[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 22 (Wednesday, March 2, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H924]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CONFISCATED PROPERTY IN ETHIOPIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing a bill today 
concerning the Ethiopian Government's confiscation of property owned by 
U.S. citizens and the Ethiopian Government's arrogance and 
intransigence in the face of efforts to rectify the situation.
  Mr. Speaker, the Berhane family are constituents and friends. They 
are black African immigrants who fled the establishment of a communist 
regime in Ethiopia in the 1970s. They now live in Huntington Beach, 
California. At one time the Berhane family owned the National Alcohol 
and Liquor Factory, NALF, in the capital of Ethiopia. The Marxist 
regime that took over Ethiopia expropriated their property and drove 
the Berhane family into exile. Well, that Marxist government fell more 
than a decade ago.
  The current government agreed in principle to return all illegally 
expropriated property, but it has steadfastly refused to return the 
Berhane family's factory, or offer them just compensation. It seems the 
distillery is one of the confiscated properties that the heavy-handed 
rulers of Ethiopia refuse to return to its rightful owners. Perhaps 
that is because this factory is one of the few businesses that makes a 
profit. The smell of corruption at the highest levels of the Ethiopian 
Government is hard to miss.
  Mr. Speaker, this matter should have been settled long ago. This 
property should have been returned to the Berhane family or just 
compensation should have been offered. The Berhane family claim is 
supported by a finding of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, 
which is part of the United States Government. So this is not a matter 
of determining whether or not the Berhane family has a just claim; it 
is a matter of arrogance and probably corruption on the part of the 
Ethiopian hierarchy.
  Mr. Speaker, I am introducing legislation today that will prevent 
Ethiopia from receiving any benefit from U.S. Government sources until 
it deals honestly and fairly with the claim of these American citizens. 
It is a tragedy that the Ethiopian Government is risking the well-being 
of its people because of its intransigence in dealing with a just claim 
of an American family.
  Mr. Speaker, this act withholds all appropriated U.S. Federal dollars 
to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia until property claims of 
American citizens are either returned or the U.S. citizens are justly 
compensated. With the exception of emergency humanitarian aid, this 
prohibition on funding includes economic support funds, the Export-
Import Bank, foreign military financing, the Global AIDS Initiative, 
Millennium Challenge Account, and the Overseas Private Investment 
Corporation. This bill further directs international organizations to 
be required to oppose aid to Ethiopia under these same conditions.
  Mr. Speaker, this type of officially sanctioned rip-off that we see 
in Ethiopia is outrageous. However, it is not just limited to the gang 
that rules Ethiopia.

                              {time}  2045

  Mr. Speaker, there are other governments, be they Cuba or Iran, that 
are equally guilty of this type of theft. I intend to introduce similar 
legislation in a broader bill denying aid to all of these foreign 
governments who deny the proper reimbursement to American citizens who 
have just property claims against them. Part of that bill, which will 
include Ethiopia as well, will provide that U.S. citizens with 
legitimate claims against a government like that in Ethiopia will be 
able to put a legal hold on the American property and assets owned by 
the government officials of that government.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for us to stand up for justice, especially 
for the justice of American citizens. These African immigrants who came 
here fleeing communism had their property confiscated. The government 
of Ethiopia has time and again suggested that they would return all 
property that was illegally confiscated. Yet the Berhane family has not 
had its property returned. They deserve the rights of protection of the 
United States Government.
  We will struggle for this legislation, we will pass this legislation, 
we will keep this fight up until this family gets justice, this family 
gets their property returned or gets just compensation.

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