[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 12 (Thursday, January 23, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1374-S1375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FAMINE RELIEF FOR AFRICA

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I take a couple of moments to 
inform the Senate what I will be doing later. Yesterday, this freshman 
Senator from Florida brought forth an

[[Page S1375]]

amendment that was a $600 million emergency famine starvation relief 
amendment for sub-saharan Africa. There was a good bit of drama that 
occurred in the well, because the vote was so razor thin in difference. 
The final vote on a motion to table my amendment was agreed to 48 to 
46. One vote change would have had the vote 47 to 47, and the motion to 
table my amendment would have failed, which would have given me the 
opportunity to go on and try to pass the amendment.
  I have spoken to the substance, the reason for this amendment. There 
is not a person in the Senate who has not seen sights of those children 
with the spindly legs, the distended bellies, the thatched hair, and 
the soulful eyes. A lot of it is caused by the lack of rain. This has 
gone in cycles.
  In 1985, I had the privilege of assisting my wife who had put 
together the first private group, other than the NGO organizations, 
responding to the famine in Ethiopia. My wife had raised the money in 
Florida. I was then a Member of the House of Representatives and had 
arranged for this stretch DC8 airplane. We rode the sacks of food into 
Addis Ababa and went into the feeding camps to see that food was 
distributed. Of course, when you see those starving children, and when 
my wife had the experience of holding a near lifeless African child in 
her arms, realizing in only a matter of moments that child would 
expire, it makes an impression. When famine comes back to that part of 
the land some 17 years later, it is hard to sit still.
  Although my amendment was defeated yesterday by the razor-thin margin 
of one vote, I am not going to sit still. I am going to offer that 
amendment again and, fortunately, am in a parliamentary procedure by 
which I can do so because a very similar amendment to the one that was 
defeated yesterday had been filed by me.
  For those Senators on the other side of the aisle--and there were 
four or five yesterday--who have been deeply touched by personal 
experiences in Africa, having seen that famine and the ravages of it on 
human beings, for those five or six on the other side of the aisle, and 
a score more who wanted to vote for that amendment, first, I thank you 
profoundly for your votes. You know, each one of you, who you are. And 
second, I want to say that we are going to have another chance. We are 
going to have another chance this afternoon.
  I ask Senators to examine their hearts and see if they don't think 
that this is the right thing to do.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.

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