. And in the long run, we will be shut out of this market. This will not serve American workers, American consumers, or American competitiveness. In my own state of California, trade with China accounts for $2.3 billion in exports, and thousands of high-skill, high-wage jobs. In the district I represent, trade with China has generated new jobs not only through exports, but imports as well. Since 1995, the number of jobs at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has increased five times over (from 800 to 4,700). And these are good, high paying jobs--many of them union jobs. And let's be clear: if we deny normal trade relations with China, we leave the door open to quotas and tariffs that raise prices on the goods we buy. If we deny MFN, we hurt our own consumers. Is this what we want for hard-working American families? Making China a regular trading partner does not mean downgrading our interest in getting China to improve its human rights and its nonproliferation record. As a member of the House National Security and Intelligence Committees, I have worked very hard to address the threat of missile proliferation from China and other countries, and I will continue to do so. The imposition of targeted economic sanctions on firms that proliferate is, in my view, a far better way to deal with this. Refusing to grant normal trade relations status to China won't move it one iota on the issue of human rights or missile sales. What will? Engagement. Engagement means that we will continue to expose the Chinese people to our way of life and our values. As you will recall from the events that swept Eastern Europe less than a decade ago, opening the door just a little can result in tremendous change. Wang Dan, the student protester who spent 7 years in a Chinese jail, recently said he hoped to learn about the U.S. political system and ``bring the good things'' back to China. He wants constructive engagement, and so should we.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, as a mother of four children, two daughters and two sons, I find this probably the most difficult part of the debate on the right to choose. Some years back, when I first considered the issue of parental consent, my response was, I am a responsible parent, I have a trusting relationship with my daughters. I want them to talk to me before seeking to exercise their constitutional right to choose. That was my initial position, until I thought about many other families and many other relationships, and until I consulted my own daughters. Their response was, Mom, of course we would talk to you. We trust you, we know you. We know that you would give advice in our interests, and we also have listened to you over the years, and we know that the best thing to do is to avoid unwanted pregnancies. But nonetheless, they said, what about other girls? What about other families? What about other situations where there is no trust relationship? Then what? And their answer, and I believe it is the answer we have heard from speaker after speaker, was those girls will not talk to their parents; those girls will seek to have unlawful abortions or to make other unwise choices, and we have certainly heard the sordid tale of the couple in New Jersey who made a terrible decision and are having to pay for it. At any rate, my views have evolved on the subject, and I stand here to say that. My views are that I work as hard as possible to keep a trust relationship with my daughters, and one of them is still a teenager, and to make certain that they do consult me about the critical decisions in their lives, not just a decision like this; but that I do not presume that other daughters have the same opportunity that mine do, or that other mothers, even if they have good intentions, have the same success that I have been able to have with my own children. So my conclusion is that this is a tough subject, particularly tough for parents, but that the right answer is my daughters' answer, and that is to make certain that there is adult consultation, to make certain that young girls get advice, but not to require that they get parental consent, which is, 1, to undermine their right to choose; but 2, to undermine their health. That is why I oppose this legislation.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Beverly J. Rohrer on her retirement as Superintendent of Schools for the Redondo Beach, California, Unified School District. Her retirement ends a distinguished and visionary career which began in the classroom in 1960. Since Beverly became Superintendent in 1990, the Redondo Beach schools have led the nation in innovative approaches to the use of technology in education. For example, she helped create the ADTECH Consortium, a coalition of 12 Los Angeles South Bay School Districts, community colleges, universities and businesses which resulted in an innovative high-technology training and learning center called the ``Futures Academy.'' I was proud to participate in the ribbon-cutting for the Academy, which has become a ``technology schoolhouse'' for educating teachers, students and the community. Technologically- proficient teachers, in turn, prepare youth for high-skilled, tech- driven jobs of our new economy. Beverly also instituted many advanced educational programs. Standford University selected Redondo Beach as the first district in the country to implement their pilot Accelerated School Program. The Getty Education Institute for the Arts chose Redondo Union High School as a County Center of Excellence in Fine Arts. The award-winning Health, Fitness and Sport Academy promotes fitness and career opportunities. And, the Center for the Advancement of Arts and Entertainment is the focal point of the district's visual and performing arts curriculum. Beverly's leadership inspired invention and confidence among students, parents and teachers. Students manage BeachNet, the district's Wide Area Network. Ninth graders and teachers have laptop computers to begin full high school participation in wireless, wall- free learning. KnowledgeNets is on-line 24 hours a day. And, high school students thousands of miles apart produced a musical, then performed together in Redondo Beach. Among Bev's other contributions and professional affiliations are membership on the Executive Council of the Technology for Learning Initiative, The National School Board Association Institute for Transfer of Technology to Education, and IBM's ArtsEdTech 100 Conference. Mr. Speaker, Bev Rohrer will be fondly remembered for her exhaustive efforts to address the challenges of educating adults and teaching young people in a world of constant and demanding change. But most importantly, she can look about the community and see a legacy made of the thousands of children, parents, teachers and administrators whose lives she touched. It is a legacy for which she can be immensely proud.

