ustxtxb_obs_1992_07_04_50_00007-00000_000.pdf

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I take the floor today to deliver the third in a series of special orders related to the largest banking scandal in historythe events surrounding the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro scandal. The BNL scandal is the sensational banking fraud in which the former employees of the BNL provided over $4 billion in loans to Iraq without reporting them to the appropriat? State and Federal bank regulatory agencies or even to BNL’s own U.S. management in New York or to their headquarters in Rome. But the BNL scandal had implications far beyond the fact that the State and Federal bank regulatory agencies failed to properly supervise the operations of BNL. The BNL scandal was a key factor in United StatesIraq relations in that it was eventually responsible for halting the extension of billions in United States Government credit to Iraq. BNL KEY FACTOR IN UNITED STATES-IRAQ RELATIONS The importance of BNL to United States-Iraq relations is best revealed in a Federal Reserve workpaper that states that Secretary of State James Baker actually talked to Saddam Hussein in September/October 1989 about the BNL scandal. In addition, there are many BNL-related telexes between Ambassador April Glaspie and the State Department in Washington. The importance of BNL to United States-Iraq relations is further illustrated by the fact that in late 1989, the White House Director of Cabinet Affairs, along with deputies from Treasury, State, OMB, Commerce, Agriculture, U.S. Trade Representative, Henry B. Gonzalez SABRINA BIRMINGHAM Subscriptions to and back issues of The Texas Observer are available. TO SUBSCRIBE: Fill in the gaps in your collection or even out that short leg on your table for only $3 for each back issue you need. We still have plenty of copies of the following issues: JFK issue \(Dec. 27, To inquire, call 512/477-0746 or write: Texas Observer Back Issues 307 W. 7th St. Austin, Texas 78701 Name Address City State Zip $27 enclosed for a one-year subscription. El Bill me for $27. 111 $3 for each back issue. Please indicate dates: THE TEXAS OBSERVER 7