[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E387]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           BENIN MAKES PROGRESS IN DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 22, 2000

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I want to call the attention of my 
colleagues to the West African nation of Benin and its President, 
Mathieu Kerekou. This country's story is a remarkable one, and an 
encouraging one. Under President Kerekou's leadership in the 1970s and 
1980s, Benin made the difficult transition from authoritarian rule to 
democracy. President Kerekou won the country's second free election in 
1996, an election which our Department of State called ``generally free 
and fair''--strong praise for a country on this continent where 
democracy has suffered many setbacks in recent years. President Kerekou 
succeeded the former president in a peaceful transition of power.
  The State Department's 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
notes that President Kerekou ``continued the civilian, democratic rule 
begun in the 1990-91 constitutional process.'' The report also notes 
that the government has generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens. The Constitutional Court has shown its independence of the 
government, and when the court recently ruled provisions of a 
decentralization law unconstitutional, the legislature and the 
President accepted this decision.
  Benin is a small country and a poor one, but the Kerekou government 
has taken positive steps to strengthen its economy through privatizing 
state-owned enterprises and deregulating the economy. Under President 
Kerekou's leadership, Benin has been peaceful and stable.
  Mr. Speaker, Benin has been willing to take courageous foreign policy 
decisions that run counter to generally accepted practice. The 
Government of Benin recently announced that it plans to open an embassy 
in Israel's capital city of Jerusalem. Benin becomes just the third 
country to establish an embassy in Israel's capital, after Costa Rica 
and El Salvador. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the time when the 
United States will join these three countries and move our embassy in 
Israel to Jerusalem as mandated by the Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me paying tribute to the 
nation of Benin and its President, Mathieu Kerekou.

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