Mr. HARMAN

Mr. HARMAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this year's defense appropriations bill. It continues the trend of declining defense spending since the end of the Cold War, forcing the committee to make a lot of tough choices. As a member of the National Security Committee, I know that many of the choices in this bill reflect directions set in the authorization bill. When I came to this House nearly 6 years ago, my district was reeling from defense cuts. Yet today it is thriving, and has recovered by using its expertise in commercial fields. California's 36th Congressional District demonstrates that there is life after defense downsizing. Mr. Chairman, I fought to establish the Dual Use Science and Technology program so that we could build skills that would protect defense workers when defense spending shrinks. This is not just important for the defense industry and the workers in my district, but for the country and its defense industrial base. Commercial applications allow us to maintain critical technological expertise in the industrial base, so that we can call upon it in times of need. I was disappointed to see cuts made in dual-use programs in this bill. For the reasons I've just described, it's exactly the wrong thing to cut in a shrinking defense budget. As defense spending ebbs, inefficiencies in the DoD also become more visible, and more harmful. Serious problems are emerging in modernization and readiness, but we still maintain excessive infrastructure. This House must tenaciously pursue cost-savings and eliminate bloated bureaucracies. We cannot afford to support waste when we have such urgent modernization and readiness needs. Finally, let me raise one more efficiency issue. As our forces shrink, we must fully embrace women in the military--we need to fully utilize all military talent in order to field a ready force. Secretary Cohen and the Service Chiefs feel it is crucial to ``train the way we fight'' and strongly advocate gender-integrated training. I'd urge Members not to substitute Congressional judgment for their expertise. As we learned many years ago, separate but equal is anything but equal. I urge support of the bill.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that sanctions are the perfect foreign policy tool, and I wish we did not have to resort to legislating sanctions today. Unfortunately, however, we can do no less. Many good points have been made in this debate, and I do not want to repeat them, but let me identify several that I do not think have been stressed adequately. First of all, the administration has been negotiating on this issue for over 14 months. We have had visits and consultations and briefings and high level ambassadors and conversations between the President and President Yeltsin and Vice President and former Prime Minister Chernomyrdin and so forth. Yet all we have really had is talk leading to talk. Talk needs to lead to action. Second, we have evidence that proliferation continues and that it may even be increasing. Third, we know that Russia, and this has been mentioned, has implemented a new executive decree in January which gives it added authority to crack down on those who transfer technology. It has not used this authority. In fact, in a case that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) mentioned of technology transfers to Iraq, it specifically disregarded the fact that gyroscopes were transferred, called them scrap metal and took no action. So Russia is specifically failing to act even with new executive authority. Fourth, the United States already has adequate authority to act. In fact Vice President Gore, when he was a member of the other body, authored that authority, and yet the administration has failed to use it even with a concurrent resolution passed by both houses last fall, of which I was one of the authors, directing it to use that authority. So finally we come to this, the necessity to pass stronger legislation. I would point out, as we do this, and I predict we will do it by an overwhelming margin in just a moment, I would point out to the administration that there is still time in the intervening weeks between passing this bill and action that may be taken to override a veto, should the President make one, to get the administration to act and/or to get the Russian Government to act. We need action; we need these transfers stopped. There is time to do this. If the negotiations are ever to conclude, they should conclude now. We might view this bill as an opportunity. The Congress is taking this action so that the administration has no choice but to act and to cause our ally Russia to act as well. These transfers must stop now, or Israel, our allies in the region and our troops are at risk. Mr. Speaker, with the world still reeling from the explosion of nuclear devices by India and Pakistan, we must stand firm on our commitment to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Let's send a strong signal of our commitment to nonproliferation. Let's pass H.R. 3709 as amended.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, last night I was unavoidably absent and missed Rollcall Votes 203 and 204. Had I been present I would have voted yes on Rollcall Vote 203 and yes on Rollcall Vote 204, a conference report for a bill authorizing agricultural research and extension programs and restoring food stamps benefits to certain legal immigrants.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address a subject of utmost importance: teen pregnancy prevention. Mr. Speaker, today the United States retains the unfortunate distinction of having the highest rate of teen pregnancy among industrialized western nations. Over the past decade we have made some progress in bringing down the number of pregnancies among teens. But too many kids are still having kids, and suffering social and economic repercussions throughout their lives because of it. We can and must do better. We must do better because unintended teen pregnancies mean more difficult lives, and fewer opportunities, for teen parents and their children. We know that teen mothers are less likely to graduate from high school, and more likely to depend on welfare. And their children start life at a distinct disadvantage--on average smaller at birth, they are more likely to be hospitalized, more likely to perform poorly in school, and more likely to suffer abuse and neglect. And the cycle is likely to be repeated. Over 20 percent of children of teen mothers will in turn have children at a young age. Mr. Speaker, our society suffers when our children start life with such odds against them. We must do also better because an ounce of prevention is indeed worth a pound of cure--prevention works. Studies show that the federal government spends more than $39 billion in assistance to families begun by teen parents and only $131 million to prevent teen pregnancy. When we work with our kids to prepare them to avoid pregnancy, through good parental communication and involvement in their lives, education, and family planning programs, the numbers are clear: unintended birth decline. What a better way, Mr. Speaker, to reduce abortion in this country than to prevent unintended pregnancies? I hope today we can all renew our efforts to support and fund teen pregnancy prevention programs.