Mr. DODD. Will my colleague yield?

Mr. SARBANES. Certainly.

Mr. DODD. I wish to thank my colleague from Maryland for his statement, for laying out what I think is critically important, Mr. President, the historical background that brings us to this moment in the matter before the Senate, the pending amendment offered by our colleague from New York.

I think it is important for people to point out the timeframe in which we are talking about here. We are talking about a little more than 60 days now, as I look at the calendar of events, of the matter first coming to our attention, as the Senator from Maryland has pointed out, roughly on January 11 or thereabouts. It may have been a few days earlier than that that the matter actually was raised. But in terms of the statements, it was January 11, and then there were a series of statements made over those days, roughly 60 days ago, 70 days ago, as I understand it, Mr. President.

It seems to me that when you have a matter of this import, the implications of which, as the Senator from Maryland has pointed out, are as profound as they are, then we ought to be very conscious of the implications should this amendment be adopted.

I know the Senator from Maryland has asked unanimous consent that various statements be included in the Record at the end of his remarks. I would like to ask as well, Mr. President, that some additional remarks by Brent Scowcroft at the Treasury Department briefing on January 30, about 60 days ago, be printed in the Record, along with a statement of declaration of support for the President's actions which was signed by former Presidents George Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford; former Secretaries of State James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger, Alexander Haig, Henry Kissinger, Ed Muskie, and Cyrus Vance; former Secretaries of the Treasury Joseph Barr, Lloyd Bentsen, Michael Blumenthal, Henry Fowler, and David Kennedy; former Secretaries of Commerce Frederick Dent, Juanita Kreps, Robert Mosbacher, Elliot Richardson, Maurice Stans, Alexander Trowbridge; former U.S. Trade Representatives William Brock, William Epert, Carla Hills, Robert Strauss, Clayton Yeutter, along with statements from senior administration officials going back several administrations and a series of distinguished scholars as well, indicating the broad-based nature, Mr. President, of those who are knowledgeable about these issues as to the action taken by the President.

I commended at the time Speaker Gingrich and Majority Leader Dole for their statements. It was highly responsible for them as the leadership now in the Congress of the United States on a matter of this import, recognizing that it would take far too much time and it was likely to be very complicated here in the Congress, to make their recommendation that the President go forward and do what he did 60 days ago. We are hardly into this at all.

And so I commend my colleague from Maryland for his statement on the matter. I would further point out, Mr. President, I think it is important to note that just in the last day or so we have seen some very positive signs, by the way, occurring within Mexico.

The stabilization package as adopted is a strong one, as our colleague from New York has pointed out, and he is correct in stating that. It is very strong.

We had, of course, statements--because there is an exposure here, potential exposure, no doubt about that, but if we had not insisted upon a tough economic package in Mexico, I am just as certain we would have heard we were not tough enough on insisting that there be strong economic conditions imposed on Mexico t o try to get its economic house in order, and had we not done that, the exposure to U.S. taxpayers might have been greater.

Let me just highlight, if I can, the positive news in the last few days. And, again, we all hope it works. I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to see this work. Of course, we are not in on it alone. There are a number of other major financial institutions which have made significant commitments to try to resolve this issue internally. They have upheld the tight money policy, and we are seeing results.