Congressional Statements

Oppose anti-India Amendment;
Vote NO on Burton Amendment

Letter to Colleagues by Greenwood and Ackerman
July 29, 1999

Dear Colleague:

This week as then House considers the Foreign Operation Bill for Fiscal Year 2000, an amendment to the bill is expected to be offered by our colleague Dan Burton. This amendment is aimed at eliminating or greatly reducing all our foreign assistance to India. This amendment is similar to one which Congressman Burton offered to the FY 1997 Foreign Operations bill. At that time, the House overwhelmingly rejected the measure by 342-82. Last year, Mr. Burton did not offer his amendment.

We write to urge you to oppose the Burton amendment this year if it offered because the measure is shortsighted, unfair and counterproductive.

India, the world's largest democracy, has grown increasingly close to the United States, which is now India's largest trading partner and biggest direct investor. India has a remarkable record of democracy in a region of the world where authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism has been more the rule than exception.

In addition, India has deeply committed to the principles of free market and competition, which in turn has opened up great avenues of opportunity for American corporations. As the oldest democracy and the best example of free market economics, the United States must continue to build on the seizable growth in our relationship with India.

The Burton amendment would unfairly stigmatize India and inflict major damage on our efforts to have American businesses proper in the world's second largest consumer market. Adoption of the Burton amendment would have serious consequences for the massive investment in India and would play right into the hands of those who would turn back the clock on major economic reforms that have been put in place.

India today has one of the highest rates of growth (six percent) and lowest rates of inflation (two percent) in the world. The Bombay Stock Exchange is booming and is at an all-time high. Investors from all over the world are taking a closer look at India. The more than 100 U.S. firms with significant investment in India include: General Motors, Ford, AT&T, General Electric, Boeing, Raytheon, Citicorp, US West, Bell Atlantic, Motorola, Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, Hughes, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Eli Lilly and Enron. In addition, U.S.-India cooperation and collaboration in computer software has increased greatly in recent years.

India is a sister democracy and shares many important values with the U.S. It has an independent judiciary, a robust civil society, an unfettered press, and a highly competitive multiparty system. All these institutions function fearlessly and effectively to protect all citizens from abuse. The U.S. should not seek to punish, but should recognize and appreciate the extraordinary commitment that has made toward protecting basic human rights. India has made steady and significant progress on all aspects of human rights - something that cannot be said of several nations in South Asia. New Delhi has a fiercely independent Human Rights Commission which has rendered justice to hundreds of victims of human rights.

With some 500 million people living at or below the World Bank's poverty line, however, India remains a nation with tremendous human needs. U.S. bilateral aid programs in India make a modest, yet important, contribution to the welfare of ordinary Indian. Cutting this assistance would be a deliberate attempt to not only torpedo our help for human welfare, but also to stigmatize India just as relations between the world's two great democracies are on the cusp to attain a new and positive momentum.

Recently, in the face of a dangerous and provocative threat of war over Kashmir in the Kargil area, India displayed Herculean restraint and showed to the world that it was a very mature and responsible power. New Delhi also cooperated with our efforts to diffuse the volatile situation. We need to encourage this trend, not undermine it. There's much in common that we share with India and there are many issues that bind our relations with that ancient land. The Burton amendment, in effect, will undo all the progress that has been made in building a warm and productive relationship with India.

We urge you to vote NO on the Burton amendment.

Sincerely,
James C. Greenwood, Member of Congress
Gary L. Ackerman, Member of Congress