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bill. The Committee has worked hard to develop a good, bipartisan bill, and I commend our chairman and ranking member for their leadership. The Cold War is long gone, Mr. Chairman, but the world is still a dangerous place. Look at the nuclear tests last week in India. Look at the advanced ballistic missiles under development in Iran. Dangers can emerge anywhere, and with little warning. I think this bill reflects a determination to maintain our position of strength within that uncertain world. No bill is perfect, and this bill is no exception. Consider the fact that our military is finding it increasingly difficult to get permission to use forward bases. This calls for an increased emphasis on power projection. To me, that means the B-2 Bomber, which can strike any target in the world from Whitman Air Force Base, Missouri, within 24 hours. It also means the Super Hornet, which offers a leap ahead in naval aviation attack capabilities over the aging planes on carrier decks today. But the B-2 production line has been allowed to close, and three Super Hornet aircraft were cut from the request this year. I think we could have done more to increase the efficiency of the Defense Department--to squeeze savings out of the bureaucracy that we could use for more modern weapons systems. I know that this body takes defense reform seriously, though, and will continue to pursue it, if not in this bill. I am particularly troubled by a couple of signals this bill sends to women. First, it perpetuates the policy of barring women serving overseas from using their own funds to obtain legal abortion services in military hospitals. Women who volunteer to serve in our Armed Forces already give up many freedoms and risk their lives to defend our country. They should not have to sacrifice their privacy, their health, and their basic constitutional rights to a policy with no valid military purposes. Second, the bill prejudges its own congressionally-created commission studying basic training and instead forces the services to segregate men and women. Such a requirement is premature, may affect unit cohesion and readiness, and will not address the serious problems of sexual misconduct and harassment confronting the services. The segregated training provision is opposed by the Army, Navy and Air Force. All believe that the best way to train soldiers, sailors and airmen is to ``train the way we fight.'' That means in integrated units. As Navy Vice Chief of Staff Admiral Pilling testified before the Personnel Subcommittee, if men and women do not learn how to live and work together during basic training, are the confined quarters aboard ship the next-best place? I think not. The provision is also opposed by the top enlisted men of all four services, including the sergeant major of the Marine Corps, Lewis G. Lee. And implementing the segregated living requirements required with the bill is expensive--$159 million for the Army alone. It is deeply troubling that, at a time of increasingly scarce resources, the Committee has opted for this expensive and unnecessary course of action. Lastly, Mr. Chairman, in my view, the long term consequences of this provision will be to roll back opportunities for women in the military. It will reduce training resources for female recruits. And it will not reduce the incidents of sexual harassment and misconduct. Nearly 50 years ago, the Supreme Court told us that ``separate but equal'' is inherently unequal. Mr. Chairman, I regret the Committee has failed to recognize this admonition.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Clarisa F. Howard and her efforts on behalf of City of Hope National Medical Center through her sponsorship of the celebration, ``Commitment to Excellence--Commitment to Life.'' Twenty-six years ago, Mrs. Howard began her corporate leadership in financial management, strategic business planning, operations and personal administration. As the President/CEO of bd Systems, Inc., a female-minority owned small aerospace and information technologies firm, she had dedicated herself to developing quality products and customer service. For these efforts, she has been recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners 1998 NAWBO Businesswoman of the Year Award, the 1997 Ronald H. Brown Award for Courage, the 1996 AT&T Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the 1996 El Camino College Foundation Roundtable Award. In addition to her professional accomplishments, Mrs. Howard has an unwavering commitment to the community. She is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners, The Trusteeship, the Southern California Chapter of the International Women's Forum, the Association of Black Women Entrepreneurs, and Emily's List. She supports inner city youth programs through in-kind donations, monetary contributions and bd technical assistance. bd's internship program for disadvantaged students provides mentoring and work experience while they pursue academic studies. Medical research became important to her when her nephew, Anthony Nickols, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. At the celebration on June 13, 1998, Mrs. Howard invites others to join her in support of the researchers and Anthony's physician so they might continue to search for cures to give hope to future generations.