Political Quotes

“I rise today to align myself with the comments of those who believe in unconditional, or permanent, most-favored-nation status for Romania. Mr. Speaker, Romania, which now does enjoy the conditional MFN status, has a trade agreement with the United States and has been certified twice in the past year as meeting the tenets of freedom, of immigration, human rights, and democratization required under this legislation. For a nation to gain that permanent MFN status, however, Congress needs to enact this kind of a legislation, and I rise in strong support of enactment of H.R. 3161. Mr. Speaker, it is clear that there have been dramatic changes in Central and Eastern Europe in the last 7 years, and as my distinguished colleague, the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Kennelly], just referenced, Romania has moved in a marked way toward a greater democracy and away from communism. There is proof of that progress. The privatization efforts of the industrial and agricultural sectors are already showing great results. Recent figures show that the gross domestic product in Romania has moved in the private sector to 45 percent, a significant increase over where it was just a year ago. Obviously we are seeing examples of democracy building all across Romania, and they hold their second nationwide Presidential election later this fall.”