[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 78 (Tuesday, June 20, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FUTURE OF AFRICAN NATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. EARL F. HILLIARD

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 20, 2000

  Mr. HILLIARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in response to the tragic 
events in African countries such as Sierra Leone and the Democratic 
Republic of Congo. I rise, however, Mr. Speaker to highlight a 
different image of Africa--an image I have witnessed firsthand.
  All too often, the only impression of Africa made upon the American 
public is that of carnage, corruption, and catastrophe, as reported by 
our country's television and print media. While I recognize that these 
problems are real and continue to present serious challenges to the 
social, political, and economic development of African countries, I 
wanted to highlight some of the success stories from the Continent.
  There is a new generation of leaders who hope to make Africa a 
continent of flourishing democracies. While the Trade and Development 
Act of 2000, originally the African Growth and Opportunity Act, is a 
necessary first step in committing ourselves to African success; it by 
no means signals the end of our walk with Africa. It is my hope that 
the Act will serve as an institutional framework for private investors 
and businesses to develop a meaningful presence within Africa. 
Ultimately, a private-public partnership is what is needed to provide 
the political and economic support African nations require to meet the 
development challenges of the 21st century.
  I want to thank you and the rest of my colleagues in the House for 
your support and partnership with Africa. Mr. Speaker, I submit the 
following article, published in the May 26, 2000, issue of the 
Baltimore Sun, for insertion into the Record.

             American Companies Can Do More to Help Africa

          (By James Clyburn, Earl Hillard and Bennie Thompson)

       During a recent congressional recess, six congressional 
     delegations went on fact-finding missions to Africa. The 
     number of delegations visiting the continent was no 
     coincidence.
       Nor was it inconsequential when the United States used its 
     chairmanship of the U.N. Security Council to make January 
     ``Africa Month'' for the council. President Clinton's 
     recently announced trip to Nigeria in June, the second to 
     Africa in his administration, is a welcome bid to efforts 
     aimed at putting the map of Africa onto the U.S. policy 
     agenda.
       The president's efforts are now being supported by members 
     whose views on domestic policy span our political spectrum 
     but who share a commitment to seeing an end to Africa's self-
     destructive wars and the establishment of an era of peace and 
     prosperity on the continent.
       Often, the only images of Africa the American public has 
     the opportunity to see are those of carnage, corruption and 
     catastrophe.
       As reports of civil war in Sierra Leone, Eritrea and the 
     Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to grab headlines 
     in America's newspapers, we journeyed to Africa with the hope 
     of highlighting a different image of the continent. Our 
     delegation spent three days in one of the continent's 
     smallest countries, Gambia--made famous by author Alex Haley 
     in his epic saga, ``Roots,'' as the true-life homeland of the 
     novel's hero, Kunta Kinte.
       Smaller than any of our individual congressional districts, 
     Gambia is a country of only 1 million people on the west 
     coast of Africa.
       The country makes up for its few natural resources with a 
     modern deep-water port and one of Africa's most advanced 
     telecommunications systems. Like many African countries, 
     Gambia is struggling to define itself as a service economy, 
     worthy of Western investment.
       During our stay, we were bounced along seemingly impassible 
     roads to isolated villages by our government hosts and saw 
     that the much-vaunted ``services'' did not extend outside the 
     capital city of Banjul. What we were shown was not a 
     whitewash, however, but a stark example of an African country 
     struggling to provide a better future for its people.
       Between episodic power outages and seasonal floods, there 
     exists in Gambia a hope and motivation to overcome and 
     succeed. From what we were shown, Gambia can, and may already 
     be, an African success story.
       With the construction of many new hospitals and dozens of 
     new schools, including the country's first university, the 
     government of President Yahya Jammeh is succeeding where 30 
     years of autocratic rule had failed.
       However, the technical, financial and educational resources 
     of such countries are quickly exhausted--leaving too many 
     projects incomplete and ideas unrealized.
       As the international assistance and debt relief to these 
     countries has stalled in our Congress, or dried up 
     completely, private, non-governmental groups have stepped in 
     to fill the void in implementing essential development 
     programs.
       U.S.-based Catholic Relief Services has in place across 
     Gambia, and the rest of Africa, programs that promote the 
     role of women in society, provide HIV education and fund 
     micro-enterprise projects--all programs that formerly were 
     undertaken by the U.S. Agency for International Development. 
     However, these non-governmental organizations are themselves 
     subject to competing congressional finding interests and so, 
     too, remain sorely underdeveloped.
       As in our cities, where corporate America has helped fund a 
     rebirth of our inner cities, so, too, can it assist the 
     nations of Africa in their own rebirth.
       This notion of ``trade not aid'' is the cornerstone of the 
     African Growth and Opportunity Act that President Clinton 
     signed into law this month and should define the future of 
     U.S. relations with Africa.
       Those companies already at work in Africa and with 
     Africans, are now ideally placed to provide the kind of 
     business environment that ultimately creates a peaceful 
     society.
       A healthy and educated workforce is not only for good 
     business but for stable and peaceful lives, free of war and 
     poverty, sickness and migration.
       As members of Congress, it is our hope and intention to 
     help facilitate these partnerships wherever possible. We have 
     seen the hope of a proud and welcoming people and will 
     implore our friends and colleagues to help Africa keep hope 
     alive.
       The three writers are members of the Congressional Black 
     Caucus from South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi, 
     respectively. Mr. Clyburn is caucus chairman.

     

                          ____________________