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, first let me say that as a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I have learned an enormous amount from its leaders, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss), chairman of the committee, and its ranking member, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks); and I want to thank them for their nice words about me because, as my colleagues know, I will be leaving the Congress after this term. I intend to support this bill in full. It is a good bill that was developed with broad, bipartisan support, and as I have said for many years, intelligence spending is intelligent spending. I rise in support now of this excellent amendment by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), because it deals with part of a subject that has concerned many of us for some time, and that is technology transfer from Russia and China to rogue regimes. We know from published reports that that transfer is continuing. It is continuing in spite of laws on the books in the United States that could cause our government to invoke sanctions against those firms which we have identified as aiding Iran's missile program, and which are doing business with the United States. I authored a concurrent resolution last fall and the same resolution was offered in the other body, both passed by overwhelming margins, to direct the administration to impose sanctions on firms we have identified as transferring technology to Iran to build its indigenous missile industry. Sanctions have not been imposed. From what we know, some list of firms is circulating and people are being encouraged not to do business with those firms, but sanctions on the proliferators have not been imposed. Mr. Chairman, I am a cosponsor and strong supporter of the measure authored by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), which has passed this body. An identical measure authored by Senator Lott is likely to pass the other body very soon. Hopefully then a strong majority of the United States Congress will have expressed its will to make certain that strong sanctions are imposed on firms that are proliferating. Meanwhile, we do what we can. And in this case, this amendment makes clear that we want to develop the most complete list of proliferators, and we want our intelligence agencies to share that list with our Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Mr. Chairman, I want that list. I think it will be very helpful. But more than the list, I want the technology transfers stopped. The United States can do this if it has the will. I call on the administration, despite its multiple agendas with Russia, to act now against proliferation that has been publicly identified by Russia to Iran. It is dangerous. It threatens our national security. We cannot wait any longer.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the modern State of Israel, and I commend my colleague, Mr. Lantos, for introducing this resolution that reaffirms the strong bond of friendship and cooperation between Israel and the United States. Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago, when David Ben Gurion proclaimed the State of Israel, the world was still reeling from a devastating conflict, and from the realization that more than six million Jews had perished in an orchestrated extermination campaign. The embryonic State of Israel gave hope to Jews everywhere that safety, freedom, and justice could be found at last--and in the ancient cradle of their religion and civilization. And so they have. And, in the 50 years since its establishment, Israel has accomplished much more than providing a haven for Jews around the world. It has become a vibrant pluralistic democracy--indeed still the only fully realized democracy in the Middle East--and has enjoyed dramatic economic success, even as it sought to achieve security and peace with its neighbors. Throughout these five decades, it has remained a stalwart U.S. ally in one of the most unstable regions in the entire world. Mr. Speaker, a half-century of friendship and cooperation between Israel and the United States began with President Truman's recognition of Israel shortly after its establishment. It continues today, with our common search for security and peace in the Middle East. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the people of Israel on the occasion of this memorable milestone.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, on rollcalls 110 and 111 I, too, was delayed; and I would have voted aye.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Police Chief Gary E. Johansen on his retirement from the Palos Verdes Estates, California, Police Department after ten years of dedicated service. Gary joined the Pleasanton, California, Police Department in 1977 after a career as a high school instructor. His experience as a teacher greatly enhanced his law enforcement career and the communities he served. He was active in teaching in the fields of traffic accident investigation and drug enforcement. He was a patrolman, motor officer, sergeant in patrol and training, lieutenant in patrol and administration and captain in managing the investigation's division. In 1988, Gary was appointed Chief of Police in the City of Palos Verdes Estates. During his tenure he guided the Department through difficult financial times while improving both training and equipment. He established the DARE Anti-drug program in local schools, oversaw installation of Computer Aided Dispatch, reduced response time on police calls, increased the number of Neighborhood Watch Groups, and worked on community outreach to resolve local conflicts in schools or among residents. Chief Johnson has continued to teach in both school and police environments. He holds a Bachelor and Masters Degree from California State University in Fresno, is a graduate of the POST Command College and holds an Executive Certificate from California Peace Officers Standards and Training. My close friendship with Chief Johansen began in tragedy. He provided strength and courage to his officers, staff and families after a masked gunman charged into a hotel room during a training session and murdered two of his officers. His example helped sustain a shocked and grieving community. Gary's retirement to his home in Bend, Oregon, will leave a grateful community in his debt.