On the National Mall, Washington, DC June 23-27 and June 30-July 4, 1999.

This summer, from June 23-27 and June 30-July 4, Romania will be one of the featured countries at the 1999 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, together with South Africa and the State of New Hampshire. Titled "Gateways to Romania", the festival will offer over 1 million visitors the opportunity to see and taste Romanian culture on the National Mall, America's piaţa centrală in Washington, DC. Together with a wide variety of craft demonstrations, traditional music and dance and a wooden church from Maramureş, constructed especially for the festival, the American public will feast on sarmale cu mămăliguţă, papricaş de pui cu găluşte, mititei and other traditional favorites.

"Gateway to Romania" presents America with a unique opportunity to visit Romania without ever leaving the United States. The Festival will offer visitors gateways to everyday life, ritual and knowledge of and about Romania. Carperters from Maramureş will craft, carve and erect traditional gateways on the Mall, as well as illustrate the skills of basilica building. Icon painters, carvers and egg decorators will demonstrate ritual arts.

Music and dance groups from Moldova, Transylvania and Wallachia will perform a variety of traditions that ceremonially mark the seasons and celebrate the life of Romanian villages in sound, movement, costume and theatrical play - inviting Americans to join in. A variety of craftspeople, including weavers and potters, demonstrate different regional styles. Visitors will be able to interact with the Romanian craftspeople, dance the hora, enjoy Romanian beverages in the gradina de vară, and shop for special items made by the festival's participants. Of special interest to Americans of Romanian descent, June 26 will be Romanian-American day. From 5:30-9:00 pm, the Mall will be filled with live music, food and dance. Additionally, on July 1, in the afternoon, a Romanian/New Hampshire violin demonstration and music will take place. The Festival is free to the public.

The Festival is crucially important to Romania, since this event has a history of increasing investment and tourism in participating countries. It also provides a valuable opportunity for Romania to improve her image here in the US and around the world. The cost of Romania's participation is $1.2 million, made possible through public funding from the Smithsonian Institution and the Romanian government. Major sponsors include: Coca-Cola and Connex GSM. Contributions include: Chase Manhattan Bank, Romanian Development Bank, General Electric and Timken Foundation. Several other levels of support from companies and individuals make up the balance of the funding.

The CORA meeting, planned for March 1999, was postponed. A one day meeting will be held on June 25^th, coinciding with the FolkIife Festival. CORA meetings are always packed with excellent information through its speakers, and those who attend always go home fulfilled. See back page for registration form and additional information.

Prime Minister Ion Sturza and Armand Scala met in Chişinău on April 17^th. Among other subjects, Mr. Scala raised the need in the US for more people to advocate Moldova's interests. He committed to arrange meetings etc., using CORA's prestige, if Americans, interested in Moldova, would come forward to participate. It is not enough to have only Moldova's diplomats in Washington raising Moldovan issues.

In order to gain greater American involvement, three "Honorary Moldovan Consuls" have been named. They are Florin Pintic-Blaj (North Carolina), Anton Samoilă (Virginia), and Richard Astro (Pennsylvania).

Moldova's primary issues remain. They are the Ilaşcu incarcerations, Transniester Province, the 14^th Russian Army and economic reform.

It is expected that the next group of countries to be invited to join NATO will not occur until after the next US President takes office. At a meeting held in February, sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, panels, including William Perry, Zbigniew Brzezinski, General Skowcroft and others, discussed a wide range of issues including Romania's economic strife.

CORA members attended the meeting along with Zoe Petre, Romanian Ambassador Geoană, Daniel Dianu and Adrian Severin. Romania was described as being unready for an invitation at this time, due to its internal problems. Other countries are now favored over Romania for an invitation. It was also noted that the three newest members' transition into NATO is being watched carefully because there are some real difficulties being experienced.

A White House meeting with three members of the National Security Council staff was held on May 27^th. Special Assistants to the President for the former Soviet countries, the other Warsaw Pact countries and Romania, and the Special Assistant for Kosovo attended, along with members of the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC).

The subject of the meeting was Kosovo. NATO involvement, unforseen collateral damage and Russia's involvement in a diplomatic settlement were discussed in a very sobering atmosphere.

The President of CORA, arranged the meeting and served as moderator. Mr. Scala opened the meeting, followed by speakers from the Armenian Assembly, the Polish American Congress, the Hungarian American Coalition and the Ukrainian National Association, Inc. Mr. Scala closed the CEEC presentation with an appeal to the Administration not to make significant concessions to Russia in the peace process.

The White House representatives responded to the issues and questions posed by the CEEC. They closed with remarks that assured the CEEC that there is no intention of relinquishing NATO command and control of an international peace keeping force in Kosovo.

A White House meeting, held Feb. 18^th, was chaired by a Special Assistant to the President in the National Security Council. The Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) was invited, and Armand Scala served as the moderator for the Coalition.

The purpose of the meeting was to inform the CEEC of events of the April NATO Summit, to discuss the future expansion of NATO and to inform the CEEC of what the US hopes to accomplish at the Summit. The White House wants NATO to treat aspirant NATO members as "invited" nations, providing nation specific "road maps" to NATO membership and supporting each in accomplishing that goal. Remembering that the US is only one of nineteen members, it will present three policy areas as priority. They are: defining new missions for the NATO alliance, focusing on including new members, and strengthening the partnership (non-member) nations.

