[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H6324-H6330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 AFRICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, we are members of the Congressional Black 
Caucus here tonight, and we stand here tonight to speak on the state of 
Africa as the first day of President Bush's trip concludes. The 
President's trip shows a level of commitment that surprised many of us 
when we read in the newspaper that he was intending to visit Africa, 
but African journalists recently said Africa appreciates the words, but 
is awaiting the deeds.
  Many people have written Africa off as a place that has too many 
grave problems, and that it is irrelevant to the United States' 
interest. Indeed, there are still a lot of people whose views of Africa 
are certainly limited by disasters and civil wars. However, engagement 
with Africa is a vital U.S. interest. From the war on terrorism to the 
supply of critical resources, from the campaign against threatening 
diseases to the opportunities for economic trade and investment, Africa 
is a global player. We ignore the continent at our own peril.
  If we had paid a little more attention to Africa and Sudan, where 
Osama bin Laden lived from 1993 to 1997, recruiting and planning the al 
Qaeda movements that terrorized our U.S. Embassies in Kenya and 
Tanzania and then went on to organize the Taliban and to have havoc 
wreaked through Afghanistan, if we had paid attention to Africa, if we 
had looked at some of the requests for us to intervene in some way by 
assisting John Garang and the Sudanese Liberation Movement with trucks 
and telephone equipment and other things they were appealing to, 
perhaps Osama bin Laden would have been put out of existence, because 
the liberation movement from John Garang and his organization could 
have defeated the Khartum government which gave haven to Hamas and to 
al Qaeda and many of the other terrorists. By our ignoring Sudan, where 
2 million persons have died and 4 million have been displaced, where 
food has been used as a weapon, if we had decided that that was an 
important country for us, then we perhaps could have avoided many of 
the things that we see today as our soldiers are in harm's way in Iraq 
and we continue to move through Afghanistan and Africa towns.
  I will talk briefly between our speakers, but I do want to quickly 
bring focus to our main concern, my main concern tonight, and that is 
the situation in Liberia. On July 2, I wrote a letter to our Secretary 
of State and a week before that had the opportunity to be in his 
presence and asked the Secretary of State if attention could be given 
by the Bush administration to the country of Liberia. First of all, the 
Liberians have been asking us to come in and assist. People are in the 
streets with American flags and signs asking President Bush and 
Secretary of State Colin Powell to come to their aid, and people are 
saying, why should we be concerned about Liberia? There are 50 sub-
Saharan African countries on the continent. Why should we be concerned?
  I think many of our citizens in this country and it appears many of 
our lawmakers in the House and in the Senate have no knowledge at all 
of where Liberia's beginning came from. It was in 1822 that President 
Monroe, the Monroe document, President Monroe said that we should have 
a return to Africa movement and free black men. Many people have the 
opinion that these were simply illiterate slaves, ex-slaves that went 
to Liberia, but these were free men, some slaves, but free men, lawyers 
and businessmen, who went to Liberia to start that country in 1822. And 
in 1847, Liberia became a republic, started by African Americans who 
returned to Africa, to Liberia, to start this republic.
  Their Constitution was based after the United States Constitution. 
Their laws were based on laws of the United States of America. There 
were very strong ties between the United States and Liberia. In World 
War II, the West African country allowed American troops to be 
positioned on their soil. Again during the Cold War Liberia was an 
important ally when it served as a leading U.S. base for intelligence 
activity against Moammar Ghadafi of Libya and other threats to the 
United States. Even Samuel Doe, even though he came to power in a 
bloody coup, the United States in the midst of the Cold War supported 
the government because Liberia served such a great interest to the 
United States during World War II when the Pacific region was cut off 
for rubber supplies. Liberia with Goodyear Rubber Company that had been 
established in Liberia for decades, for perhaps close to a century, 
Liberia was there to help the U.S. war effort.
  So when people say why should we go there, there are many problems 
around. We should go there, and the reason that the British have asked 
us to intervene, the reason that President Kofi Annan of the United 
Nations have said the United States should lead a peacekeeping force, 
these are because Liberians, the world, look at the United States as 
the power that could come in and change the situation.

