1998 Ron Paul 28:1
Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, last year’s attempts
by some in Congress to tie the Mexico City
Policy to the issues of funding for the United
Nations (UN) and the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) this week come back to haunt
those of us who believe in the sanctity of
human life, the inviolability of US Sovereignty,
and the rights of the U.S. taxpayers to keep
the fruits of their own labor. This week, we
see, the “grand deal” struck which will see liberals
back down from their opposition to Mexico
City Language in exchange for conservative
members voting to support funding of the
United Nations, affirmative action, peacekeeping
activities, and the National Endowment for
Democracy.
The Mexico City Policy was drafted in the
Reagan years as an attempt to put some
limitations
on US foreign aide being used for certain
abortions overseas. While I believe that
those who put this policy forward were well-motivated,
I believe that time has shown this
policy to have little real effect. I have continued
to vote for this policy when it came up as
a stand alone issue in this Congress because,
by itself, its effect tends to be positive rather
than negative, as I say, I consider it largely ineffective.
1998 Ron Paul 28:3
I believe that the only real answer to the
concerns of sovereignty, property rights, constitutionality
and pro-life philosophy is for the
United States to totally de-fund any foreign aid
for international “family planning” purposes. I
introduced a resolution to that effect in 1997
and we received 154 votes in support of cutting
off this unconstitutional funding program.
1998 Ron Paul 28:4
In fact, the deficiencies of the Mexico City
Policy are such that the pro-family conservative
group Concerned Women for America
has withdrawn its support for the Mexico City
Policy all together. This, in part, due to the
fact that while the policy requires more creative
accounting, it does not, by any stretch of
the imagination, prohibit funding of many abortions.
The United Nations is an organization which
frequently acts in a manner contrary to the
sovereign interests of the United States. As
such, I have sponsored legislation to get the
United States out of this organization.
1998 Ron Paul 28:6
Currently, the most pressing battle is to stop
the US from paying phony “back dues” which
we supposedly “owe” this organization. Congressman
ROSCOE BARTLETT put forward a bill
to stop any payment of this phony UN debt
and I proudly cosponsored Mr. BARTLETT’s legislation.
We were able to put the breaks to the funding
of the false UN debt and the IMF at the
end of the last session of Congress by linking
these items with the Mexico City Policy language. For political reasons President Clinton
has steadfastly refused to sign any legislation
which contains any anti-abortion language at
all.
1998 Ron Paul 28:8
This linkage presented us with a short term
tactical victory but its long term costs are now
becoming quite apparent. In linking these two
issues together an opportunity for a “deal” has
become apparent, a deal which will compromise
principles on several fronts.
The so-called bargain here is maintaining
the flawed Mexico City language in exchange
for paying the alleged back-dues to the United
Nations. But this, from a true conservative
standpoint, is a double negative. In a world of
so-called give-and-take, this is a double-take. This is no bargain at all. Obviously, the Mexico
City policy is riddled with fungibility holes
in the first place. Moreover, it is morally repugnant
to undermine our nation’s integrity by
trading votes in this fashion. Worse still, it is
now apparent how willing “some” members
have become to water the Mexico City Policy
down still further in order to get President Clinton
to sign legislation which shouldn’t exist in
the first place. Even the abortion restrictive
language has been diluted to state that “the
President could waive the restriction on funding
groups that perform or promote abortion,
but such a waiver would automatically reduce
total U.S. funding for family planning activities
to $356 million, 11% less then current appropriations. In other words, Abortion is A-O-K if done with 11% fewer taxpayer dollars. Now
that’s not worth compromising principle.
This compromise authorizes $430 million for
U.S. contributions to our “police the world”
program carried out through various arms of
the United Nations. International peacekeeping
operations are currently ongoing in the Middle
East, Angola, Cambodia, Western Sahara,
and the former Yugoslavia. Additionally, the
measure authorizes $146 million to international
operation in the Sinai and Cypress.
This “agreement” authorizes $1.8 Billion for
multilateral assistance in excess of the previously
mentioned contribution to the United
Nations; $60 million dollars for the National
Endowment for Democracy; $20 million for the
Asia Foundation; $22 million for the East-West
Center for the study of Asian and Pacific Affairs;
$1.3 billion for international migration
and refugee assistance and an additional
$160 million to transport refugees from the republics
of the former Soviet Union to Israel. Also, $100 million is authorized to fund radio
broadcasts to Cuba, Asia and a study on the
feasibility of doing so in Iran.
1998 Ron Paul 28:12
Lastly, foreign policy provisions in this report
suggest an ever-increasing role for the United
States in our current police-the-world mentality. Strong language to encourage all emerging
democracies in Central and Eastern Europe
to join NATO area amongst these provisions
in the conference report. It also authorizes
$20 million for the International Fund for
Ireland to support reconciliation, job creation,
investment therein. For Iraq, the bill authorizes
$10 million to train political opposition forces
and $20 million for relief efforts in areas of
Iraq not under the control of Hussein.
1998 Ron Paul 28:13
Apparently contrary to the first amendment,
the conference report contains language that
the U.S. should recognize the Ecumenical Patriarchate
in Istanbul, Turkey, as the spiritual
center of the world’s 300 million Orthodox
Christians and calls upon the Turkish government
to reopen the Halki Patriarchal School of
Theology formerly closed in 1971. “Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion * * * (Except abroad?)
Fortunately, many genuinely conservative
pro-life and pro-sovereignty groups are making
it known that they do not support this so-called
“compromise.” I, for one, refuse to participate
in any such illusion and oppose any effort to
pay even one penny of U.S. taxpayer dollars
to the United Nations, subsidize family planning
around the world, and intervene at U.S. taxpayer expense in every corner of the globe.
Notes:
1998 Ron Paul Chapter 28
The text of this chapter was inserted into CongressionalRecord as an extention of remarks, and was not spoken on the House floor.
Ron Paul denounced the vote after this measure passed. See
1998 Ron Paul Chapter 29.
1998 Ron Paul 28:9 11% less then current appropriations
probably should have been 11% less than current appropriations.
1998 Ron Paul 28:10 Cypress probably should have been Cyprus. Cypress is a kind of tree. Cyprus is an island.
1998 Ron Paul 28:11 ADDTIONALLY probably should be ADDITIONALLY
