NORTH-SOUTH CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI PREPARED STATEMENT OF AMBLER H. MOSS, JR., DIRECTOR Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to present testimony and to seek your continued support in 1997 for a unique national resource, the North-South Center at the University of Miami. During the short period of its federal funding, the Center has been successfully fulfilling its Congressional mandate to improve relations among the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. We are convinced that such a mission is fundamental to the national interests of this country. It has often been a national habit to ignore our neighbors in the Western Hemisphere until some shocking event or crisis compels our attention. To do so is a grave error. It prevents us as a nation from taking advantage of great opportunities that would enhance our economy, expand our jobs, and better protect our national security. It also keeps us from understanding risks before they reach threatening proportions. The United States has long equated stability in the region with its own security interest. The maintenance of that stability today requires a sophisticated partnership among the countries of the Hemisphere. It also requires continually new approaches in U.S. policy. The North-South Center carries out a full complement of studies that, while solidly grounded in academic research, yield practical, timely, relevant information for legislators, policymakers, and informed citizens. Our goal is to find solutions to the problems confronting the nations of the Western Hemisphere. The Center has brought to bear on these problem areas opinions and research from around the nongovernmental community — business, labor, academia, think tanks, and other nongovernmental associations and organizations. It has organized working groups representing these elements to give recommendations in areas such as trade and investment, democratic governance, and sustainable development. If it is true that "war is too important to be left entirely to the generals," then it follows that the great issues of the Western Hemisphere should be analyzed and debated by private sector and nongovernmental groups. If that happens, the nation will benefit. Governments, however, cannot successfully convoke and organize nongovernmental opinion. As a respected, independent, public policy institution, the Center has served this role successfully. Over the course of the past year, in fact, the Center's significance and usefulness has been reconfirmed repeatedly. On numerous occasions Center staff have been asked to advise and consult with policymakers and opinion leaders in the executive and legislative branches of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. As the Western Hemisphere becomes increasingly integrated, and inter-American policy discussions advance in intensity and importance, the North-South Center takes on growing significance as a voice lending continuity and coherence to the dialogue. The private funding that the Center has received in support of one of its major programs -- research grants on sustainable development -- is a further reflection of that fact. We do not pretend to be able to predict events in Latin America with certainty, nor do we believe that it is possible to do so. By studying the right issues and developing expertise, however, we can make a contribution by helping to find practical solutions. At the present time. for example, the Center has programs seeking to advance the "business facilitation" dimensions of trade negotiations, foster the prospects of linking economic growth and sustainable development through "eco-efficiency," improve our understanding of the socioeconomic and cultural dimensions of migration in the hemisphere, and promote the deepening of democracy through a large-scale comparative study of the "fault lines of democratic governance" in the Americas. With high levels of poverty and inequality persisting in the region, mutually reinforcing progress in each of these areas is essential to the profound economic and political reforms now underway. The North-South Center Press regularly produces quality publications dealing with such concerns. For instance, the volume Advancing the Miami Process: Civil Society and the Summit of the Americas is an exhaustive source book bringing together in one place all of the major documents and commentaries produced in relation to the Summit of the Americas, including both official Summit documents and nongovernmental and private sector publications and proposals. Our recent white paper on The Free Trade Area of the Americas: Private Sector Recommendations on Advancing Western Hemisphere Trade distilled the collective wisdom of over 60 trade specialists from throughout the hemisphere to craft detailed policy recommendations for the recent inter-American trade ministerial in Cartagena, Colombia. Our recently released volume, Privatization Amidst Poverty, detailed the successful, yet incomplete, economic restructuring processes in the major countries of the region, while identifying the challenges that lie ahead in expanding trade, social investment, and opportunities for political participation. And Drug Trafficking in the Americas — the product of a three-year, multicountry research project — remains the most exhaustive treatment of its topic yet published. At the same time, we live in an era of unparalleled opportunity, which this country cannot afford to lose. Democracy has reached a high plateau in the hemisphere; today the only country without a freely elected leader is that anachronism of the Cold War, Cuba. Ever since the "Enterprise for the Americas Initiative" of President George Bush in June 1990, this country has pursued a bipartisan trade policy in recognition of potential benefits to the United States. From the Enterprise, to NAFTA, to GATT, to the Summit of the Americas, free trade in the Western Hemisphere has been understood as a national interest to pursue. The case is compelling. U.S. exports to the region have climbed from $31 billion in 1986 to over $100 billion last year. The Department of Commerce estimates that Latin America will surpass Europe as a market for U.S. exports by the year 2000, and that by 2010 exports to Latin America will be greater than those to Europe and Japan combined. The Western Hemisphere as a whole will be a market of around 800 million people by the early 21st century and already has a $7 trillion combined gross domestic product, 14 percent of the world's population, and 31 percent of global wealth. The United States can be the major player in this market. but we will not automatically have that privilege if we do not act quickly to preserve and enhance our position. The Europeans and Japanese, in particular, are intent upon competing with us head on in the growing markets of the Americas. These issues are all familiar to us at the North-South Center. For the past decade, the Center has vigorously addressed the range of challenges to the Americas - the pursuit of free market