FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-1721
September 9, 1997
No. TR-15
Congressman Philip M. Crane (R-IL), Chairman, Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the use and effect of unilateral trade sanctions. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, September 23, 1997, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
BACKGROUND:
A number of U.S. laws and executive actions authorize unilateral economic or trade sanctions on other countries or entities for a variety of purposes, including human rights, anti-terrorism, nuclear non-proliferation, political stability, anti-narcotics, worker rights, and environmental protection. Some examples of Presidential authorities to impose such sanctions include the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Narcotics Control Act, and the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1985.
During the 104th Congress, several unilateral trade sanctions or measures that limit the ability of a company to trade with a particular country were enacted. For example, the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 mandates sanctions against foreign investment in the petroleum sectors of Iran and Libya as well as exports of weapons, oil equipment, and aviation equipment to Libya. These sanctions include a prohibition on government procurement, denial of Export-Import bank loans, denial of export licenses, and import sanctions under IEEPA. In addition, the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (Helms-Burton or the Libertad Act) strengthened U.S. trade sanctions against Cuba. In the 105th Congress, pending legislation includes H.R. 2431, the "Freedom from Religious Persecution Act of 1997."
A recent study by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) estimates that from 1993 through 1996, 61 U.S. laws and executive actions were enacted authorizing unilateral economic sanctions for foreign policy purposes, specifically targeting 35 countries. The sanctioned countries, NAM reports, represent 2.3 billion potential customers (42 percent of the world's population) and $790 billion worth of export markets (19 percent of the world's total).
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Crane stated: "I have long been concerned about the growing tendency to resort to unilateral trade sanctions to enforce foreign policy or other non-trade goals. Before we impose sanctions, we should think long and hard about the effect of such sanctions on the U.S. economy and our businesses, workers, and consumers. There is little evidence that these sanctions have changed the behavior of the targeted government. Instead, the use of sanctions has translated into billions of dollars of lost opportunities here. I believe that the better policy is to pursue our goals with our trading partners through multilateral efforts in an attempt to achieve consensus."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The focus of the hearing is to examine the use of unilateral trade sanctions by the United States, including both legislative and executive action. The Subcommittee will also assess the impact of such sanctions on the U.S. economy, businesses, workers, and consumers, as well as whether recent trade sanctions have achieved their original goals. Finally, the Subcommittee will examine what strategy should govern the resort to economic sanctions to ensure that they actually advance U.S. interests.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSIONS OF REQUESTS TO BE HEARD:
Requests to be heard at the hearing must be made by telephone to Traci Altman or Bradley Schreiber at (202) 225-1721 no later than the close of business, Monday, September 15, 1997. The telephone request should be followed by a formal written request to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. The staff of the Subcommittee on Trade will notify by telephone those scheduled to appear as soon as possible after the filing deadline. Any questions concerning a scheduled appearance should be directed to the Subcommittee on Trade staff at (202) 225-6649.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, the Subcommittee may not be able to accommodate all requests to be heard. Those persons and organizations not scheduled for an oral appearance are encouraged to submit written statements for the record of the hearing. All persons requesting to be heard, whether they are scheduled for oral testimony or not, will be notified as soon as possible after the filing deadline.
Witnesses scheduled to present oral testimony are required to summarize briefly their written statements in no more than five minutes. THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. The full written statement of each witness will be included in the printed record, in accordance with House Rules.
In order to assure the most productive use of the limited amount of time available to question witnesses, all witnesses scheduled to appear before the Subcommittee are required to submit 200 copies of their prepared statement and an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format, for review by Members prior to the hearing. Testimony should arrive at the Subcommittee on Trade office, room 1104 Longworth House Office Building, no later than Friday, September 19, 1997. Failure to do so may result in the witness being denied the opportunity to testify in person.
WRITTEN STATEMENTS IN LIEU OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) single-space legal-size copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format only, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Tuesday, October 6, 1997, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Trade office, room 1104 Longworth House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS or WordPerfect 5.1 format. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.