Daniel Moynihan

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Who is meeting this morning with the President of Nigeria who is here to talk about that.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Would the Senator think I was out of range if I suggested there are 75 votes for this legislation as it is?

Mr. MOYNIHAN. The Senator spoke of those who oppose this legislation. I believe we voted to move to this legislation by a vote of 90-8?

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I believe this measure came out of the Finance Committee, under the Senator's leadership, unanimous, both parties?

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, it goes without saying that I wholly agree with the remarks and statements of our revered chairman. May I say, there is still hope. It is not over yet.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Will the distinguished chairman yield for a question?

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. In terms of how we are progressing and what we are learning, the Senator mentioned we have the lowest unemployment rates in 30 years, and for the longest time we also have had the lowest inflation rates.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. May I inquire, will you say that again and again and again? The United States has the lowest tariffs of any major economy in the world.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. That is what we were there for, to fight wars that needn't have happened had the world been wiser. Not just about trade, of course not, but don't underestimate trade. We are not just talking about profits.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. We will have broken our word to them, that by accepting open trade policies in the aftermath of which there would be dislocations, the economy at large and the society would make arrangements for them to transfer to other work with other skills. There is no reason to think that won't happen, but without assistance it won't, and we will have broken our word which we gave 37 years ago. President after President after President has reaffirmed this, as the Senator has in this bill.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. In 1934.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. It gives them a different mix of costs and profits, and that turns out to make them viable again.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, the chairman is doing this for the American worker. If you think otherwise, think back to opposite policies and what they brought the American worker in the 1930s. Don't think we cannot make those mistakes again. We knew enough not to do it then. We did not know exactly why. But 1,000 economists wrote President Hoover, who was a sensitive and an intelligent man. Nothing quite like that happened before; nowadays we get 1,000 a day. They said: Don't sign that tariff bill, Smoot-Hawley. Don't sign it, they said. Well, he did. It cost him the Presidency, but that is the least of it. I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. The only outcome of having negotiating power and a negotiating round is to reduce the tariffs of other people.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Right.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, 200,000 this year, up from 150,000 last year. This is not a diminishing program. As trade grows, this number grows.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Would my friend allow me to make a comment in the form of a question?

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Right.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Sure.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. Chairman, we have now reached the point where you and I are alone on the Senate floor as one of the epic decisions of this decade is about to be made. One asks Senators who might be listening: Where are you? But the answer to your question, sir, is our learning has truly expanded. We know more about this. I mentioned 1933. In that year, John Maynard Keynes published a book in the United States called ``Essays In Persuasion.'' It appeared the previous year in Britain. He already had a pretty good record. He wrote that great essay, ``The Economic Consequences of the Peace''--of Versailles. He was on the British delegation as an adviser, and he said: It is going to be awful. Germany is not going to get over this. That is a very famous essay--and it is sort of a joke. Winston Churchill became Chancellor of the Exchequer around 1926 and went back, took Britain back on the gold standard. He wrote an essay called ``The Economic Consequences Of Mr. Churchill,'' which he thought were pretty grim. And they were. But, in 1933, in this book, ``Essays In Persuasion,'' he had an introduction. It is really essays over the years. He said: The economic problem is just a giant muddle. He said: We will figure it out. We will get through it. He said: I estimate by about the year 2030, we will have it pretty well under control and we can go on to other issues in life. The Senator mentioned the existing expansion, the period of expansion. In February of the coming year, that will be in about 4 months, we will completed a period of sustained growth of 107 months, the longest in history--unless we start killing it, which is what we seem intent on doing. Of course there are dislocations brought about by trade. Joseph Schumpeter--had it not been for the Great Depression it is generally thought Schumpeter would be regarded as the greatest economist of the 20th century. He is an Austrian, ended up a professor at Harvard. In his book ``Capitalism, Socialism & Democracy,'' he speaks a phrase now in wide use, of the ``creative destruction of capitalism.'' Sure, there comes a time when shipping the cotton to mills in New England no longer makes sense. They want to have mills in South Carolina. ``Bring the mills to the cotton,'' as the phrase was. It did make sense. The next thing you know you had empty mills all up and down the river in Lowell, MA, and, I might say, in Gloversville, NY, and such like. Yes, but did that put an end to life in Massachusetts? No. The next thing you know, Route 128 is creating enormous economic growth spurred on by computer companies. That destruction is creative because it brings better uses of resources into play. You get more than you had. Trying to keep just what you had is a formula for ruin--well, not for ruin, but for stagnation. I speak with some temerity. I was once our Ambassador to India, and I saw it happen. Tariffs you could not get through, government purchasing. The Soviet Union----