economics and democracy, crises of poverty and sustainable development, and the construction of trade partnerships that cross international borders. In order to be effectively addressed. these challenges must be placed in the proper context, and that places a premium on accessible. policyrelevant research that goes beyond today's headlines. For precisely this reason, the North-South Center stands at the crossroads of the Americas as a unique global resource: the only research and public-policy studies center dedicated to finding practical responses to hemispheric challenges affecting the United States. Toward a Better Hemisphere: The Center engages and informs government and opinion leaders throughout the Americas by means of conferences, public affairs activities, and pertinent research resulting in timely publications. It has become a focal point for the cooperative study of hemispheric issues. a respected clearinghouse for ideas, and an adept coordinator of international projects. The North-South Center's work unfolds against a backdrop of auspicious changes and urgent concerns. The Center addresses these issues, as it has for more than ten years, influencing positive change throughout the Western Hemisphere in several distinctive ways: Supporting economic growth, competitiveness, jobs, and regional trade integration; Serving as a catalyst to promote solutions for pressing regional problems, including regional conflicts: Promoting democratic governance and social change with equity; • Providing a forum for the study of environmental policies that promote sustainable development: Developing research and training programs that foster the exchange of ideas and analysis of critical hemispheric issues: Promoting technical and scholarly interchange and productive networks among scholars and throughout the private and public sectors; • Expanding institutional linkages through cooperative study of hemispheric issues; and • Producing policy-relevant books and reports. Strategically located in Miami - the natural gateway between the United States and most of Latin America and the Caribbean the Center hosts leaders and scholars who value opportunities for dialogue, study, and exchange in an ambience free of partisan agendas. The Center is bound only by a commitment to democracy, economic progress, and the free interchange of ideas. No other organization matches the Center's location, staff, publications, and programs in promoting contacts and dialogue among the nations and peoples of the Americas. The Issues: How the North-South Center Advances Policy Relations between the United States and its hemispheric neighbors are marked by interdependent linkages of fundamental importance. The North-South Center developed its agenda in response to two overarching concerns: the need to confront the challenging issues of the Western Hemisphere and the need to seize new opportunities now that Cold War rivalries have ceased to be a threat to the Western Hemisphere. Among the issues of most interest are these seven: 1. Trade: Trade is the most powerful force for integration and prosperity on the planet. A free trade area extending from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego is on the horizon, heralding an integrated hemisphere of prosperous, democratic peoples. In recognition of the needs and opportunities for the Western Hemisphere to meet the challenges of world trade, the North-South Center sponsors activities and research addressing hemisphere-wide integration efforts, as well as inter-American trade promotion. It has been an area of emphasis for the past five years. A 1991 North-South Center study anticipated that the Caribbean would not necessarily share in the benefits of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and risked being prejudiced through trade and investment diversion. The results could be downturns in economic activity in that subregion, negative effects on the economies of many southern U.S. states, and a corresponding immigration push from the Caribbean. Bipartisan legislation, aimed at correcting that condition, is pending before the Congress. Today, the North-South Center is actively monitoring the eleven issue areas that are the subject of discussion in preparing negotiations for the creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas by the year 2005. While helping to build the technical foundations necessary for free trade negotiations, the Center is at the same time providing an ongoing vehicle for private sector input into the FTAA deliberations. 2. Economic Growth and Development: Increased regional investments are vital both to North-South relations and to the United States' economic and trade interests. Programs on investment promotion, training, research, and coordination of hemisphere-wide investment efforts are central to the Center's agenda. Sound economic policies that recognize private-sector leadership and development as the engines for shared prosperity are essential to socioeconomic improvements in Latin America and the Caribbean and crucial to the well-being of the United States. The North-South Center stands on the cutting edge of scholarship and policy formation on competitiveness, hemispheric business activities, and government and labor relations. 3. Democratization: The North-South Center works to identify the forces that undermine democratic consolidation in the Americas. Not content with the limited criteria of formal democracy, which are often satisfied by nominally free elections and the establishment of political pluralism, the Center is engaged in a multifaceted approach to the challenges of democratization and democratic consolidation. It has provided forums for compromise and broadened political participation in response to threats in recent years to democratic reforms in Haiti, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. The Center has acted as a catalyst in promoting dialogue between disputing political factions in Peru, Nicaragua, Panama, and El Salvador. It has tackled tough issues such as compensation for property confiscated by the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. And the Center closely monitors the situation in the hemisphere's one clearly nondemocratic nation -- Cuba. The implications for U.S. foreign policy of changing conditions on the island have been analyzed in relation to key issues, with special attention to policy options in response to migration and reforms in the Cuban economy. 4. Drug Policy: Drug trafficking is linked to violence and to social realities that impede economic development and democratization. Despite the drug trade's pervasive effects. a knowledge gap remains. The Center organized a multi-year, multinational study of the effects of drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. Its in-depth analysis is designed to assist in formulating and implementing policies to combat narcotics trafficking and consumption and to address their social, political, and regional causes and consequences. 