Congressional Hearings/Resolutions

Expressing Support of Congress for
recent elections in Republic of India

Comments re Con. Res. 211
In Their Own Words by Neil Parekh
News India-Times

November 26th, 1999

The following are excerpts of comments made by Members of Congress speaking on the resolution expressing the support of Congress for recent elections in India, introduced by Rep. Gary Ackerman. They appear in the order in which they were made except for the first one:

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY): The contrasting events in India and Pakistan...speak eloquently about the new challenges and opportunities that we face in South Asia. [This resolution] recognizes that the people of India have a deep and abiding commitment to democracy and it salutes them for the passion with which they choose their own destiny. No country reflects our own values more in that part of the world than does India. (Mr. Ackerman was raveling in India at the time and had his remarks entered into the record).

Rep. Tom Campbell (R-CA): [It is important that we] recognize the remarkable achievements of the largest democracy in the world, to recognize the recent election in India and the importance of ending the remaining sanctions of an economic nature that were imposed so that relations with India can continue to improve for the benefit of our country.

Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-NE): The reelection of Prime Minister Vajpayee reflects a vibrant multiparty system where parties with strongly differing views can compete in a way that is uniquely Indian. We certainly wish the BJP party and its ruling coalition well as it prepares to continue to lead the country. The resolution rightly alludes to the strategic relationship between the United States of America and India. We certainly have such a strategic relationship with India, just as we have a strategic relationship with many other countries in the region.

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA): It is not easy to have a society with over 650 million registered voters, many of them living in conditions of dire poverty, to undertake this monumental democratic effort. But the Indian government got the job done by stretching the elections out over a period of a month, by mobilizing civil servants, students, and other volunteers to ensure that the elections are fair, professional, and accurate.

Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-CT): I am thrilled to be here with my colleagues today recognizing India's achievement in an area of the world where very few others have had democratic institutions, but also to note my objection to the fact that this House is apparently thwarting the will of the Members of the Committee on International Relations in the failure to bring forward the resolution recognizing the damage that the coup in Pakistan will do to democratic institutions in Pakistan.

Rep. Ed Royce (RCA): The United States needs to be part of the solution of these challenges. India is too important a country for the United States to ignore. We have a direct stake in India's security and in its prosperity, and this resolution is a way of bringing attention to the many interests the United States shares with India.

Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH): It is pretty clear that if this country of one billion people can overcome its problems and elect a government that serves the people's needs, then our State Department, our U.S. Trade Representative's Office and the Republicans in this Congress should quit lavishing all their attention on the People's Republic of China and start working with our sister democracy in India to bring stability to South and to East Asia.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (RCA): We should forget any disagreements we had in the past and work on those things that bind us together with this great, huge democracy. I agree with the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown). Our businessmen and people of the United States should look to India, this democracy, in terms of investment and in terms of trying to work together economically and politically rather than with the world's worst human rights abuser in China.

Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ): I think as representatives in what is often referred to as the People's House here in the United States it is most appropriate that we should pay tribute to the successful elections in India and to their democracy and to offer our best wishes to those who were elected and reelected, who are our counterparts.

Rep. Ben Gilman (R-NY): It is due to these similar core values that India and the United States see eye to eye on so many regional concerns. China's hegemony; the spread of Islamic terrorism spilling out of Afghanistan and Pakistan; the narco-dictatorship in Burma; and the occupation of Tibet. These are all serious matters that will only be resolved by a teamwork of leaders of our two nations working closely together.

Rep. David Minge (D-MN): For many of us, we came of age at a time when India was providing a very independent voice in world councils. For many of us, we grew up reading about Mahatma Gandhi and his contribution to nonviolent resistance and the struggle that he led for independence of the Indian subcontinent. We recognized that India, although a very complex place, was playing a crucial role in the emerging world and respected that role.

Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN): The determination of the Indian citizens to be part of the political process and to preserve their parliamentary democracy should serve as an example to democracies around the globe, including the United States. The people of the Republic of India deserve our support and congratulations. Often it seems that our government is more anxious to develop relationships with and provide aid to governments that are not democratic. Sometimes dealing with democracies is more difficult, more complicated.

Four Members of Congress voted against the resolution praising India. They included House Minority Whip David Bonior (D-MI), Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage (R-ID), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).

According to Mr. Bonior's Press Secretary, the House Minority Whip voted against the resolution "primarily because it made no mention of the problems in Kashmir." Fred Clarke, the Press Secretary, reiterated that Mr. Bonior had recently sent a letter, co-authored with Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) requesting a special envoy on the Kashmir situation.

Rep Chenoweth-Hage agreed with the primary message of the resolution, which congratulates the Republic of India for its successful national elections and election of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, she felt that the resolution was very vague in defining what a "strategic partnership" might entail between the United States and India. According to her spokesman Kyle Key (who knows a little Hindi), "Congressman Chenoweth-Hage is diligent in her efforts to read through legislation to find potential vague formulations that could jeopardize our national interests." He also mentioned that President George Washington's admonition against foreign entanglements informed much of her work in Congress. Mr. Key also mentioned that his boss had already received several letters from Indian American constituents questioning her vote against the resolution.

An aide to Mr. Markey said, "Part of the resolution expressed congratulations to Prime Minister Vajpayee. His Administration was the one that broke the moratorium on nuclear testing and the Congressman did not want to support the Administration that had gone forward with a nuclear test."

The fourth Member of Congress to vote against the resolution was Mr. Paul. Tom Lizardo, his Chief of Staff, said, "Rep. Paul votes against things that praise or condemn foreign governments. Mr. Paul believes that it is not a constitutional function of our government to comment on other countries' internal policies. That's their business, not ours." In an aside, he mentioned that hypothetically, if there had been a previous resolution condemning India, the congressman would have voted against that as well for the same reason.