[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 27, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RECOGNITION OF THE NATIONAL DAY OF BANGLADESH

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 27, 2001

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute and congratulate 
the nation of Bangladesh for thirty years of independence.
  Founded in 1971 after gaining its independence from Pakistan, 
Bangladesh has evolved into a moderate Muslim democracy where the 
United States enjoys high prestige and respect. Bangladesh plays a 
moderating and welcome role in international fora like the G-77, the 
Nonaligned Movement and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
  Since independence, Bangladesh has struggled with an enormous 
population of 128 million crowded into a nation the size of Wisconsin. 
Subject to regular monsoons and flooding, Bangladesh has made 
significant social and economic progress in a number of areas. In 
particular Bangladesh has made major strides to meet the needs of its 
growing population and is now largely self-sufficient in rice 
production. Bangladesh is also a leader in microenterprise lending. The 
world famous Grameen Bank has provided small business loans to more 
than 2.4 million customers in 39,000 villages. The bank has a 98 
percent loan recovery rate from its customers, 94 percent of whom are 
women. In a recent and promising development, 40-50 trillion cubic feet 
of natural gas have been discovered giving Bangladesh a long term 
source of energy and enough to become a natural gas exporter.
  U.S.-Bangladesh relations have also grown in recent years. The United 
States is Bangladesh's number one trading partner. U.S. investment in 
Bangladesh has grown from $25 million to over $750 million in the last 
four years. But economic interests are not the only ties that bind the 
U.S. and Bangladesh.
  Bangladesh has played a significant role in international 
peacekeeping activities. Several thousand Bangladeshi military 
personnel are deployed overseas on peacekeeping operations. Under U.N. 
auspices, Bangladeshi troops have served or are serving in Somalia, 
Rwanda, Mozambique, Kuwait, Bosnia, Haiti, and East Timor. Regionally, 
Bangladesh is a nation at peace with its neighbors and focused on 
regional integration through the South Asian Association for Regional 
Cooperation.
  In addition, Bangladesh has demonstrated its commitment to 
environmental preservation by becoming the first country to participate 
in a debt for nature swap under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 
1998. This program allowed Bangladesh to exchange a portion of its 
concessional debt to the United States in return for the preservation 
of more than 3 million acres of tropical forest home to the world's 
last genetically viable population of Bengal tigers.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me in commending the 
nation of Bangladesh for 30 years of independence.

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