[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 135 (Tuesday, October 15, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10433-S10434]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SOMALIA

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I wish to express my strong 
support for the efforts underway to establish clear systems for 
effective regulation and monitoring of Somali remittance companies. 
Right now, the United Nations Development Program is working to build 
the capacity of the Somali financial sector and to bring Somalis 
together with key stakeholders in the international banking community 
so that clear expectations, shared high

[[Page S10434]]

standards, and meaningful enforcement mechanisms can be established. 
Somali remittance companies can survive, and can contribute the 
development of the Somali people, only if this effort is successful. I 
applaud this undertaking, and believe that the United States should 
provide assistance where appropriate.
  As the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's 
Subcommittee on African Affairs, I held a hearing on U.S. policy 
options in Somalia earlier this year. In the wake of the attacks on 
September 11, I wanted to explore the issue of weak states, where 
manifestations of lawlessness such as piracy, illicit air transport 
networks, and traffic in arms and gemstones and people, can make the 
region attractive to terrorists and international criminals. The United 
States can no longer pretend that we have no stake in the fate of 
countries in distress--the Afghanistans and Somalias of our world, and 
the United States can no longer pretend that we can insulate ourselves 
from the difficult problems confronting those countries. We cannot 
ignore them, we cannot simply condemn them. We must work to strengthen 
state capacity and curtail opportunities for terrorists and other 
international criminals.
  It is my intention to introduce legislation at the beginning of the 
108th Congress aimed at focusing more coordinated and consistent 
attention on Somalia. The U.S. must work harder at providing an 
alternative to the extremist influences in Somalia by vigorously 
pursuing small-scale health and education initiatives. And we must help 
Somalia's surprisingly vigorous private sector, to begin building 
regulated, legitimate financial institutions in Somalia, which will be 
essential to any economic recovery in the country in the future. 
Otherwise, we leave it to illegitimate, shadowy forces to step into the 
breach.
  One has only to meet a few of the many dynamic and committed Somalis 
who are working every day to build a better future for their countrymen 
to conclude that Somalia is not hopeless. But helping to rebuild 
capacity in Somalia will certainly not be easy. These efforts are 
important, and they deserve our attention and our support.

                          ____________________