Gerald B. H. Solomon: “it is nice to hear the other side finally heaping praise on Ronald Reagan for bringing down the Iron Curtain, for…”

“it is nice to hear the other side finally heaping praise on Ronald Reagan for bringing down the Iron Curtain, for putting an end to communism in Central and Eastern Europe. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this new entitlement program, because that is exactly what it is turning out to be. Mr. Chairman, it is high time that we rethink this so-called strategic partnership with Russia, and cutting this wasteful aid program is the place to start. Let me outline four general reasons why I think the gentleman from Alabama is correct in offering this amendment. First, foreign aid is simply not the answer to the complex problems of Russia today. Anybody who has ever been to Moscow knows that. Mr. Chairman, if and when Russia solves its problems, it will be the accomplishment of the Russian people, not the United States taxpayer bailing them out. Mr. Chairman, nowhere in this bill does it say where our tax dollars for the former Soviet Union are going. Are the Members not concerned about that? So we can only assume it will be the same black hole as last year, into programs like loans for state-owned industries run by the Government, those former Communists still running those state-owned Government agencies that are totally divorced from Russia's real problems. Second, Mr. Chairman, there is no economic reform in Russia to support. The reformers have lost. Nobody is more disappointed about that than I am, but it is a fact.”