Expressing support for the accession of Israel to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) for his continued steadfast leadership on the issues of democracy and empowerment, and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for her insightfulness and the interest of this particular legislation.

I rise as well to give my support to this legislation which provides for the encouragement and the support of Israel acceding to the Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development. And as I do so, might I associate myself with the words of my colleague from California and denounce, as well, the words of tyranny and disgrace offered by the Iranian President on extinguishing or exterminating both the people and the nation of Israel.

I would think that this particular legislation speaks to rewarding those who are advocating for democracy and independence, and that is what Israel stands for.

I would hope in Iran that the good people of Iran, the people who believe in freedom, the freedom fighters, those who are supporting the enhancement of the working and middle class, who believe in the expansion of the intelligentsia, will again speak inside of Iran against such devastating language.

In this instance, the OECD recommends economic democracy, if you will, and Israel is already a high-powered and technologically advanced society with a thriving economy that will add to the mission of OECD. The World Bank ranks Israel among the 25 countries in which it is easiest to do business. In 2003 the World Economic Forum ranked Israel 20th out of 102 countries in its growth competitive index, and the World Economic Forum's technology index ranked Israel 9 before Canada, which is 11; Norway, 13; Germany, 14; the United Kingdom, 16; and the Netherlands, 18.

Israel is carrying out far-reaching economic reforms on the OECD's recommendation with respect to taxes, labor, competition, capital markets, pension funds, energy, infrastructures, communications and transport. And I believe the important aspect of what Israel is doing is, in the region, it provides for a stabilizing force of democracy and an economic arm of democracy helping its Mid East neighbors to join as well along the pathway of democracy and economic improvement. And so I believe this is a very important legislative statement for us to move forward in encouraging the admission of Israel into the OECD. And as well, I think it says again that we are standing alongside of Israel in its attempt to embrace all who want to follow the pathway of democracy.

Might I say that I hope that we will also have this impact on the Palestinians as they work toward democracy, and this shared influence will impact the region positively.

Likewise, as I close, let me say that we hope that the President of Iran will

find his moral compass to cease such horrible and atrocious language that would suggest the elimination of a country that promotes democracy and cares for its people, like Israel. Israel shares a commitment to democratic government and the market economy, and that is the foundation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and this legislation should be passed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 38, ``Expressing support for the accession of Israel to the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD).''

Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Israeli economy has been steadily transformed from an economy supported by farmers on hillsides to a technologically advanced and services-based economy. Trade liberalization, abolition of exchange controls, adoption of modern corporate governance rules and intellectual property protection enhancement have led to the establishment of a healthy economic environment ripe for domestic and foreign investment. Encouragement to high-tech industries and a wide network of international commitments have reinforced the beneficial effects.

Israel has been trying to join the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) since 2000, when it met the OECD's membership requirements relating to industrial and per-capita product criteria. Membership in the OECD would strengthen Israel's status on the global market and within international financial institutions, lowering the risk factor on foreign loans to Israel. Israel's economic and technological standing could potentially benefit OECD member countries in the science and technology, including high-technology, sectors.

Israel is already a high powered, technologically advanced society with a thriving economy that will add to the mission of the OECD. The World Bank ranks Israel among the 25 countries in which it is easiest to do business. In 2003, the World Economic Forum ranked Israel 20th out of 102 countries in its Growth Competitiveness Index, and the World Economic Forum's Technology Index ranked Israel 9th, before Canada (11th), Norway (13th), Germany (14th), the United Kingdom (16th), and the Netherlands (18th). Israel is carrying out far reaching economic reforms based on the OECD's recommendations with respect to taxes, labor, competition, capital markets, pension funds, energy, infrastructures, communications, and transport.

I support H. Res. 38 for the foregoing reasons, and I appeal to my colleagues to follow suit.

Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct conferees.

Mr. Speaker, I will not take more than 3. I simply would like

to, as a courtesy to the House, explain the motion.

For the last 2 weeks, the attention of the House has been focused on the efforts of the majority party to pass its reconciliation bill, which includes significant cuts in food stamps, in child support enforcement, in disability payments in order to pay for the tax cuts which this Congress has already largely passed. The problem that we have with that is that this bill, in effect, hits those same poor people a second time with cuts in education, health, worker protection programs that are in the bill.

The Senate appeared to give the persons interested in this bill some hope that those cuts could be avoided by adding a $3 billion financing gimmick to their proposal. But it is clear now that that provision is being discarded, and that means that the new caps that the Appropriations Committee adopted last week will eliminate the ability of the Senate to provide that extra $3 billion. That means that the only way that we can avoid that hit is to reduce the size of the tax cuts being provided to make room in the budget for some of these crucial items.

So this motion simply attempts to instruct the conferees to accept the Harkin amendment which would add $8 billion in order to pay fully for the flu pandemic work that needs to be done. It would instruct the conferees to add $3 billion to the low-income heating assistance program to take into account the huge increase in home energy prices that consumers will face this year, especially low-income consumers.

It would provide an additional $1.5 billion in programs that are meant to discourage abortion, programs such as a maternal and child health block grant, Head Start, domestic violence and numerous others, one-half billion dollars to restore health professions training, and $3 billion to put title I on a 5-year track to full funding under No Child Left Behind; $1.6 billion in additional funding for disabled and handicapped children trying to put that program on the same 5-year glide path; and one-half billion dollars in restoration for worker training and job training programs.

It would ask the conferees to support a provision which would reduce the size of the tax cuts for millionaires from an average of $140,000 to $36,000. That is still a pretty hefty cut.