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the first of this century's many examples of man's inhumanity to man: the brutal suppression perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children at the beginning of this century. On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested 200 political, religious, and intellectual leaders of the Armenian community of Constantinople. In the eight long years that followed, the Armenian population of Asia Minor was subjected to forced privation, deportation, torture, and death. Mr. Speaker, it is important to remember this event, just as it is important to remember the suffering of millions of other victims of hatred and violence. It is important to remember because by remembering we say no Holocaust, no ``ethnic cleansing,'' no mass extermination must ever happen again. No observer of the world scene today can ignore the long-lasting repercussions of such atrocities. In the Balkans and Central Asia, we see how memories of past injustice and mass human rights violations complicate the search for peace. In commemorating the Armenian Genocide today, we must renew our commitment to help prevent future ethnic and religious hatred. This day of remembrance also highlights the endurance and the spirit of the Armenian people. Many displaced Armenians joined the ranks of those who sought haven in our country. Many settled in my home State of California, where they achieved prosperity, contributed to civic life, and added to the cultural richness of our State. California today is home to the largest--and thriving--community of Armenian-Americans. Their success says to the tyrants and the perpetrators of mass persecution in the world that the human spirit cannot be suppressed. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues Mr. Pallone and Mr. Porter for organizing this special order, and join my colleagues here today, the Armenian-American community, and Americans across our country in commemorating the Armenian Genocide.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. Madam Speaker, this bill is a very good example of bipartisanship producing good policy. I am proud to be an original cosponsor. I commend my friend, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon), for his leadership and his bipartisanship. Like him, I believe the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them is the key national security threat in the post-Cold War world. In particular, many of us have been concerned about the transfer of ballistic missile capabilities from Russia to Iran. This is profoundly destabilizing to the region, and it presents a direct threat to U.S. forces in the region and to U.S. allies. To properly stem this threat, we need a two-pronged approach, prevention and defense. Last fall, Senator Kyl and I introduced a concurrent resolution which passed both Chambers overwhelmingly, urging the President to impose sanctions on the Russian entities that have been providing technical assistance and technology to Iran's programs. The Harman-Kyl resolution addressed the preventive aspect of a nonproliferation strategy. Sanctions make it unprofitable for anyone to transfer sensitive weapons technology to Iran, but stopping the flow is only part of the answer. We also need to defend against the capability that has already slipped through. This bill is an important step in that process. It accelerates the development of important capability that can improve the region's missile defense in the short term. Assembled in cooperation with the Defense Department, these measures are designed to put in place the best defense possible by the time Iran's medium-range missile capability is fully realized. Let me underscore just one measure that is in this bill and was mentioned by its sponsor, that is funding for interoperability of Israel's cost-share Arrow system, our best bet short term to protect our only democratic ally in the region. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this bill and urge our colleagues, all of them, on a bipartisan basis, to support it, too.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, today, as the people of Greece celebrate the 177th anniversary of their struggle for independence, I join my colleagues in commemorating this day, and in extending heartfelt congratulations to the people of Greece and to those of Greek descent everywhere. Mr. Speaker, the culture, history, and political philosophy of our country are deeply steeped in the Greek tradition. Greece, the cradle of democracy, inspired our Founding Fathers as they struggled to fashion the American form of government. In turn, the American Revolution inspired Greeks fighting to gain their freedom after 400 years of rule by the Ottoman Empire. As we speak, the influence of Greek art and architecture surrounds us in our classically-inspired Capitol. And who can ignore the fact that our country has grown culturally richer and economically stronger because of the presence and contribution of countless Greek immigrants? In California's 36th district, which I represent, Greek Americans are a vibrant part of a culturally-diverse community--the South Bay would be less than what it is today were it not for the wide-ranging civic contributions of Greek-Americans. Mr. Speaker, the familial ties between the United States and Greece are mirrored in the close political cooperation our countries share. As members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United States and Greece work together to ensure security on Europe's southern flank. As newspaper headlines sadly remind us, south eastern Europe continues to experience political turbulence, and US-Greek cooperation remains an essential element in bringing stability to this part of the world. I remain committed to strengthening U.S.-Greek ties, and to working on issues of interest to the Greek American community, including a permanent solution to the Cyprus problem. I thank my colleague, Mr. Bilirakis, for his leadership in organizing this special order to highlight the important contributions of Greece to our country, and once again congratulate the people of Greece on this memorable occasion.