                              {time}  2015

  So I wanted to give that brief background of the country of Liberia 
and to say that is why this particular country is different, if we want 
to remove ourselves from other countries in Africa.
  As I conclude my portion and will yield to the chairman of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, I would like to say that in Sierra Leone 
currently the British went in. They went in and they prevented the RUF, 
the terrible group that terrorized people in Sierra Leone,

[[Page H6325]]

the British went in, because that was a former colony of theirs, and 
they made peace; and now Sierra Leone is on a peaceful track.
  In Cote d'Ivoire, the French troops went in several months ago 
because of disorder there, and they have saved thousands of lives and 
are still there.
  Just last week, the French, British and Belgian troops went into 
Eastern Congo, the city of Bunia, where there had been a civil strife 
between two ethnic groups. The French came in and said that this must 
stop, we are coming in; we give you 3 days to get out. And they have 
saved thousands of lives just last week.
  So why the United States? Why Liberia? We are in Iraq right now and 
are receiving a terrible time. It is because we are being asked. 
President Taylor said he will step down, he will leave the country. We 
could really save lives there. It is a totally different situation.
  With that, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to yield to the 
chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentleman from Maryland 
(Mr. Cummings), who has done an outstanding job in his chairmanship of 
the Congressional Black Caucus, bringing us to the floor on every 
important issue to America in general and African Americans in 
particular.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for 
yielding. I want to also thank the gentleman for his leadership. It is 
no doubt, Mr. Speaker, that the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) 
is by far the most expert in the Congress on Africa and international 
affairs. His expertise certainly extends to Europe, Asia, Latin America 
and the Caribbean, just to name a few places around the world. His 
expertise is invaluable; and he is a very, very valuable asset to both 
the Congressional Black Caucus and this Congress.
  I have often said of the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) that 
so often people, Mr. Speaker, determine their response to a crisis by 
whether they will be uncomfortable. The gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Payne) consistently travels around the globe, not concerned about his 
comfort, but more concerned about the comfort of those he touches. So I 
want to thank the gentleman for leading our discussion this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to come to the floor this evening to 
discuss the state of Africa. Africa deserves and America needs a real 
strategic alliance with the continent of Africa. It is in the national 
security of the United States for us to have a strategic alliance with 
this great continent.
  Just some brief facts: Africa is the second largest continent in the 
world, behind Asia. There are 54 countries in Africa. The population of 
the continent exceeds 770 million people.
  Mr. Speaker, the economic potential and the natural beauty of the 
continent is extraordinary. Just this past May, Mr. Speaker, several 
members of the Congressional Black Caucus visited the nation of Nigeria 
on the West Coast of Africa. These distinguished members included the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), the gentleman from Louisiana 
(Mr. Jefferson), the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), the gentlewoman from Florida 
(Ms. Corrine Brown), and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek). 
Although we mainly went there to attend the presidential inauguration 
of the Nigerian President, Obasanjo, we gained some valuable insights 
from our visit.
  The people of Nigeria admire the people of the United States for how 
our democracy works. They also admire our form of government. As such, 
they expressed shock regarding the controversies surrounding the 2000 
Presidential elections. They also noted their disappointment regarding 
the gradual decline in civil liberty protections post-9/11. In this 
regard, many of these citizens and government officials pleaded with us 
to defend the true meaning of our democracy because, as they put it, 
the best way to impact the world is through what America stands for, 
not by using our unilateral force as the world's only superpower.
  But this feeling is not just present in Nigeria. The many countries 
of Africa, 54 in all, their governments and the people of Africa are 
looking to the United States for leadership and a real partnership. 
They do not just want rhetoric.
  Contrary to what many people believe, the people of Africa do not 
want aid or a handout. What they want is opportunity for a level 
playing field from the United States, Europe, the World Bank and the 
International Monetary Fund as they pursue economic progress.
  For many countries, the overwhelming financial debt from loans that 
were in some cases misused by governments in Africa is now stifling the 
economic progress of these countries. The payments on these debts are 
also diverting significant funds away from infrastructure improvements, 
education and other health needs for the people of Africa.
  Through all of this, though, Mr. Speaker, the people of Africa are 
cautiously hopeful about the future. The African Growth and Opportunity 
Act, AGOA, legislation that was signed into law by President Clinton, 
embodies the philosophy that the United States, as the world's largest 
and most technologically advanced economy, can and should do more to 
contribute to Africa's economic development. It is one of the most 
significant pieces of legislation on Africa to be enacted into law in 
many years. Now the continued implementation and expansion of AGOA 
offers our country an opportunity to consider how this Nation can 
construct a comprehensive African policy that will facilitate Africa's 
success in the 21st century.

