(00:00:00) I think the Bush Administration is responding appropriately now in the meeting with President Gorbachev. I was concerned they might (00:00:10) not (00:00:12) enter into this (00:00:13) dialogue and into discussion and the president somehow gained confidence in his moving and I (00:00:19) think appropriately with caution not promising too much and I hope also being (00:00:26) prepared adequately for confrontation with the person who is a master on the world stage and who is very quick on his feet and and who also has kind of a measure of desperation behind him Soviet economy is in serious trouble the (00:00:47) decisions Gorbachev makes and the response the United States gives to Gorbachev May well decide whether the openness in the move to democracy and the Crumbling of barriers both physical and ideological will continue or whether it will regress. The United States has to proceed as I as we have done appropriately with legislation and funding to help evolve the economic system from the (00:01:21) chaos of the Socialist Communist system to (00:01:25) something approaching a kind of a mixed economy (00:01:29) in which we will move or see them moving generally to the direction of our capitalist (00:01:35) Society (00:01:37) with whatever safeguards are necessary and and we have to be judicious in how we approach this issue providing markets providing training providing technical assistance to those economies to help set up (00:01:55) independent entities independent industries that can function on their own. Some real incentive (00:02:01) to workers to enjoy the fruits of their labor. One of I think one of the most controversial issues right now in terms of foreign policy is the El Salvador situation. Maybe you could you could touch on that and possibly what your own personal view is what you would do if you were (00:02:18) president. Well clearly the situation is not a sharply defined today as it was in 1982 when I made my first human rights visit to (00:02:29) El Salvador 1983 when we eat a second commercial human rights (00:02:33) inquiry, they're clearly the issues were defined the government was aiding and abetting repression was a (00:02:41) part of the repression of the (00:02:45) civilian population. The Army then was only twelve thousand Personnel poorly equipped poorly trained poorly disciplined. The right wing was rampant in (00:02:56) its repression of dissent. (00:03:00) The guerrillas or the resistance movement was not clearly Marxist or leftist. It (00:03:08) was perhaps (00:03:09) to a large extent and non-ideological that is there was a communist element but they were a distinct minority and not a vocal minority or not. Even an influential minority today. The situation is quite different. The Army is numbers fifty six thousand Personnel. We've invested nearly four billion dollars in the United States and the Salvadoran peasants ask us rightly. (00:03:34) What have you bought with that money? The Army still represses us (00:03:40) human rights are not safe. People are not secure in their person. We are attacked from the (00:03:45) left and from the right (00:03:47) the government cannot assure security of the civilian population. The guerrillas have engaged in in desperation tactics using innocent civilian population as A shield against the Army tactics that were not used six or seven years ago the leadership in the resistance movement or the gorilla opposition movement has shifted away from Guillermo mango who was president Duarte his running mate for president in 1972 when they won an (00:04:25) election and then were cheated (00:04:26) out of it and jailed (00:04:28) and suppressed but (00:04:33) and own go continued even during the Duarte years in the opposition, but as a responsible voice of constructive opposition, he is cast aside there are more radical elements who feel desperate about (00:04:47) the prospects for the future. (00:04:49) There is no willingness of the government to enter into real dialogue. There was no willingness on the part of the government to delay elections for a definitive time. To discuss real power-sharing and participation by opposition elements in the government to assure that that you could have a (00:05:11) fair and honest election. And and more troubling is that the very (00:05:18) gang who were the perpetrators of Human Rights abuses in the early 80s are now the government they now hold officially the reins of power remember in 1977 in the presidential campaign of that year. It was Roberto d'aubuisson whose motto was be a patriot kill a (00:05:40) priest. Chilling. He is now the power behind the throne in El Salvador (00:05:47) Little Wonder that the (00:05:48) Jesuits director of the Central American University. One of the most respected academic institutions was murdered brutally tortured and tormented. We cannot (00:05:59) tolerate that the response of the Bush (00:06:01) Administration to the situation there has (00:06:03) been to (00:06:06) downplay to to denigrate the atrocity and to place (00:06:15) total trust and confidence in the cristiane government, which is merely a puppet of Roberto d'aubuisson who's one of the organizers of these abuses. So I think I regret I regret Deeply One of the disappointments of this session was that we were not able to Garner enough votes to bring to the floor a bill that is to pass. The rule that would have provided for consideration of an amendment to the foreign aid appropriation Bill to put a limit on the amount of money to El Salvador fencing off of that money until next April so we could make a second look at progress in finding the perpetrators of the (00:07:03) of the killings and improvements in the human rights conditions, but we lost and and I fear for the future of El Salvador. Maybe you could just quickly tell us how you voted on the salary (00:07:13) increases. Well, I've consistently supported pay raises for members of Congress from my (00:07:19) first campaign for congress in 1974. I think (00:07:22) we had a lot of set a level of pay that is adequate for members of Congress and provide annual cost-of-living adjustments as we do for Social Security and veterans benefits and federal government employees. And I think that that's entirely appropriate and I have voted for for that seven percent pay increase. Cost of living adjustment this year and which would be only for one month for this year and a comparable amount for next year. And then for the following year a salary adjustment that'll be a one-time adjustment coupled with eliminating the honorarium. Now, if you don't do this, we don't have adequate pay for members of Congress. You're going to increase the number of millionaires or ne'er-do-wells serving in the Congress and you certainly have enough millionaires in the United States Senate. I won't name the ne'er-do-wells the but more than half of the Senate are millionaires. They take 40% of their base pay in in (00:08:21) in addition to that (00:08:22) base pay an honorary. I don't think that's appropriate and I think that we we ought to have a decent level of pay both for members of Congress in for the executive branch and the Judiciary to attract and retain people of competence and ability to serve the best. Best public interest. (00:08:43) Thank you. Thanks mister.