I figured it out but it's not pretty.
EXECUTE ''INSERT INTO journal (j_date,casenmbr,peopnmbr,evntnmbr,''
||''j_descr,j_rate,j_quant,j_status) VALUES (''
||quote_literal(jdate)
||'',''
||quote_literal(text(casenmbr))
||'',''
||quote_literal(text(peopnmbr))
||'',''
||quote_literal(text(param))
||'',''
||quote_literal(erec.ev_title)
||'',''
||quote_literal(text(erec.ev_rate))
||'',''
||quote_literal(text(erec.ev_amount))
||'',''
||quote_literal(jstatus)
||'')'';