  Before I close, Mr. Speaker, I must mention the issues of conflict 
resolution, hunger and disease in Africa. Quite simply, Mr. Speaker, 
the violence and civil war that has torn so many countries apart, 
displaced hundreds of thousands of families, killed countless others, 
and, in my opinion, is one of the biggest impediments to progress on 
the continent, must end. The people and governments of Africa need to 
know that it is difficult to make progress if we do not have an end to 
war and an end to violence.
  The United States also has a role and our government and State 
Department should put forward every effort to help bring an end to the 
wars and conflicts that trouble so many African countries. The 
Congressional Black Caucus will also continue our efforts in this 
regard.
  I agree with the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne); and I applaud 
him for all of his efforts over the last several years with regard to 
Liberia, and wholeheartedly support his opinion and his conclusions 
that we must have peacekeeping forces from the United States in 
Liberia.
  With regard to hunger, the Congressional Black Caucus has been at the 
forefront of advocating for hunger relief efforts all around the world, 
and we will continue to press the issue. In a world with plenty of food 
for everyone, we have a moral obligation to feed those who are hungry. 
I am so honored that our former colleague, Congresswoman Clayton, has 
continued her battle against hunger around the world since leaving the 
Congress at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization in 
Rome.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, the medical diseases. HIV/AIDS, malaria, 
tuberculosis and countless other diseases that plague millions of 
Africans must be addressed. The Congress, following years of advocacy 
by the Congressional Black Caucus, passed what I would characterize as 
a 5-year, $15 billion down payment toward addressing these diseases in 
Africa. Now we must actually come up with the actual funding to make 
this commitment a reality. The world is watching, and we must provide 
the resources to eradicate these diseases.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I call on this Congress and this country to renew 
our commitment to working with the people of the great continent of 
Africa for our mutual benefit. As I have said, it is in our national 
security and our strategic interests for the continent of Africa to 
succeed and prosper in our global community.
  I also take a moment, Mr. Speaker, to thank all the members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus who have taken time out tonight to express 
their feelings about Africa and for their hard work over and over and 
over again, giving their blood, sweat and tears to lift up the people 
of Africa.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from Baltimore

[[Page H6326]]

for those remarks. As he has indicated, for example, in 2002, the 
United States exports to Africa totaled over $5.8 billion, while the 
U.S. imported over $18 billion from Africa, more than all of the USSR 
put together, including Russia. So many people do not realize the 
importance of Africa to the U.S.
  While oil is clearly a source of U.S. interest, it is also something 
that must be dealt with closely and carefully as we discover new finds 
of oil. The Chaad Cameroon pipeline, in addition to Nigeria and other 
places in Africa, 16 percent of U.S. consumption of oil comes from 
Africa today; and it will grow to 20 percent in the next 5 years. It 
may exceed the point of being one-fourth, or 25 percent, of oil 
imports. So Africa is extremely important to the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield to the gentlewoman 
from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown) who 2 weeks ago helped organize a 
rally of Liberian Americans here and has been very vocal on the issue 
of Liberia.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, let me first of all thank 
the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus for his leadership on 
African issues and particularly on this Liberian issue; and let me 
thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), who has been one of 
the leaders in the Congressional Black Caucus and Chair of our African 
subcommittee, for his leadership.
  The Bush administration sent troops to Iraq, for, so they claim, so 
they claim, humanitarian reasons. Our troops went over there to 
alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people, to liberate the Iraqi 
people from a tyrant, to bring justice to the people of that nation, so 
they claim.
  At this very moment, leaders in the United Nations, leaders in 
various African nations, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, 
members of the human rights community worldwide, are pleading with the 
President to send peacekeeping troops to Liberia. Yet the President set 
off for Africa without any intentions of even visiting Liberia and 
without bothering to consult with members of the Congressional Black 
Caucus about his trip, many of whom have worked on issues pertaining to 
Africa for decades.
  As you know, Liberia has always been a faithful ally of the United 
States. Both nations share close historic ties. Liberia in fact was 
founded by free slaves from the United States in 1820. The capital, 
Monrovia, is named after a United States President, James Monroe.
  Unfortunately, the situation in Liberia has turned chaotic. Non-
emergency staff at the United States embassy were evacuated when 
fighting broke out in the capital between government troops and rebels. 
Hundreds of Liberians have been killed and thousands have been wounded. 
The fighting is not over. Tens of thousands of others have been driven 
from their homes and aid workers say that up to 1 million Liberians may 
end up displaced.
  This recent conflict is nothing new. This is a country that has been 
suffering from civil war for years. About 200,000 Liberians died in 
fighting during 7 years of war in the 1990s. We have been successful in 
drawing attention, thanks to the leadership of the Congressional Black 
Caucus and others, both nationally and internationally.
  The CBC has been strong in its efforts to encourage the Bush 
administration that the United States play an active role in the 
conflict in Liberia, especially before it spreads to other nations in 
West Africa. We do not want this fighting to spread to other West 
African countries.
  Let me repeat that. Liberia is now making headlines in newspaper and 
TV news across the country, making people around the United States 
aware of the conflict and forcing the administration to put it on their 
radar screen. Recently the U.N. secretary asked the U.S. to play a 
bigger role. African countries and others have pledged up to 3,000 
troops if the United States helps out.
  On all borders of Liberia, the Europeans are showing that 
peacekeeping missions can be successful. Clearly, our Nation plays an 
influential role in world politics. We saw that many times in the past 
and recently in Europe. And, remember, the State Department, when they 
argued for intervention for a European country, they always say it is 
for humanitarian reasons.