Mr. Speaker, in essence, that is what the motion to instruct would provide. We are offering it because this is the last chance that this body has to reach a different set of judgments concerning budget priorities that affect the poorest and most defenseless people in this society.

Point of Order

Mr. Speaker, if one looks at the Budget Act, the purpose of the Budget Act was to force a Congress to get away from runaway spending and runaway deficits by forcing the Congress to confront trade-offs between spending and revenues. In fact, the Congress is being prevented from doing that and the Congress is being shielded from facing those explicit trade-offs unless amendments such as this are offered and debated fully in the House.

We recognize that funding for these programs under the budget resolution is being cut back in order to make room in that same budget resolution for the tax cuts that have been provided and to make room for further tax cuts which the majority party is talking about offering this week. If we cannot offer this kind of an amendment, then it would seem to me that the entire budget process has been intellectually corrupted and turned into a mere enforcement mechanism for majority party will rather than being used as a device to work out an explicit and forthright set of trade-offs.

I would urge the Chair to reject the point of order.

Mr. Speaker, most reluctantly, I do appeal the ruling of the Chair, not because I have any fault with the Chair, but because this is the only opportunity this institution will have to make a different set of priority choices.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of this resolution. First, I want to commend my dear friend and distinguished colleague from Florida (Ms. Ros- Lehtinen) for introducing this very important resolution.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, this resolution, in a sense, is a response to the outrageous statement of the President of Iran calling for the extermination of the State of Israel. Israel has more than earned the right to full membership in the Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development.

Some foreign policy judgments are difficult to make, but this one could not be any easier. Like other OECD states, the State of Israel is a democratic, prosperous, free market economy. And by all measures, Israel's economy outstrips that of several current members of OECD. For example, Israel's per capita income is greater than that of nine of the OECD's 30 members. The World Economic Forum's technology index ranks Israel in the top 10 nations on the face of this planet, ahead of Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. Recently, Israel was the world's third largest software producer, exceeded only by the United States and Canada.

Israel, Mr. Speaker, is already an important institutional contributor to the OECD as a nonmember participant. Israel has long outgrown its nonmember status.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, Israel meets every economic, political and institutional prerequisite for OECD membership. Its continued omission from that body would inevitably call into question the motives of some of the OECD members. And I hope we will not face that ugly prospect.

I urge the administration to support Israeli membership in the OECD and to lobby our fellow members to achieve that goal.

In connection with this resolution, Mr. Speaker, I am compelled to return to the outrageous statement of the Iranian President calling for wiping Israel off the face of the global map. The President of Iran, in making this outrageous statement, has evoked tremendous global outrage at his views, and I am very pleased to publicly recognize the decision of Secretary General Kofi Annan to cancel his trip to Tehran.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, I wrote Kofi Annan a strong letter to which he responded affirmatively canceling his visit to Iran. I publicly want to acknowledge the Secretary General's fine decision and commend him for his action.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time. Before yielding back the balance of my time, I would like to make a general statement on this very important piece of legislation. Unfortunately, the world is filled with rogue states, failed states, basket-case states, states that neither politically nor economically function in a viable fashion. And to have the President of Iran call for the physical extermination of one of the relatively small number of democratic, viable, prosperous, civilized societies is the ultimate outrage of recent pronouncements by political leaders on the face of this planet.

I commend my colleague from Florida for introducing this important resolution, recognizing that Israel is one of the minority of states which are democratic, prosperous and civilized.

I strongly urge all of my colleagues to vote for this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 38) expressing support for the accession of Israel to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 38.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank the leadership for bringing House Resolution 38 before the House today. This resolution was unanimously adopted by the House International Relations Committee on September 15, and it expresses support for the accession of Israel to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the OECD.

More than 50 years have elapsed since George Marshall's speech at Harvard, which led to the Marshall Plan and the creation of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, which is the forerunner for the OECD.

His vision of economic cooperation based on common values and policies is now shared by even more countries, which are enjoying mutually beneficial relationships for their membership in the OECD.

Israel has been attempting to join the OECD since the year 2000 when it met the organisation's industrial and per-capita product criteria. Not only could OECD membership enhance Israel's status in the global market and within international financial institutions, but also other OECD countries could potentially benefit in the science and high tech sectors due to Israel's economic and advanced technological standing.

Israel also shares in the commitment to democratic governance and free market principles, and those are the foundations of the OECD. As a result, in December of 2004, Israel was invited on an ad hoc basis to participate as an observer in discussions of the trade committee of the

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) for his help on this resolution as well as the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my support for House Resolution 38 and to strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution as well.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a group of 30 member countries--including the United States--sharing a commitment to democratic government and the market economy.

Its work covers economic and social issues from macroeconomics, to trade, education, development and science and innovation.

Israel has been attempting to join the OECD since 2000, when it met the organization's industrial and per-capita product criteria.

Not only could OECD membership enhance Israel's status in the global market and within international financial institutions but also other OECD countries could potentially benefit in the science and high-tech sectors due to Israel's economic and advanced technological standing.

Israel also shares the commitment to democratic governance and free market principles that are the foundation of the OECD.

As a result, in December 2004, Israel was invited, on an ad hoc basis, to participate as an observer in discussions of the trade committee of the OECD and has participated in numerous other OECD activities, however it has not been granted full membership.

House Resolution 38 expresses that the United States supports full membership for Israel in the OECD based on its commitment to democracy, the market economy, and OECD's principles and mission.

Mr. Speaker, I fully support Israel's membership in the OECD, and urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.