5. Refugees and Immigration: The Americas have been profoundly affected by massive and increasing movement of immigrants, especially from Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, Central America. and South America to Canada and the United States. The Center's research examines social issues that cause immigration and its effects throughout the hemisphere. The only long-term solution to mass immigration is economic development. It is that simple; we worry about illegal immigration from Mexico but not from Canada. 6. Social Change and Equity: As many Latin American and Caribbean societies are undergoing massive changes, the Center focuses on research projects designed to safeguard human rights and increase the flow of practical information regarding basic human needs. including improved public health and education and the alleviation of poverty and urban violence. Democracy is sustainable to the extent that its foundations are sound. The elimination of corruption, complete reform of judicial systems, and similar changes underpin a sound society and equitable governance. 7. Environment and Sustainable Development: From the forests and wetlands of the North to the oceans and rain forests of the South, the hemisphere's environmental inheritance is under siege. Rising economic expectations and demographic explosions bring social forces into conflict with efforts to preserve the environment. As trade and economic growth accelerate, increased cooperative efforts must be made to deal with environmental degradation. The North-South Center produces research addressing the imperative to reconcile economic growth and prosperity with a safe, clean environment. The Center has pioneered studies of the environmental impact of trade expansion through free trade agreements. In the light of Chile's pending accession to NAFTA, this is an issue of immediate relevance. Using Venezuela as a model, the Center's researchers have developed a methodology through which U.S. trade negotiators and other planners can determine the environmental effects of a free trade agreement between the United States and any other Western Hemisphere country. In 1996, the Center's privately sponsored external grant competition will award grants for research that explores the compatibility between economic growth and sustainable development. Mr. Chairman, we fully realize that the new Congress faces many difficult funding decisions. In an age of deepening interdependence in the Americas, and with great opportunities for regional economic growth before us, the North-South Center provides a value-added return on U.S. taxpayer dollars. As a national resource providing informed analysis of issues whose effects reach into every American home, the North-South Center represents an investment in our citizens' future and well-being. Center. We are seeking $4 million in continued federal support in FY 1997 for the North-South Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to submit this statement in support of FY 1997 funding for the North-South Center. EAST-WEST CENTER FOR CULTURAL AND TECHNICAL EXCHANGE Chairman Gregg and Members of the Subcommittee: Thank you for the opportunity to submit this written testimony that seeks your continued support of the East-West Center's appropriation for fiscal year 1997. As you know, the East-West Center was established by the United States Congress in 1960 to promote understanding and relationships between and among the countries and peoples of Asia, the Pacific and the United States through cooperative study, training and research. The wisdom of a visionary Congress in foreseeing the growing importance of Asia and the Pacific has been borne out many times since then. The most serious multinational conflicts since World War II have occurred in Asia and the most dynamic growth in commerce and trade have and is occurring in that vast region. Today, the best opportunities as well as the most critical challenges for America's economy are in the developed countries of East Asia, and the rapidly developing economies in South and Southeast Asia. And despite the end of the Cold War, serious threats to U.S. regional security and political interests still remain in the Korean Peninsula, the Taiwan Straits, the South China Sea, the Indian Sub-Continent and several other potential hot spots in the region. For the past thirty-five years, we have been bringing students, government officials, scholars, journalists, business executives and other professionals from the United States, Asia and the Pacific to the Center to live and work together, give and receive instruction, exchange views and information, conduct joint research to solve common problems, and establish close and lasting relationships. Some 42,000 individuals have participated in East-West Center programs. Many of them are now in positions of influence in government, education, business and the media where they continue to work in a cooperative manner to promote more constructive understanding and relationships between the United States and the countries of Asia and the Pacific. Clearly, it is these enduring bonds of friendship and trust that are key to future world peace, prosperity and stability. The collaborative research conducted at the Center produces information and analyses that help to illuminate the underlying demographic, environmental, resource, economic and political changes affecting the region. The Center's educational programs are focusing more and more on helping Americans, particularly our future educational, government and business leaders, to gain a better understanding of the Asian countries, their peoples, cultures, economies, and political systems so they can deal more effectively with a region that will directly impact the lives of every American well into the next century. Our effectiveness in these efforts flows from the fact that we enjoy a special position of trust and credibility in Asia and the Pacific as a neutral, open and objective international forum for dialogue and collaborative study and research. We have learned that we enjoy this position of acceptance because of our proven record of thirty-five years in the region; because of our location in a multi-ethnic society in the middle of the Pacific; and because we are an institution of the one nation, America, that is accepted as a leader and honest broker in the region. These accomplishments of the past, and our existing strengths and reputation in the Asia-Pacific region, have been made possible by the strong support that Congress and this Subcommittee have provided over our thirty-five year history. However, it is clear that given the budgetary challenges faced by Congress, you can no longer continue to provide the same level of support. With the reduction of Congressional funding of over 50%, from $24.5 million to $11.75 million this year, the Center found it necessary to reduce our staffing by more than 50%. At the same time, we have initiated an aggressive effort to diversify and increase our source of funding support from other governments, foundations, individuals and the corporate sector both in the United |