                              {time}  2030

  We do not want it to spread to other countries. So why should Africa 
be given the same treatment? The situation in Liberia is critical, and 
this is a perfect time for the United States to play a leading role in 
bringing about an end to the misery and suffering of the Liberian 
people.
  In closing, my favorite scripture is ``To whom God has given much, 
much is expected.'' We are expecting that the administration will come 
forward and help the suffering Liberian people.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her continued 
support.
  Democracy is moving through Africa. Mr. Speaker, 1990 saw the spread 
of democracy in many African countries once dominated by military 
dictators. As the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus indicated, 
many of us recently went on May 29 and spent several days in Nigeria to 
see the reelection and inauguration of President Obasanjo. It was 
Moshood Abiola that started the democracy movement, but it took General 
Abubakar to say, the time is up, and now we saw the election of 
President Obasanjo.
  We saw in Zambia's recent elections where the former President and 
member of the same party as the new President was elected, who said he 
wanted the courts to look into the books to see whether the former 
President had run the country legally, and has now had an indictment on 
the former President Chiluba to look at the books to see if there was 
illegal activities.
  This is a new breed of African leaders. In Ghana, the popular 
President Rollins stepped down after two terms. He could have run again 
and probably gotten reelected. President Moya, after many years being 
the Vice President under General Uhuru Kenyatta during the first 
movement of the Mau Maus in Kenya where colonialism was fought, stepped 
down. And, as a matter of fact, the grandchild of former President 
Kenyatta was the candidate and supposedly was supposed to win as a 
member of the Kenya Party. However, he was defeated because people 
wanted a new life, and it went on well. In South Africa we saw Mr. 
Mandela change from a white majority government.
  So there are successes in Africa. In Timbuktu in Mali we have seen 
great strides going on. So we hear about the negatives, but so many 
positive things are happening, and that is why it gives me great 
pleasure to continue our Special Order. We will hear now from the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) to have his comments.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for 
yielding. I also want to commend the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Cummings) for the tremendous leadership that he continues to display as 
he projects thoughts, ideas, and helps to focus the activities of the 
caucus.
  I would agree with the gentleman from New Jersey that Africa is 
indeed changing, and that change is seen throughout the continent in 
many places that one goes. But even as the changes occur, problems have 
been so profound and so severe until it is difficult to stabilize, it 
is difficult to have the kind of economy, it is difficult to have the 
opportunities to grow and develop, and that is one of the reasons why 
we continue to have instability, one of the reasons why we see the 
inability to shape governments and hold those firmly in place.
  I would also agree with my colleagues who have suggested that if we 
can spend much of our time, energy, and effort trying to make sure that 
there is a world order with peace and security, then the African 
continent is one of those places where our resources and our efforts 
are needed most.
  Yes, I am in agreement that we need to intervene in Liberia, and we 
need to do it immediately. We need to do it now. We need to make sure 
that there are peacekeeping forces. We also have to make sure that we 
do it with a level of sensitivity, that we do it with a level of 
humaneness, that we do it in such a way that we do not overshadow, 
overpower; and that we make sure that the local indigenous people have 
control of the operation and further development of their government, 
and that they continue to be liberated and be able to produce for 
themselves the kind

[[Page H6327]]

