Mr Ralph
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WA 090/4 ON MENED
صلاح
2 MAY 1991
Mustone
/2/5
Secretary of State's preakfast meeting with
Mr Speaker Foley and others: 15 May
Little of what was said by the Speaker and others in the Secretary of State's 45-minute breakfast meeting on 15 May will be new to you but I record the following.
On extension or fast-track authority, the Speaker said that, if Congress did nothing by the end of May, fast-track authority would be automatically extended for a further two years. The issue was fiercely controversial with organised labour because of fears about Mexico buc he thought that extension would in the end be granted. Congressmen were not focusing on the implications for GATT.
On Arab/Israel, the Speaker thought that the President would be willing to play a personal role at the right time. Mr Fascell thought the President would not take the risk of associating himself with a failure.
Mr Fascell spoke about the initiative he and others had taken to restrain arms sales to the Middle East. This needed to be done without leaving the field open to the Chinese. Mr Hamilton said that the plan was for a unilateral US moratorium on arms sales for 3 or 4 months during which a longer lasting moratorium could be negotiated with other countires. Mr Hoyer was suggesting an amendment to tie in the CSCE member countries.
On MFN for China, the Speaker said the issue had brought together an unusual coalition of very conservative Republicans (who had never been sympathetic to the existence of the PRC) and liberal Democrats worried about China's human rights record. Mr Hamilton said he thought the issue would be one whether Congress could override a Presidential veto. The President could probably avoid being overriden, especially in the Senate. The Speaker confirmed that conditions would be attached to renewal of MFN
Mr Fascell indicated that these would amount to little. The Speaker said the issue of MFN status for China was influenced by the increasing number of Asian immigrants in the United States.
The Secretary of State said that failure to
failure to renew MFN status would be a heavy blow for Hong Kong. He then briefed the Congressmer in outline on the three Hong Kong issues of concern to the British Government:
MFN status for China
- the Vietnamese boat people
- a new airport for Hong Kong.
He encouraged the Congressmen to show a sympathetic interest in the affairs of Hong Kong and to visit the territory.
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