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Sir, I go back to Cordell Hull and the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934 which put in place the present system. As the Senator knows--I know our friend from South Carolina doesn't agree--the Smoot-Hawley tariff was a catastrophe. We have not had a tariff bill on the Senate floor since. We now are in a difficult situation with every President, Republican or Democrat, reaffirming. A legitimate point is made that President Clinton didn't send up a request for fast-track authority in 1995; it has been delayed and we haven't gotten it. If we haven't gotten the CBI, which President Reagan promised, if we haven't gotten the African agreements, we haven't gotten trade adjustment assistance, what do we take to Seattle for the conference of the World Trade Organization? We go as if we had thought there never should have been such an organization and didn't want it around. Why is it meeting in the United States? Ten years ago one would not have imagined this moment.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. The Soviet Union, sir, what was that? Oh, yes, that was the place that was going to take over the world. I remember a meeting in Bucharest of world trade advocates at the time. It was an international conference about the developing world. The Soviet delegate absolutely swept the conference with an announcement that, as of this moment, as a gesture of solidarity with our friends in Africa, in Latin America, in Southeast Asia, the Soviet Union is abolishing all tariffs of imports from those countries. The conference went wild, but no one stopped to think: But, wait a minute, the Soviet Union doesn't have tariffs. Everything is bought by the government and put through collective enterprises, all of which were in ruins and eventually collapsed. This was 20 years before the whole system imploded. We are talking for democracy, talking for vitality, talking for expansion, talking for a tradition. As Jerry Ford said yesterday in the Rotunda, he came to Congress as a social moderate, a fiscal conservative, and a determined internationalist. He was right. Can it be we have forgotten all that? I say, again, before I yield the floor, at a critical moment in our economic history--a critical moment--we are hours away from ruinous indecision. There are three Senators on the floor. It happens we are all friends, perhaps have gotten to be more friends because we have been on the floor together for 2 days now. It is hard to understand.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Sure.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following letter of transmittal from the White House be printed in the Record, following the text of the bill.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the New York Yankees on the occasion of their victory in Major League Baseball's World Series last night. In front of 56,752 fans, the Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-1 and clinched a series sweep in this best of seven series. Fittingly, ``The Team of the Millennium'' has staked its claim as the best franchise in the 1990's. As the season began, few seers in the sports world could have foretold the indelible mark this team would leave behind. The adversity these young men faced would have folded a team of lesser character. Their stalwart manager Joe Torre began the year in a hospital room rather than in the dugout as he battled prostate cancer. Teammates Paul O'Neill, Luis Sojo, and Scott Brosius all lost their fathers during the past season. In addition, the Yankee family was struck by the passing of baseball legends, Joe DiMaggio and Jim ``Catfish'' Hunter. Yet this team endured and reached its goal, giving New York an unfathomable 25th World Championship. For the past two seasons--and three of the last four--we have seen the Yankees go to the World Series. They emerged victorious after the minimum of four straight wins on both occasions. Starting pitchers David Cone, Orlando Hernandez, and Roger Clemens held the Braves to a meager six hits and two runs in 21\2/3\ innings. Reliever Mariano Rivera had saves in Games One and Two and won Game Three on his way to becoming the Series Most Valuable Player. Offensively, the team had Derek Jeter and Chuck Knoblauch getting on base, and Chad Curtis came off the bench to hit two home runs in Game Three, with the second coming in the bottom of the 10th, sealing the victory for the Bronx Bombers. All in all, this team put forth admirable effort coupled with unmatched talent. This victory is a truly epochal moment that brings joy to the hearts of Yankee fans everywhere. An editorial appearing in today's New York Times puts it best, ``We are all fans now.'' In closing I would like to offer a possible slogan for next year's team: Thrice would be nice. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the editorial be printed in the Record.