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Samuel A. ``Skip'' Keesal, Jr. on his recognition as Distinguished Citizen of the Year by the Long Beach Area Council Boy Scouts of America. Skip has dedicated himself to the local community by supporting numerous charitable and civic projects. His enduring commitment and outstanding leadership are reflected in the Boards on which he serves: the Boards of Directors for the Long Beach Area Council of Boys Scouts of America, YMCA of Greater Long Beach, and the Board of Trustees at Long Beach Memorial Hospital. His strong support of education is exemplified in his founding membership in the Board of Governors at California State University Long Beach and his support of many programs sponsored by the local schools. Further recognition of Skip's efforts include the ``Outstanding Corporation'' award presented to Keesal, Young & Logan, the law firm of which he is founding partner, on National Philanthropy Day in Los Angeles. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Children's Health Fund which awarded him the ``Big Apple'' award for his outstanding contributions to children's health care. Support of his profession through excellence and personal commitment also deserves recognition. As a result of Skip's trial practice, he has been named to the ``Best Lawyers in America,'' both in civil litigation and maritime law. In 1990, he was selected as one of 500 lawyers in the world to join the prestigious International Academy of Trial Lawyers, where he sits on the Board of Directors of the Academy and the Academy's Foundation. Among other distinctions, Skip is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. California State University Long Beach named him ``The Distinguished Alumnus'' of the Business School in 1991. Congratulations, Skip.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is with mixed emotions that I join my colleagues in bidding adieu to Ron Dellums, and wishing him fair winds as he starts the next chapter in his admirable life. It has been a honor to serve with him, both as a member of the California Delegation and as a member of the House National Security Committee. In all my dealings with him, Ron has extended to me, and others, a degree of fairness and sincerity rarely found in this body. He has also afforded me opportunities that, if strict seniority were followed, I would not otherwise have bad. For example, as a freshman member of the then-Armed Services Committee, which Ron chaired, he turned the gavel over to me one day. it was a long day's hearing to receive testimony from the newly appointed Secretary of Defense, and our former colleague, Les Aspin. I was at the very bottom tier of seats, and, much to Secretary Aspin's credit, the hearing had already lasted for hours. Suddenly, one of the Committee's aides came up to me to say that Chairman Dellums wanted to speak to me. What horror! What had I done to draw attention from the Chairman? What protocol had I violated? But, in fact, Ron invited me-- one of the most junior members--to chair the hearing while I asked my questions of the witness. To others, an inconsequential act. To me, a very generous gesture. Such examples of Ron's largess are not uncommon. Indeed, his entire public career has been devoted to giving voice to the aspirations of individuals at the bottom rungs of our society, or in my case, the committee. Individuals disadvantaged or facing discrimination from any source came under Ron's caring wings. Undoubtedly, this caring attitude was shaped by early events in his life. One story Ron has told, in particular, stands out in my mind. As a new Marine recruit, Ron scored the highest possible on a test the Marines used to select potential candidates for officer training. Called into the office of a superior responsible for reviewing such candidates, Ron stood at attention, saying with Marine precision ``Private Ron Dellums reporting, sir.'' To his surprise, Ron was asked what his race was. ``Negro,'' he said clearly and distinctly. ``Dismissed,'' replied the officer. Such institutional bias has always been a source of great concern to Ron. His, for example, was one of the earliest voices calling for strong U.S. policies to break the much-hated, but institutionally- rooted, policy of apartheid in South Africa. Similarly, as a member and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Ron has fought for the average soldier and has fought to change the military's policies toward women and gays. At a ceremony last week when Secretary Cohen awarded him the Defense Department's distinguished service award, Ron pointed out that his disagreement with policies deploying forces never translated into anything other than the greatest of respect for the soldiers who were the instrument of those policies. This respect was also showered on his colleagues in this body. Indeed, if for noting else, Ron will be remembered for his ultimate decency and his admonitions to others to avoid personality and invectiveness in the course of heated debate on the House floor. As he has often said, debate over ideas need not be blackened by harsh and unnecessary attacks on the motives of the individuals debating. Ideas, in their own right, will rise or fall on the arguments and evidence supporting them, not on the character or failings of their proponents. Mr. Speaker, fortunately, the record is replete with the many successes of Ron Dellums. Though often in the minority, Ron has caused this body--both collectively and as members individually--to think before moving forward on a policy. In exercising his conscience, he has shaped many policies and he has influenced and touched many members, including this one. I wish my friend, his family and staff, a fond adieu.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for a few moments in which to pay respect to our late colleague, Sonny Bono. Sonny's office is just across the hall from mine, and we often walked together to the House floor. We both served on the House National Security Committee, and I came to appreciate his open-minded and bipartisan approach to tough problems. I will also miss his self- deprecating charm, which he often used to disguise his seriousness of purpose. In the past two years, Congress has lost four of its sweetest and most decent members--Frank Tejeda (D-TX), Bill Emerson (R-MO), Walter Capps (D-CA), and, earlier this month, Sonny Bono. Frank's office was also on our hallway, immediately next to mine. It's a sad time for Californians. And, I also want to extend my condolences to Sonny's wife, Mary, his children, and the members of his staff. Sonny, we'll miss you, babe.