of government and the kind of governmental structures that they find 
desirable.
  So, I say to the gentleman from New Jersey, I am pleased to have been 
able to join with him and other colleagues to come and simply say that 
the time is now. It is critical that intervention must come immediately 
before things escalate and before they reach other countries 
surrounding Liberia. So I thank the gentleman again for his tremendous 
effort and for his leadership.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from Illinois for 
his long years of government service in the great State of Illinois, 
and we look for his continued support.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a 
real fighter on HIV and AIDS, and a person who has served as an aide to 
the former Congressman and took over from Congressman Dellums and made 
her own footsteps; smaller feet, but very pronounced footsteps.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and commend him for his 
consistent leadership, his vision and his real purpose as a Member of 
Congress in terms of really making sure that this Congress understands 
the connection between our United States foreign and domestic policy, 
especially as it relates to Africa.
  Mr. Speaker, as we have been discussing Africa this evening, I am 
reminded now of the first day that the President has had in Africa. 
Now, let me just say, I believe it is always helpful when the President 
of the United States really visits neglected parts of the world, 
especially Africa. So I am glad that he finally made it.
  Now, one of his first stops on this trip today was Goree Island off 
the coast of Senegal. It is important, I believe, that the President 
saw firsthand this real jumping-off point to the murderous Middle 
Passage. For centuries, millions of Africans were placed in chains and 
shipped off to generations of enslavement in the United States and 
elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere, and I am certain the President 
understands that now. Many of them passed through Goree Island on that 
very terrible journey. Millions upon millions died along the way. 
Families were destroyed. Men, women, and children were locked in 
chains, forced into the cargo holds of ships, and transported thousands 
of miles to a life of slavery. They were kidnapped, raped, murdered, 
and sold into bondage in an enormous crime against humanity. The bodies 
of those who died were tossed overboard as lost cargo.
  But these were human beings. On Goree Island, President Bush stood in 
their footsteps, peered into their cells, and glimpsed the horror that 
was slavery.
  This morning the President denounced slavery as one of the greatest 
crimes of history and called it a sin, which it was, but he failed to 
offer an apology on behalf of the Government of the United States that 
engaged in this deplorable, despicable institution for hundreds of 
years.
  It is extremely important that the President understand the history 
of slavery. It is also extremely important because the vestiges of 
slavery are still with us in the United States. On Goree Island, 
President Bush stated that history moves in the direction of justice. 
But then I had to ask myself, why does he oppose affirmative action?
  So let us just look at the facts for a minute. African Americans' 
income is lower than that of whites. Black Americans have fewer assets 
and experience far higher unemployment. Economic injustices have 
persisted long after emancipation. African Americans, on average, make 
95 cents for every dollar earned by whites doing exactly the same jobs.
  These disparities in the workplace and on the unemployment line are 
echoed in the health care system. African Americans are less likely to 
have health insurance and receive poor health care when they do finally 
see doctors. As a result, of course, our lives are shorter.
  In this country, life expectancy projections are profoundly shaped by 
race. Racial disparities literally follow a cradle-to-grave cycle, 
beginning with infant mortality, continuing with workplace hazards and 
increased exposure to toxins, and ending with disparate access to 
health care, diagnosis, and medical treatment.
  Asthma, one of our latest epidemics, is one more example of racial 
disparities in health care. Death rates from asthma and a host of other 
treatable diseases are significantly higher among African Americans 
than any other ethnic group. African American children are also more 
likely to suffer from lead poisoning, which can have devastating 
effects on mental development. More than one out of every four low-
income African American children suffers from lead poisoning.
  Now, some of these realities are realities that I hope the President 
really understands while he is in Africa. These are still realities of 
American life in the 21st century, and these are legacies of past 
oppression and continuing injustice.
  In presenting the Bush administration's arguments to the Supreme 
Court opposing affirmative action on behalf of the President, Solicitor 
General Ted Olson called for race-neutral admissions policies. That is 
because the administration apparently believes we live in a race-
neutral society, but that is a dangerous fantasy. It means that the 
administration is blind to the legacy of slavery in our own country and 
does not really get what the current ramifications are.
  So maybe this visit to Goree Island will help the President better 
understand the legacies of slavery and racism, both in Africa and here 
at home. It is my hope that this African trip, short though it may be, 
will also drive home to the President the importance of following 
through on his welcomed rhetoric with real dollars. We need him to 
exert the power of his office to ensure that the HIV/AIDS initiative, 
the Millennium Challenge Account, and other promises for foreign 
assistance and development aid will be fully funded. He must support 
our request for a supplemental appropriation to meet the meager, which 
is really meager, $3 billion authorization with regard to the HIV/AIDS 
pandemic.
  Goree Island was the start of a terrible journey for our African 
ancestors. Hopefully, it will be the start of a journey of 
enlightenment for this American President.
  There is an Akan word called ``Sankofa.'' This means that we must go 
back and reclaim our past so, of course, that we can move forward, so 
we can understand why and how we came to be who we are today. When 
African men, women, and children were dragged into the Slave House at 
Goree Island where the President was today, they went through the door 
of no return. As the word ``Sankofa'' evokes, we have to understand 
that journey.
  This President must understand that journey, and he has to understand 
what destination we have reached in the United States and in Africa, 
and how far we still have to go.
  I close by thanking all of the Congressional Black Caucus members who 
have come before all of us in this Congress, who help strengthen the 
bond between Africans and African Americans, who represented the voice 
of Africans who were left out of the democratic process here in our own 
country in terms of foreign policymaking. Especially I would just like 
to thank the great gentleman from the State of Michigan, Congressman 
Charles Diggs, who not only chaired the Subcommittee on Africa as the 
first African American Member, but really did provide an opportunity 
and an avenue for other African American staff and Members to get 
involved with international relations issues, especially relating to 
the continent of Africa.
  I also want to thank Congressman Ron Dellums and the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Conyers), who took risks and fought against racist 
regimes in South Africa and Namibia and Zimbabwe, even when our own 
government supported those policies. We must not forget that, because 
the Congressional Black Caucus has to move forward, and the President 
must understand that we will not rest until Africa flourishes, and 
those who came before us really charted the course. Members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, if it had not been for them, there would be 
no foreign policy as it relates to Africa.
  So I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) again 
for continuing with that legacy and for continuing to ensure that our 
Black Caucus and the entire Congress understands and really begins to 
come to grips with the fact that Africa matters

[[Page H6328]]

in terms of our policies and our funding.

