Where Is The Bush Administration’s Commitment To Bipartisan Consensus On Foreign Policy Issues When We Really Need It?

(Washington, D.C.): "At a time when the Bush Administration has made bipartisan foreign policy a paramount objective, it is particularly striking that the President is apparently ignoring Congress’ express views on East-West economic and financial security matters," said Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., director of the Center for Security Policy. "Failure to respond to Senate action taken last week imploring the president to place such issues on the formal NATO Summit agenda would represent yet another missed opportunity to forge a consensus in this vital area of security relations with the East," according to Gaffney.

Gaffney added: "In the absence of leadership from the United States, the Western allies will continue to fall prey to Hans Dietrich Genscher’s scheme of ever accelerating, undisciplined technology and financial assistance to the Soviet bloc. The result will almost certainly be the undermining of forces that might otherwise bring about a genuine transformation of the Soviet Union and its allies, consequently, a more formidable adversary."

The Senate last week (May 18th) unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution calling on the President to consult with allied leaders at the NATO meeting over the "adverse impact on Western security of tied and untied loans, trade credits, direct investments, joint ventures, lines of credit and guarantees or other subsidies to the Soviet Union, Warsaw Pact countries, Cuba, Vietnam, Libya, and Nicaragua." The Symms/DeConcini resolution (S.R. 132) is the third consecutive Senate resolution within the past year calling on the Administration to make East-West financial security matters an alliance policy priority. Similar resolutions were overwhelmingly approved by the Senate on June 15, 1988 (Sasser/Bradley) and October 18, 1988 (Symms).

Previous bipartisan congressional efforts along the same general lines have also gone unheeded: (1) a letter to the President on June 2, 1987 signed by 18 senators and congressmen (ranging from Senators Howard Metzenbaum to Malcolm Wallop) prior to the Venice Economic Summit; (2) a letter to the heads of the IMF and World Bank signed by 24 congressmen and senators on September 24, 1987 prior to the IMF/World Bank annual meetings; and (3) a letter to the President signed by 50 House members, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, on June 13, 1988 prior to the Toronto Economic Summit.

"The resolution passed last week reflects cumulative frustration by the Congress with the inaction and inattention paid by the executive branch to the security implications of undisciplined Western lending to Warsaw Pact countries and Soviet client states, government-guaranteed credits, Soviet bond offerings, and certain joint ventures," said Roger W. Robinson, Jr., former senior director for international economic affairs at the National Security Council and member of the Center’s Board of Advisors. "At this critical juncture, where such unconditioned assistance could actually inhibit systemic economic and political reform in the Soviet Union, the United States should immediately undertake to secure formal alliance agreements encompassing key economic and financial security issues," he added.

"During this period of budget austerity, it is incomprehensible that the Administration would continue to look the other way on a multibillion dollar annual cost to American taxpayers in the form of higher defense and foreign assistance spending — a cost incurred due to the undisciplined financial underwriting of Soviet bloc activities largely by our allies," noted Robinson.

The Center for Security Policy joins Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who are becoming increasingly vocal in their concern about the Executive Branch’s persistent unwillingness even to consult U.S. allies about the development of a common policy toward this vital family of economic and financial security issues. The Center believes that far more than just consultations is required. So long as the basic structure of the Soviet political and economic systems remain fundamentally unchanged, Western security demands alliance agreements that would:

• require greater discipline and transparency in commercial bank and government lending to the Warsaw Pact countries, including a phasing out of all Western government guaranteed and direct credits and untied commercial bank loans;

 

• minimize, to the extent possible, taxpayer liabilities associated with Western investment in Warsaw Pact countries;

 

• maintain current COCOM restrictions on the transfer of dual-use technologies while expanding resources for enforcement by member countries, and enhancing participation of the security community in COCOM deliberations;

 

• require enhanced alliance scrutiny of proposed joint ventures in Soviet bloc nations posing potential security risks;

 

• oppose Soviet observer status or membership in the major Western trade and financial organizations, such as the GATT, IMF, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank; and

 

• upgrade the Economic Committee of NATO to supervise the entire portfolio of economic and financial security issues on an on-going basis.