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that last evening H.R. 2709, the Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act of 1997 introduced by my colleagues Mr. Gilman and Mr. Berman, passed on the consent calendar. This legislation addresses a severely destabilizing development in the Middle East region: the acquisition by Iran of long-range missile capabilities--capabilities that threaten U.S. forces in the region, Israel, our NATO ally Turkey, and territory as distant as Central Europe. H.R. 2709 takes a step beyond the concurrent resolution which passed last week in both bodies. That resolution urged the Administration to impose sanctions on Russian entities proliferating to Iran. As its author in this body, I believe that measure sent an immediate signal that continued cooperation between Russian entities and Iran in ballistic missile technology would not be tolerated. This legislation does more. It adds a requirement that the President submit periodic reports to Congress identifying the entities providing Iran with missile technology. In so doing, the bill establishes a incontrovertible basis for imposing sanctions. H.R. 2709 also allows the President to waive sanctions if there is subsequent evidence that an identified case of trade with Iran did not assist Iran's missile program. And, the legislation grants the President authority to waive sanctions if he determines that doing so is essential to U.S. national security. Thus, this legislation is the logical next step to the resolution adopted by both houses of Congress last week. Where the first measure urged the Administration to consider sanctions, this bill specifies parameters for doing so. Mr. Speaker, credible estimates indicate that Iran may be only one year away from fielding a missile of 800 mile range, the so-called Shahab-3, and less than three years away from a missile of 1,240 miles range, the Shahab-4. Even more troubling, these missiles could be armed with chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons--capable of wreaking mass destruction on wide areas. If we thought Iraqi SCUD missiles posed a danger during the Persian Gulf war of 1991, we must show even greater concern regarding this new threat from Iran. We must use all the tools at our disposal to prevent it--and sanctions are one such tool. I comment my colleagues for authoring this legislation.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the fiscal year 1998 Intelligence Authorization Conference Report. As a member of the committee, I would like to commend the chairman, the ranking Democrat, and all of the staff for their exceptional work on this important bill. This report achieves small gains in intelligence spending, at a time when other categories of Federal spending are decreasing. Why? Because intelligence spending is intelligent spending. The post-cold war world is characterized by uncertainty. This makes it even more critical that we have a robust intelligence program. One source of uncertainty is proliferation. Nations like Russia and China are selling high technology weapons and know-how to rogue nations--we wouldn't be aware of this without the resources and the efforts of our intelligence agencies. The Congress had an opportunity to address this issue yesterday, and now the administration has an opportunity to take the steps necessary to stop it. To monitor our success in the future we need continued vigilance and continued efforts to prevent and respond to proliferation to rogue states. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, I want to note that too often when we think of intelligence gathering, we only think of the spies and information sources behind enemy lines. These people and sources are critically important to be sure, but we cannot forget our technical collection capabilities--the satellites and aircraft equipped with high technology sensors to observe and to listen. Taken together, these systems comprise an architecture--a system of systems--that collects intelligence and distributes it to decision makers and military planners. Because of these sentinels, our enemies know that their actions do not go unnoticed. They know we are watching. I am proud to say that many of these technical systems are designed and manufactured in my district, and I salute the men and women who develop them. They are truly making the highest contribution to our national security. Mr. Speaker, today we are undergoing a revolution in military affairs. Our Armed Forces rely increasingly on information so they can understand the battlefield and attack with precision and effectiveness. It is our technical intelligence architecture--our satellites and aircraft with their sensors and processors--which collects the critical information that gives our forces an overwhelming advantage over their opponents. Mr. Speaker, I enthusiastically support this Intelligence Authorization Conference Report, and I urge our colleagues to do so.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Vernon E. Hall, who will be honored today by his friends, family, and colleagues in San Pedro, CA. Vern is retiring after 27 years of dedicated service to the Port of Los Angeles. Vern Hall has served as Director of Development for the Port of Los Angeles since May of 1995. Prior to that time, Vern served as Chief Harbor Engineer since 1988. He is responsible for the activities of the Port's development divisions which include Engineering, Construction Management and Environmental Management, as well as numerous consultants and contractors engaged in the planning, design, permitting and construction of Port terminals and supportive infrastructure. Hall, during his Port career, was responsible for numerous capital development projects and programs, ranging from the West Channel/ Cabrillo Beach Recreational Complex to the $650 million Pier 300/400 Implementation Program. He has contributed to most of the significant Port development projects undertaken in the last 20 years either as an engineer, project manager or supervising chief engineer. Vern is a product of Los Angeles City Schools in San Pedro: Leland Street Elementary, Dana Junior High and San Pedro High School. Since graduating from UCLA in 1958, Vern has performed professional services for the California Division of Highways as a Highway Engineer, the United States Navy as an Engineering Officer, and, since 1970, the Port of Los Angeles. Vern has dedicated much of his professional life to the Port of Los Angeles and the San Pedro community. I am proud to join his friends, family and colleagues in extending my sincere admiration and appreciation to Vernon E. Hall. Congratulations Vern.