                              {time}  2045

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me commend the gentlewoman for the 
outstanding work she has done.
  Quickly, as I talked about how democracy was taking over, we also 
have seen Africans step up to the plate, the Egat process led by 
President Moi has dealt with the problem of Sudan; and the peace 
accord, even though fragile, has been done by the Egat countries of 
Ethiopia and Eritrea. South Africa's Nelson Mandela took over from the 
late President of Niari, from Tanzania, negotiating the Burundi 
situation where now President Thabo Mbeki has sent peacekeepers from 
his country to Burundi to see the new transitional government, and it 
is working.
  We have seen Nigerians go into Sierra Leone and into Liberia, taking 
leadership on their own. And so when we say why is the U.S. in Liberia, 
it is because of the ties, as I mentioned, the British were in Sierra 
Leone just recently to save lives, the French in Cote d'Ivoire and in 
the Congo right now with Belgian troops. The Australians are going into 
the Somalian islands right now, as we speak, and we are in East Timor 
because they are the regional powers. No, we cannot go anywhere and 
everywhere; but I think that with the traditional history between 
President Monroe, the whole country of Liberia, it is the 
responsibility of the U.S.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), 
who has done outstanding work for many years. We all know her. She 
needs no introduction.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Payne) for his leadership, for his years of commitment to 
the continent and for the constant effort that he puts forward in this 
Congress to draw attention to Africa and to try and negotiate funding 
to help not only this administration but past administrations 
understand the role we could truly play in helping Africa to become the 
continent that it could truly become.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, the eyes of the world are on Africa. Clearly 
everyone is watching because the President of the United States is 
visiting five countries in Africa. We are pleased that the President of 
the United States has decided to go to Africa. As a matter of fact, the 
members of the Congressional Black Caucus truly believe that there will 
never be another President, no matter Democrat or Republican, who can 
avoid Africa. We are very pleased about the leadership that Bill 
Clinton provided, and we are proud that this President is following in 
his footsteps.
  We are in a state of confusion about this President and his policies 
toward Africa. While he is visiting five countries in Africa at this 
time, it was just a short while ago right prior to his election in a 
debate that I believe he said something to the effect that we have no 
strategic interest in Africa and, no, I would not have intervened in 
the genocide that took place up in the Congo there with the Tutsis and 
the Hutus. And so we are perplexed by this visit, that comment; but we 
are pleased also that we have moved this government to the point where 
this President came forward with significant funding for HIV and AIDS 
in Africa, and we hope that it gets into the budget and that that 
funding will become a reality.
  We are perplexed by the recent revelations that, in fact, the 
President made an announcement in his State of the Union that a country 
in Africa had supplied Saddam Hussein with materials for biological 
warfare. We now know that that is not true, that that statement was not 
based in fact. And while we are pleased that the President is providing 
some funding for HIV and AIDS in Africa, we are perplexed by the 
statements and the accusation of the President about a country in 
Africa supplying Saddam Hussein with dangerous materials, materials for 
biological warfare, and we expect the President to explain that to us.
  The President is visiting South Africa, but the fact of the matter is 
we do not have, as one of the countries in Africa, we do not have an 
Africa policy. We do not know where the President is going with all of 
this. Today he gave a stirring speech from Goree. He went to Dakar, to 
Goree Island where he said he understood what had happened at Goree 
Island. He understood that slaves had been sold there, that they had 
been beaten there. They had been housed and stored and stacked like 
animals there, and that they had gone through the door of no return 
where many of them were simply just dumped into the ocean because they 
were sick or too weak to be sold into slavery from that point.
  We listened and most of us read very carefully the words in that 
speech. But we are wondering as we stand here whether the President 
truly understands that we are the descendents of those slaves that he 
talked about. We wonder if the President really understands the 
connection between our work and our history. We wonder if the President 
of the United States truly has an appreciation for what we have been 
trying to do for so many years.
  Most of the Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have been 
working on the problems of Africa for years. Long before I came to the 
Congress of the United States, I was involved, as were others, in 
trying to dismantle the unconscionable apartheid regime of South 
Africa. We worked to free Nelson Mandela. There are those who are 
wondering why Nelson Mandela may not be meeting with the President on 
this trip. The President certainly needs to get to know Nelson Mandela 
and understand who he is and where he came from. He needs to understand 
the struggle that Nelson Mandela was involved in. But he needs to 
understand why we work so hard to dismantle apartheid in South Africa. 
He needs to understand why we urge this country not to support Mobutu, 
not to have a puppet up in the Congo that would dance to the music of 
the United States and kill his own people.
  We tried to get the Presidents in the past to understand why we were 
opposed to Savimbi that was supported by Reagan and others who were up 
in the bush causing displacement in Angola. We tried to get them to 
understand. We visited these places. We have been to Dakar. We have 
been to Benin. We have been to Botswana. We have been in Zimbabwe and 
Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda and many 
countries in Africa. We understand.

