Malcolm Wallop: “I rise in opposition to the nomination of Derek Shearer to be Ambassador to Finland. While Finland may not figure in the…”

“I rise in opposition to the nomination of Derek Shearer to be Ambassador to Finland. While Finland may not figure in the world's hot spots right now, it may unfortunately again become more central to United States policymaking--given worrisome trends and policies in Russia. Moreover, Mr. President, Dr. Shearer's less than truthful answers to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee speak to a larger, more ominous problem with the Clinton team. Finally, Dr. Shearer has a long record of advocacy of radical leftwing economic and political causes--raising serious questions about his past judgments, if not his present attitudes and policies. Dr. Shearer's embrace of central planning in the economic sphere is well-documented in his two books, "Economic Democracy: The Challenge of the 1980's" and "A New Social Contract: The Economy and Government After Reagan." The former is characterized as "a discussion of an argument for alternatives to the present structure of production in the United States; alternatives that would change the control of capital and how it is used." In this book he argues that "the way the economy is governed and the way things are produced will have to be changed as well." He even goes so far as to assert that "any alternative economic and social strategy must start by dismantling, or at least restricting, the power of corporations."”