Ms. HARMAN

Ms. HARMAN. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's nice comments about my role and I thank him for them. On the subject of diplomacy, though, as the gentleman does, I commend the Vice President and the President for raising this issue, certainly the issue of Russian proliferation, with senior Russians in the delegation at every summit meeting and every possible event during the year. However, published reports show that the proliferation between Russia and Iran is not stopping, despite our urging and despite the fact that President Clinton has raised this with President Yeltsin personally twice. So my question to the gentleman is, if it is true that Iran will get indigenous capability in terms of developing missiles and the means to deploy them within a year to 3 years, can we wait any longer for this diplomatic course to work, or should we not, as responsible Members of Congress, exert maximum pressure, as we are trying to do today, to force the stopping of the proliferation?

Ms. HARMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding time to me as the first speaker on our side and speak in enthusiastic support of House Resolution 188, as amended. I would also like to commend Chairman Gilman for highlighting the serious national security threat posed by the acquisition of cruise missiles by Iran. I agree with the gentleman that the acquisition of missile technology by Iran threatens our troops in the area, poses the highest security threat to Israel, our democratic ally in the region; to Turkey, our NATO ally; and is in general profoundly destabilizing in a highly volatile region. An equally if not more destabilizing development than Chinese proliferation to Iran is Iran's acquisition of long-range ballistic missile technology from Russia. This pattern of Russian-Iranian cooperation is well documented through press reports that cite Israeli and U.S. intelligence sources. These reports say Russian entities have provided assistance to Iran that includes wind-tunnel testing of missile nose cones, guidance and propulsion systems design, metal alloys used to build long-range missiles, and the presence in Iran of high-level Russian advisers. The U.S. Director of Central Intelligence, in an unclassified report released in June, confirmed a Russian role in helping the Iranian missile program. The DCI's report stated that, ``Russia had supplied a variety of ballistic missile-related goods to foreign countries during the reporting period,'' which was 1996, ``especially to Iran.'' Significantly, the Russian internal security service admitted last month that it had thwarted an effort by Iran to acquire missile technology from a Russian firm, this only a week after Russian President Yeltsin denied the possibility of such transfers. Madam Speaker, these Russian transfers to Iran are particularly troubling. First, they will allow Iran to develop in a maximum of 3 years, and possibly within 1 year, a missile of a range capable of striking as far away as Central Europe, as well as Israel and U.S. troops in the region. That range is 800 to 1,200 miles. One of the ironies, of course, is that is the distance between Iran and Russia. So Russia may be feeding a system that may then in the end threaten Russia. Second, the Russian transfers provide Iran with technology and technical advice that would allow Iran to indigenously produce long- range ballistic missiles. And this is Iran's stated intention. Let me underscore this point, Madam Speaker. We are not talking about a one-time transfer of weapons. We are talking about the transfer of knowhow that would allow Iran to build up an arsenal of its own, an arsenal that could be equipped with chemical, biological, and nuclear warheads, and very likely would be equipped with those warheads. My amendment, now included in House Resolution 188, which I introduced in the House and which Senator Kyl has introduced in the other body, directs the President to impose sanctions on those entities that are found to be responsible for these dangerous transfers of technology in accordance with current law and current policy. It is a simple and direct signal to the administration that it must act now to seek a halt by the Russian Government of its policy, one of complacency at best, proliferation at worst. Let us pass House Resolution 188, as amended, and put the House on record in strong support of taking immediate steps to halt this dangerous situation. Madam Speaker, diplomacy to date has failed to achieve the desired results. Imposing sanctions is the next step required.

Ms. HARMAN. Madam Speaker, will the gentleman yield?