  The President of the United States needs to talk to the members of 
the Congressional Black Caucus. We are pleased that he is now paying 
attention to Liberia, and we believe that Charles Taylor needs to be 
dealt with. We do not know if the President is dealing with him in the 
proper way. And the President does not know whether or not he is 
dealing with him in the proper way, but he ought to talk with us. 
Should he be working out an agreement with Obasanjo of Nigeria to give 
him asylum?
  There is a warrant out for Charles Taylor's arrest. He is responsible 
for working with RUF and the chopping off of the limbs of the people of 
Sierra Leone and other places. He is responsible for children being 
soldiers in the war. He is responsible for the rape and the pillage of 
many people. Should he not have to stand before the bar of justice in 
the U.N.-supported and -backed court that has a warrant out? Should he 
be allowed to have asylum and just go off up into Nigeria somewhere 
with the billions of dollars that he has stolen, the wealth he has 
reaped from the blood diamonds that came out of Sierra Leone? The 
President of the United States needs to talk to the Congressional Black 
Caucus because we understand the complications, and we understand what 
has been taking place in many of these spots. We would like to engage 
him on the future of Liberia and what should happen with Charles 
Taylor. We would like to help this President to build a real policy for 
the continent of Africa.
  Mr. Speaker, we have been working on HIV/AIDS, and we are glad that 
the President has gotten involved in it and we will continue to do this 
work. We have got a long way to go.
  I have been involved for years in working on debt relief for Africa. 
Africa needs assistance in many ways, but Africa is rich in resources 
and talent that needs to be developed by people who have Africa's best 
interest at heart.
  Africa has been exploited, not only in many ways by our own 
government, by other governments and other countries. Everybody comes 
to Africa to get

[[Page H6329]]

a little bit of gold and a little bit of diamonds. Everybody comes for 
the rich resources of Africa without real thought and planning and work 
for the development of Africa and the utilization of those resources 
for the benefit of the people. We can do better.
  If this President is not simply reading a speech written for him by 
others in a photo opportunity, talking about that which he may not 
really understand, if he really wants to understand what is going on, 
the President of the United States needs to talk to the members of the 
Black Caucus. It seems to me that if the President can go to five 
African countries and talk to Africans about what is going on in 
Africa, he ought to be able to talk about the descendents who are here 
in the United States, who are just a few blocks away from him that he 
refuses to meet with. Yes, some of us are concerned about why the 
President has not engaged us in any discussion.
  I do not believe that the President would travel to Israel, would 
take actions on Israel without speaking with the Jewish Members of the 
Congress of the United States of America. We need to talk with the 
President not only about what he is doing in Liberia, but about the 
future of that continent and about the possibility, about the 
importance, yes, there is oil, and, yes, there should be the kind of 
trade relationships that would help us to benefit from some of those 
natural resources and oil so that we are not dependent just on one 
section of the world. But this will never happen unless we go to the 
continent with good intentions, not unless we are all engaged as a 
family working in the best interest of our country.
  I am not happy about the fact that the President took this as an 
opportunity to say simply, Mr. Charles Taylor, I want you out of 
Liberia within so many hours. That is not the way to handle this. We do 
not want to simply see American soldiers deployed there. This should be 
an international effort. But there should be international peacekeeping 
efforts not only in Liberia but in Iraq and other places because we do 
have to be concerned about stretching ourselves too far and too thin. 
We do have to be concerned about protecting our soldiers wherever they 
are. We want to help. We want to help frame and shape how that help 
should be given.
  With that, I know that there will be those who will say perhaps there 
should be no challenging of the President at this point, no criticism 
of the President at this point while he is traveling in Africa. If the 
President wants to talk about Africa, now is the time for us all to do 
it.

