Tom Lantos: “in a few days, we in this House will be voting on a resolution I introduced concerning the new government of Austria.…”

“in a few days, we in this House will be voting on a resolution I introduced concerning the new government of Austria. Since the leader of this party, which is the Austrian government, the racist, xenophobic, neo-Nazi party has now resigned, it may be useful to ask why did he do so. He did not do so because he does not want to be part of the unpleasant political decisions that will have to be taken in Austria, tax increases, cutbacks on spending, layoffs of large numbers of government employees, but he is still the top man of this racist, xenophobic political party. One of his principal allies, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Prinzhorn, yesterday said the following about his resignation: "It is not a resignation. He is a provincial governor and remains our strong man. It is a step backwards which is necessary in order to make two solid steps forward." I am urging all of my colleagues who have not yet cosponsored this resolution to come on board. We cannot allow the new Europe to have governments in which neofascist parties play a key role. The European Union has expressed itself; it is time we do so.”