[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 8, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CITIZENS OF LIBERIA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 8, 2003

  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, tonight, while the President of the United 
States is visiting Senegal and other countries in Africa, 'I rise to 
address the House to express my concern for the citizens of Liberia. 
Liberia is an African nation that was founded in 1820 by freed Black 
slave men and women from the United States. The nation, considered to 
be the only U.S. colony in Africa, was founded with a grant of 
$100,000. Its capital, Monrovia, is named after the United States fifth 
president, James Monroe. By 1847, thousands of freed slaves had 
immigrated to Liberia from the United States. They declared 
independence and the commonwealth of Liberia became the Republic of 
Liberia.
  Liberia's recently-deposed president, Charles Taylor, seized power in 
1997 after leading a seven year insurrection, which claimed the lives 
of thousands of Liberian Africans against his predecessor, Samuel Doe. 
Taylor, an accused embezzler and protegee of Libyan dictator, Col. 
Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, spread terror throughout Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast 
and Guinea. Taylor's human rights abuses include the use of child 
soldiers and funding terrorist organizations with money from blood 
diamond mines.
  On June 4, 2003, the United Nations supported an indictment of 
President Taylor by a Special Court in Sierra Leone, at the same time a 
group of West African Presidents were meeting with Taylor and others in 
Ghana to discuss efforts to negotiate a peace agreement.
  During the negotiations, President Taylor [said he would step aside 
if it would bring peace to his war torn country]. On Sunday, July 6, 
2003, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria announced that Taylor 
agreed to leave Liberia under certain conditions and with certain 
guarantees. President Obasanjo stated that what was happening in 
Liberia could happen anywhere in Africa. Liberia, he said, needed 
relief from dictatorship so that the entire region wouldn't be affected 
by the errant regime in that nation.
  Mr. Speaker, thus far, there has not been a successor named to govern 
Liberia. The leaders from the 16 Liberian opposition political parties 
in the nation, as well as leaders from religious and women's 
organizations, have been meeting in Ghana to draw up a peace plan and 
establish a transitional government expected to run the country for 18 
to 24 months before new elections can be held.
  The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Britain and 
France have asked the United States to lead, at least initially--a 
peace-keeping operation designed to separate and disarm the warring 
factions and establish an environment where a transitional government 
can take control of the country. ECOWAS has pledged 3,000 troops for an 
intervention force and is asking the United States to pledge 2,000 
troops in this effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge you, and my colleagues support the Liberian 
people's struggle to return their country to sane and just rule. 
Liberia has been a friend and a supporter of the United States. It was 
an ally during the Cold War and a facilitator of covert operations 
against Col. Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi during the 1980s. It would be a 
betrayal of that long-held trust to turn our backs on the people of 
Liberia who have supported us in the past.
  Liberia's natural resources are plentiful. The country has iron ore, 
rubber, timber, diamonds, gold and tin. In addition, in recent years 
that it has discovered sizable deposits of crude oil along its Atlantic 
Coast, and it continues to make strides in the agriculture sector. We 
need to work with the local communities and provide assistance in the 
areas of development, policing, healthcare.
  Mr. Speaker, Liberia has the potential of reestablishing a strong 
democratic model of liberation and justice for the continent. We must 
do whatever we can to assist the Liberians--these proud people of 
liberty--rebuild their beautiful country.

                          ____________________