Hearing of the House Financial Services Committee - The State of the International Financial System
Federal News Service
March 25, 2004 Thursday
HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: THE STATE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM
WITNESS: TREASURY SECRETARY JOHN SHOW
CHAIRED BY: REP. MICHAEL OXLEY (R-OH)
LOCATION: 2128 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.
BODY:
REP. BERNARD SANDERS (I-VT): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Secretary Snow, thank you very much for being with us today.
Three quick points-three quick questions. You may recall that I passed an amendment which would prohibit the government from working with IBM to overturn a court decision regarding cash balance pensions, and that was incorporated into law. You may remember the whole hoopla about that-IBM lobbyists using secretary-the Treasury stationery and --
SEC. SNOW: Yes.
REP. SANDERS: I would very much appreciate-and I thank you for initiating an inspector general's investigation on that-I would very much appreciate your giving my office a redacted-a non- redacted copy of the IG report. We'd like to see the full report. Is that something we could get? Because I think you will agree with me, the allegations are very serious about that.
SEC. SNOW: I'm-I'm prepared to be as cooperative as we can be, Congressman Sanders, on that. And you're right, I did ask the IG to look into it once it was brought to my attention, and you helped bring it to my attention.
REP. SANDERS: Yes.
SEC. SNOW: The-as I understand the IG statutes, though, the IG, not the Treasury secretary, is in control of that process, that I cannot and should not dictate to the IG with respect to the IG process.
REP. SANDERS: Well --
SEC. SNOW: I think that's the-I'm advised that's the law.
REP. SANDERS: All right. Let me go to another issue, and that is the outsourcing situation, and ask for your cooperation. As I'm sure you know, this country has a record-breaking $500 billion trade deficit. We've lost 2.8 good -- 2.8 million good paying manufacturing jobs in the last three years. We are on the verge of perhaps hemorrhaging millions of very good paying, white collar information technology jobs. The new jobs being created are paying substantially less, 29 percent less nationally, than the jobs that we are losing. We have companies like General Electric that basically boast-they tell us that they're moving to China. Ms. Waters raised this issue. Legislation that I have authored, which now has 60 co-sponsors, says that the federal government should not be providing billions of dollars in corporate welfare for those companies that are heading to China.
Now, without getting into great detail, I think one thing that we can do, is would you work with some of us in putting together a meeting with corporate America, who are taking our jobs abroad, and having them come to Capitol Hill, telling us how they're going to create decent paying jobs in this country? Will you work with us arranging that meeting?
SEC. SNOW: I'd be happy to be part of that dialogue and be helpful in establishing it --
REP. SANDERS: The American people, I think, do not want to give billions of federal dollars to companies who advertise the fact that they are heading to China.
Last question. As you know, gas prices in this country are soaring. Great concern to consumers, to business, to farmers, and so forth. You and the administration are great exponents of unfettered free trade. I am not. You are. Now, what I want to know is why the administration has not gone to the WTO to bring charges against OPEC, which is limiting supplies of oil coming into the United States? OPEC, by definition, their reason for existence is they are a cartel designed to limit production. Why aren't we going before the WTO, telling them, pressing the charge that OPEC is in violation of free trade agreements?
SEC. SNOW: Congressman, the current price outlook is regrettable. I will-it's-it's going-it serves as a tax on America, on our consumers. It slows our economic growth. But I don't think the actions by-by-by OPEC, as I understand the WTO rules, are subject to the WTO rules because they don't involve a trade violation in the sense of a raise in the --
REP. SANDERS: Well, I would respectfully disagree with you. And if OPEC is not by definition restraining production and acting in total violation of what free trade is supposed to be about, I would be very surprised. And I would urge you and the administration to tell our friends at OPEC not to strangle the American economy and our consumers by forcing prices up artificially. Is that something-are we going to hear some statements out of the administration on that?
SEC. SNOW: Well, I think you've heard the Energy secretary very forcibly talk about this whole subject. One reason that we're experiencing the rise in prices is that we don't have enough domestic capacity.
REP. SANDERS: Well, that's your interpretation. I think the evidence would suggest that OPEC has limited the supply of oil coming into this country --