[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10728-H10730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CALLING FOR FREE AND TRANSPARENT ELECTIONS IN GABON
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 518) calling for free and transparent elections in
Gabon, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 518
Whereas Gabon is a heavily forested and oil-rich country on
central Africa's west coast;
Whereas Gabon gained independence from France in 1960;
Whereas the Government of Gabon is involved in ongoing
efforts to mediate regional conflicts;
Whereas Gabon is scheduled to hold national elections in
December 1998 for the purpose of electing a President;
Whereas Gabon was subject to single-party rule until 1990;
Whereas the International Foundation for Election Systems
(IFES) and the Africa America Institute (AAI) served as
observers
[[Page H10729]]
during the organization of the 1993 Presidential and
legislative elections in Gabon and found widespread electoral
irregularities;
Whereas the Government of Gabon is a signatory to the
``Paris Accords'' of 1994, approved by national referendum in
July 1995, which provides for a state of law guaranteeing
basic individual freedoms and the organization of free and
fair elections under a new independent national election
commission;
Whereas the people of Gabon have demonstrated their support
for the democratic process through the formation of numerous
political parties since 1990 and their strong participation
in prior elections; and
Whereas it is in the interest of the United States to
promote political and economic freedom in Africa and
throughout the world: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes and commends the Government of Gabon's
ongoing efforts to resolve central African conflicts;
(2) recognizes and commends those Gabonese who have
demonstrated their love for free and fair elections;
(3) commends the Gabonese Government for inviting IFES to
perform a pre-election assessment study;
(4) calls on the Gabonese Government--
(A) to take further measures to help ensure a credible
election and to ensure that the election commission remains
independent and impartial; and
(B) to further welcome IFES, the National Democratic
Institute, the International Republican Institute, or other
appropriate international nongovernmental organizations to
aid the organization and oversight of, the December 1998
Presidential election in Gabon, in an effort to ensure that
these elections in Gabon are free and fair;
(5) urges the Government of Gabon to take all necessary and
lawful steps toward conducting free and fair elections;
(6) calls on the international community to join the United
States in offering their assistance toward conducting free
and fair elections in Gabon;
(7) urges the United States Government to continue to
provide support directly and through appropriate
nongovernmental organizations to aid the organization of free
and fair elections in Gabon; and
(8) urges the United States Government and the
international community to continue to encourage the
Government of Gabon to ensure a lasting and committed
transition to democracy.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Gilman) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman).
General Leave
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution, very appropriately, calls for free and
transparent elections in Gabon, the election of which in 1993 was
marred by serious irregularities according to the State Department's
human rights report.
{time} 1330
The emergence of genuine democracy in Gabon would help stabilize the
rest of Central Africa, a region which has suffered great instability
in recent days. And I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Hastings) for introducing this resolution and for working with the rest
of the members of our Subcommittee on Africa in coming up with language
that everyone can support.
In addition, the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), chairman of
our Subcommittee on Africa, has played an important role in bringing
everyone together on this resolution, for which he deserves our thanks.
Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support this worthy measure.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I offer this resolution today to support and strengthen
democracy and democratic forces in Gabon.
First, I would like to thank the gentleman from New York (Chairman
Gilman) and the gentleman from California (Chairman Royce) of the
Subcommittee on Africa for expediting this measure and working with us
to ensure that we could get this before the House before we exit today
or tomorrow or whenever.
I would like to thank the distinguished gentleman from California
(Mr. Royce) because he has been conscientious in more ways than one;
not just about Gabon, but about all of Africa and the concerns of the
Committee on International Relations.
Mr. Speaker, Gabon is well positioned to move forward to a stable and
democratic nation. With a per capita income that is three times that of
most nations of sub-Saharan Africa, a relatively high literacy rate,
and a billion dollar oil industry, Gabon possesses all the necessary
components for true democracy. However, despite these positive
attributes, Gabon's elections have not always been transparent because
of poor organization and poor execution.
While I commend the Government of Gabon for its ongoing efforts to
resolve conflicts in Central Africa, I personally would like to
encourage that government to take further steps in ensuring that the
December presidential election is credible and that the commission
remains independent and impartial.
This resolution gives the people of Gabon a chance to participate in
free and fair presidential elections in December. It also calls on the
international community to join the United States Government in
offering their assistance toward conducting free and fair elections in
Gabon, and urges the United States Government to continue to provide
support, directly and through appropriate non-governmental
organizations, toward free and fair elections in that nation.
Mr. Speaker, the Gabonese people have demonstrated their strong
support for freedom and democracy through their participation in
previous elections. Thus, I believe it is incumbent upon us as leaders
of democracy to help the forces of freedom in Gabon institute true
democracy.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Hastings) for his eloquent support of this measure.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), chairman of our Subcommittee on
Africa.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I want to lend my support to this resolution,
and I want to commend the work of its author, the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Hastings) my subcommittee colleague, as well as the other
members of the Subcommittee on Africa who have worked on it.
This is a balanced resolution that sends a loud and clear message
that the United States cares about democracy in Gabon. This is a
country with which we have growing commercial ties, and it says that we
are prepared to support democracy there.
This resolution points out some of the achievements of the
government's democratic transition, and it points out some of the
shortcomings, calling for the U.S. to help improve these conditions.
Ultimately, though, democracy is the responsibility of the Gabonese
people. The government and democratic opposition will have to continue
their work together so that fair and free elections are held and so
that democratic aspirations are met. This resolution says that we care
about these aspirations and are willing to help.
Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell), a member of our Subcommittee
on Africa.
Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Gilman) for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to commend the work of the gentleman from
California (Mr. Royce), our chairman, in bringing this to the floor,
along with the gentleman from New York (Chairman Gilman), and the work
of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), my good friend and
colleague who authored this resolution and who brought this issue to
our attention, and with whom I am honored to play a subordinate role,
but still a partnership role.
[[Page H10730]]
The resolution is well worth the time and concern of the American
people. The purpose of the resolution is to make the message clear to
the people of Gabon that the United States stands with them. We do not
stand with any particular outcome of the election; we stand with the
democratic process so that the people of Gabon might be free to express
their preference in the process.
Secondly, to our good friend and long-time ally, the people of
France, we wish to encourage them to encourage the democratic outcome.
I view France as having a tremendous potential to doing good in Africa.
All we can accomplish, to be realistic, is to let the world know that
we care, we do not turn ourselves away from the peoples of Africa,
particularly at times when they are attempting a democratic resolution
to the problems that have surfaced since they have come out of the Cold
War period.
Gabon's democratic election, which we anticipate coming up this
December, will be viewed by us with great interest. Those of us who
devote our attention to African matters in this body will have a much
easier time of convincing our colleagues to assist the peoples of
Africa if that election goes as fairly and fully democratically as
possible.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr.
Campbell) for his intensive and extensive support of democracy in
Africa, his continuing support, and for his eloquent remarks in support
of this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), a member of our Committee on International
Relations.
Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Gilman) for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, I want to first of all say that exactly what was said by
the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell) is the goal here. It is
not a specific result of the process, but it is the process.
And as the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) has advanced this
resolution, it is a resolution that hopes to see in this country, and
in other countries in Africa, what we have seen over so much of the
world in the last decade.
This truly, Mr. Speaker, been an extraordinary decade for democracy.
In the last debate we heard about the democracy in Slovakia. We could
talk about democracy in country after country in Eastern Europe. We
could certainly talk about an incredible change in South America and in
Central America in the last decade as democracy has held sway time and
time again.
We need to stand for that same process in Africa. We need to stand
not in opposition to any result or in favor of any result, but in favor
of democracy. We need to stand as a beacon, as we have to so many other
countries in the world, of support in their efforts to have the kind of
freedom that is only possible with a true democratic process.
As the country of Gabon approaches what we hope will be a fair and
free and open election in December, followed by what we hope will be
the implementation of the results of that election, I just want to
encourage my colleagues to support the resolution, and to thank the
gentleman from New York (Chairman Gilman) for all he has done in this
Congress to encourage democracy all over the world, and to thank the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) for bringing this resolution
forward.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr.
Blunt) for his extensive work on our Committee on International
Relations, and for his continued interest in bringing democracy to
countries throughout the world.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
I merely wish to thank our cosponsors of this measure. The gentleman
from California (Mr. Campbell) has spoken, but he did extraordinary
work in ensuring that we were able to expedite this resolution. I would
like to mention the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), the
gentleman from California (Mr. Dixon), the gentleman from Ohio (Mr.
Chabot), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson), the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Sanford) and the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. McKinney)
and thank them for their assistance as well.
Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of our time.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this may be the last suspension bill that our committee
will be bringing to the floor this year, and I wanted to take this
opportunity to thank the leadership, our floor staffs, the cloakroom
staffs, the Clerk's staff, especially in the Office of Legislative
Operations, our stenographers and transcribers, and finally the
parliamentarians for their many acts of assistance to our committee as
we moved legislation during the past 2 years.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank the members of our committee, the
staffs of the members, and the committee staff on both sides for their
dedication and cooperation that we have had over the past 2 years.
Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 518.
Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to travel to Gabon recently with
the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Archer, and the gentleman from Tennessee,
Mr. Tanner. While there, we met with President Bongo and learned first-
hand of the changes that have been made over the past eight years. In
1990, responding to popular demands, President Bongo convened a
National Conference to institute major political reforms. A new
constitution was approved by participants from over 70 political
parties and organizations as the first step away from single-party
rule. Also in that year, the first multi-party elections were held, and
opposition parties won 45% of the 120 seats in the National Assembly.
Since 1990, a firm foundation for Gabon's democracy has been laid.
I am pleased that the International Foundation for Electoral Systems
has a team in Gabon as I speak, conducting a pre-election assessment of
the presidential elections to be held in December. I wish to recognize
the cooperation of the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Archer, the gentleman
from Tennessee, Mr. Tanner, the gentleman from New York, Mr. Gilman,
the gentleman from California, Mr. Royce, and Dr. Susan Rice, Assistant
Secretary of State for Africa, in obtaining funding for this assessment
team.
While in Gabon, I also witnessed the struggle for conserving the
scarce natural resources of the rainforest and its inhabitants. In a
step toward conscientious stewardship of Gabon's natural resources, the
first national park of Gabon was recently established as a reserve for
orphaned young gorillas. President Bongo has made a public commitment
toward responsible use of natural resources, including the
establishment of guidelines for the appropriate harvesting of Gabon's
oil resources for trade on the local and international market. It is
evident that much progress has been made toward positive economic,
ecological, and political development in Gabon.
President Omar Bongo is to be commended for his efforts to establish
democracy in the tumultuous region of Central Africa. To this end, my
recent experiences and discussions have impressed upon me the
importance of a free, fair, and transparent presidential campaign and
election to stabilize Gabon's fragile, new democracy.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 518, as amended.
The question was taken.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the
ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a
quorum is not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule I and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on the motion will be
postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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