                              {time}  2100

  We have been working too long and too hard to get this debate on 
Africa. We have fought and worked. We have tried to leverage and do 
everything within our power to get Africa on this President's agenda. 
Now perhaps we can do it, and we welcome the opportunity.
  Mr. President, we are waiting for you.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentlewoman from California. 
As I indicated, she needs no introduction. We appreciate her comments.
  At this time we will hear from the gentlewoman from the Virgin 
Islands (Mrs. Christensen), who is, as we know, our health expert, a 
physician, and a leader on HIV and AIDS and other health issues around 
the Nation.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to 
me. I thank him as well for putting together this Special Order and for 
the leadership that he provides to the Caucus and the Congress on 
issues concerning Africa.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to say something briefly about three different 
issues because of the tremendous and tragic toll they have taken on the 
people of the countries involved, because they are representative of 
the challenges facing Africa, and also because of the relative 
indifference of this country and the global community to addressing 
them.
  The first is the 5-year civil war in the Republic of the Congo, 
Africa's third largest country and the native country of one of my 
closest friends and medical school classmates, Dr. Louis Kanda, who 
often shares the grave concerns he has over the ongoing conflict and 
his and the frustration of many others over the lack of attention it 
has received from this country despite repeated calls from members of 
the Congressional Black Caucus.
  With many of its bordering countries involved in the conflict, it has 
become Africa's first continentwide war. Just today, The New York Times 
reported that an estimated 500 civilians have been killed in just one 
province in the northeastern region between July 2002 and March 2003. 
There is elsewhere children as young as 10 who have been robbed of 
their childhood and trained as guerilla fighters and terrorists.
  Mr. Speaker, I join the U.N. Deputy High Commissioner Bertie 
Rancharam in his call for a speedy investigation of the massive abuses 
and appropriate intervention in northeastern Congo, and I would add 
that this country should not only support such action, but be fully a 
part of it.
  I also want to call attention to the longstanding drought, severe 
food shortages and suffering of the people of Ethiopia. The groups of 
caring people raising funds, many of whom are from Ethiopia, can only 
go so far. Despite donations of wheat and other food products from this 
country and others, Ethiopia still needs much more food. There is no 
telling when the drought will end, and so the urgency to act and act 
appropriately to that need is now.
  I would be remiss if I did not also support the words and works of my 
colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), on HIV/AIDS and 
the other illnesses plaguing the continent and our need to be, at the 
very least, appropriating the full $15 billion and all related funding 
now, and then to release those funds without condition. To wait here, 
as in the case of widespread starvation, is to wait until it is too 
late in the process, and that would mean millions more lives being 
lost, and the cost to bring this global pandemic under control would 
multiply.
  Lastly, I want to say a word about Liberia, as we in the U.S. Virgin 
Islands have specific ties to that country, in addition to those shared 
by African Americans here on the mainland, and all Americans. One of 
our most esteemed native sons, Edward Wilmot Blyden, born in St. 
Thomas, became an important Liberian educator and statesman, having 
served as Secretary of State and Ambassador to Britain and France from 
that country in the 1880s. He also became president of Liberia College. 
And there were others, such as Dr. John Moorhead, another of our local 
treasures, who lived there with his family and practiced medicine 
during the 1950s.
  So I want to join my colleagues on calling on President Bush to work 
with President Obasanjo while he is in Nigeria to work towards a 
satisfactory agreement for the departure of President Taylor and peace 
and recovery for this war-battered and torn country that we helped to 
establish.
  What I would want to leave my colleagues with this evening, though, 
Mr. Speaker, is a picture of a continent that is rich not only in 
natural resources, but also in people and in culture and in spirit. On 
this continent, despite the great and many challenges, democracy is 
growing, and the standard of life and level of civil liberties are 
being raised. Africa needs our support, either alone or within the 
context of multinational groupings, whatever the case might require.
  It is my hope and prayer that not out of interest and what we can get 
from Africa, but in the interest of seeing those on that continent who 
are brothers and sisters to all of us prosper and develop in ways that 
are in their best interests, and that this country would continue to 
increase involvement begun during the Clinton administration and not 
just mimic a Presidential visit.
  Mr. PAYNE. As we conclude, Mr. Speaker, I do want to acknowledge that 
the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) will be allowed to speak 
for 5 minutes on this Special Order, and we certainly appreciate the 
participation of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
  We hope our message is getting out loud and clear. We think that 
Liberia has a special place in this country with African Americans who 
feel very close to this situation. Our young men have fought in every 
war, from Crispus Attucks, the first person that died in the 
Revolutionary War, up to just a

[[Page H6330]]

week ago, when they buried a young Haitian soldier from my district who 
was one of the two men who were kidnapped and murdered. So we have 
fought in all the wars.
  We hear people say that there should be a vote in Congress regarding 
sending 2,000 troops to Liberia. We have not heard that for the 
Colombians or for Panama. We did not hear that where the President is 
attempting to go into the Philippines now. Is there a different 
standard for Africa? Is it that 435 Members must get up and talk about 
2,000 troops going into a country that we founded, that we colonized, 
that we have close ties with, that asked us to come so that the 
fighting will cease, and that other African countries will be there at 
our side? Is there a double standard? I hope not.
  We have had failures before. There was a failure in Somalia. That did 
not mean we should no longer then go in on humanitarian issues. I hope 
this President and administration will have the same standard as we 
have had throughout this world, whether it was in Panama, whether it 
was in Colombia, whether it was in the Philippines, whether it is in 
places like even Haiti, where we went and were not asked to come. I 
hope that we will send those few peacekeepers, 2,000, to go in and lead 
the ECOWAS troops so that the cholera can stop, the children can stop 
dying, and the women can stop dying. They are asking us to come in. I 
think we have an obligation and a responsibility.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity to present this Special 
Order to the House.

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