Numerous questions were asked and statements made by CEEC members. The CORA representative stressed that a more comprehensive definition of the "new" NATO has to be made clear if the US Congressional support is desired.

Gross domestic product (GDP) of Romania went down by 7.3 % to 338.67 trillion lei (about 38.2 billion US dollars) in 1998, compared with the 6.6% drop of the previous year, according to the latest statistics released by the government on Wednesday. The drop in this major economic index, which greatly surpassed the anticipated target of 5.5% set by the government earlier, was attributed by some experts to the continuous slide in the industrial and construction sectors. The two accounted for 40% of the GDP in Romania.

The industrial output decreased by 17.3% compared with that of the previous year, while agriculture went down by 7.6%, said the national statistics committee.

The deficit of foreign trade reached 3.5 billion dollars, 25% of increase from 2.8 billion dollars of 1997. For example, export dropped by 1.6% to 8.3 billion dollars while the import increased by 4.8% to 11.8 billion dollars.

In 1998, the country's inflation rate was 59.1 %, with the country's currency, the lei, devaluated by 27%.

From Bucharest "XINHUA", March 10.

CORA, the CEEC and other members of the "working group" held a reception on April 15^th at the Capitol. This group lobbies for NATO expansion. The purpose of the reception was to honor the Administration's Manager for NATO enlargement, Jeremy Rosner, and to salute all of the members of Congress who supported NATO expansion and who appropriated funds for it.

Other organizations in the "working group" include: American GI Forum, American Jewish Committee, American Legion AMVETS, Association of the US Army, International Union of Bricklayers et al., Jewish War Veterans, Polish Legion of American Veterans USA, Reserve Officers Association, US Committee to Expand NATO, US Conference of Mayors, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. CORA is on the "steering committee" of the Working Group.

Every two years, the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) honors two Senators and two members of the House of Representatives for their help to Americans whose ethnic origins are from those countries represented by the CEEC. On March 24^th, Senators Biden and Roth were honored on Capitol Hill for their leadership and vision in their efforts toward NATO enlargement. Congresspersons Calahan and Pelosi also were honored for their official leadership roles in Congress. In attendance at the reception were members of the diplomatic corps, congressional staff workers, members of the CEEC and others.

In his remarks to the group, Senator Biden said NATO expansion is an historic opportunity to enhance the security of the United States, by expanding the zone of peace and stability in Europe. Senator Roth, appreciative of CEEC's award, commented that the Coalition has provided the support and coordination here in America that has proven invaluable in the historic effort to build a Europe that is truly united.

Armand Scala, Master of Ceremonies for the event, observed: Both of these Senators come from the State of Delaware, one a Democrat, the other a Republican. Delaware has virtually no European constituency, yet these men have earned this recognition. I think, in these two gentlemen, we have real statesmen. Congresswoman Pelosi (D-CA) stressed the importance of lobbying the Congress to pass the President's recommended budget for foreign operations which includes foreign assistance. Following her remarks, Mr. Scala pointed out that less than 1% of the US budget is spent for foreign operations, yet, when polled recently, Americans estimated the budget expenditure at 20-25% and felt that 15% was more appropriate. The evening ended with thanks to the legislators for their efforts.

Last week the House and Senate Appropriations Committees set their subcommittee funding (302b) allocations for fiscal year 2000. The committees drastically slashed funding for several subcommittees with jurisdiction over international affairs programs.

A loud and clear message that current funding levels are unacceptable is essential if these devastatingly low levels are to be raised. Even though final funding decisions may be months away, we must raise our voices now.

Calls and letters to key appropriators are vital. We must be vigilant in showing our support for International affairs programs.

This newsletter contains some important phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and fax numbers to guide you in contacting some of the key House and Senate committee members. You should also write to your Representative and Senators. Get a directory of the US Congress. It's free. Call (800) 438-8683.

CORA welcomes The Cultural Foundation for Transylvania, a Romanian-Hungarian cultural and intellectual group and the Viitorul Român Chapter, Union and League of Romanian Societies of America, one of the oldest fraternal Romanian-American organizations. Your organization should join CORA! Call us at (703) 448-3372.

The Congressional Caucus on Romania is a bi-partisan organization dedicated to fostering a long term and fruitful relationship between Romania and the United States. It concentrates its attention and energy on enhancing the political and economic cooperation between Romania and the United States, providing guidance and support for Romania's integration into western and transatlantic structures and encouraging direct business and trade relations between the two countries.

The Caucus has been established in the 105 ^th Congress. Its current membership is:

Ralph Regula (R, OH), Co-chairman
Solomon Ortiz (D, TX), Co-chairman
Benjamin Gilman (R, NY)
Norman Dicks (D, WA)
Tom Biley (R, VA)
Jim Gibbons (R, NV)
Edward Markey (D, MA)
Garry Ackerman (D, NY)
Bart Gordon (D, TN)
Fred Upton (R, MI)
Charles Pickering (R, MS)
Shelley Berkley (D, NV)
Joseph Knollenberg (R, MI)

Sen. John Ashcroft (R, MO)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D, LA)