[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 8, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PRIORITIES FOR UPCOMING MEETING BETWEEN U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE 
     CONDOLEEZZA RICE AND FOREIGN MINISTERS OF CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 8, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share my wishes for the 
upcoming meeting to be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice and foreign ministers of Caribbean countries in the Bahamas later 
on this month and to enter into the Record a Carib News story 
reiterating concerns about what priorities should be covered in the 
meeting to build a stronger U.S.-Caribbean alliance.
  Secretary Rice is scheduled to meet with the foreign ministers of 
Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Antigua, Jamaica, Belize, 
Suriname, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Vincent and Barbados 
March 21-22. This meeting is a prime opportunity for Secretary Rice to 
pledge U.S. support in the areas of economic and social development. 
Specifically, meeting participants should focus on crime, disaster 
preparedness, drug trafficking and immigration. The recently held 
democratic elections in Haiti of former President Rene Preval to once 
again lead the nation will also be an issue needing urgent attention.
  As reporter Tony Best explains in the Carib News story, Democrats on 
the Hill, myself included, insist that Secretary Rice should utilize 
this opportunity to show Caribbean nations that their development is 
important and that the United States is a partner in economic and 
social advancement in Caribbean countries. These nations are in dire 
need of assistance erecting strong economic and social infrastructures 
that bear opportunities to their citizens. For example in Haiti, 8 out 
of 10 Haitians live in abject poverty. Unemployment exceeds 70 percent 
while the country has a 10 percent HIV infection rate in the city and 4 
percent in rural areas. More must be done for these countries.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope you'll join me conveying to Secretary Rice the 
urgency of economic and social issues in the Caribbean and that she be 
mindful of the plight of Caribbean citizens during her upcoming 
meeting.

                  [From the Carib News, Feb. 28, 2006]

    Democrats On Capitol Hill: U.S. Secretary of State should show 
         Caribbean Nations That Their Development is Important

                             (By Tony Best)

       ``A partner in economic and social development in Caribbean 
     nations.'' That's the message, which some Democrats on 
     Capitol Hill in Washington are hoping U.S. Secretary of 
     State, Condoleezza Rice, would convey to Caricom foreign 
     ministers when they meet in the Bahamas later this month.
       And the message shouldn't be just in word, lip service, if 
     you will, but in concrete measures, which can help the 
     Caribbean.
       So said U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat 
     who represents thousands of Caribbean immigrants in the Bronx 
     and Westchester County. He is the ranking Democrat on the 
     Western Hemisphere sub-committee of the House of 
     Representatives.
       ``I think she needs to tell the Caribbean foreign ministers 
     that the United States wants to be a partner, a close working 
     partner and to have a close working relationships with the 
     nations which are our close neighbors,'' was the way he put 
     it to the Nation after addressing the 27th Congressional 
     Breakfast of the Jewish Community Relations Council, JCRC, at 
     the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan.
       ``It is one thing for us as a nation to pursue goals all 
     over the world, Iraq and wherever,'' he added. ``But it is 
     quite another thing for us to say that we need to concentrate 
     on what we do back home. I think we can do both, but I don't 
     think we should neglect the people who are geographically 
     closest to us,'' meaning inhabitants of Caribbean nations. 
     Rice is scheduled to meet with the foreign ministers of 
     Barbados, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Antigua, 
     Jamaica, Belize, Suriname, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Kitts-
     Nevis, St. Vincent and Belize on March 21-22. Economic and 
     social question as well as security issues in the ``broadest 
     sense, and not simply matters about fighting terrorism'' 
     should top the agenda, say diplomatic and other highly placed 
     sources in Washington. Immigration, Haiti, drug trafficking 
     and crime, HIV/AIDS and disaster preparedness and 
     reconstruction are expected to dominate the meeting's agenda.
       Congressman Charles Rangel, who like Engel, addressed the 
     Congressional Breakfast, had previously said in a Carib News 
     interview that the Bush Administration should work with 
     Caribbean nations to develop an effective strategy that would 
     help the various countries improve their economic performance 
     and boost their infrastructure.
       ``These are sovereign states with a long tradition of 
     respect for the rule of law and adherence to principles of 
     parliamentary democracy,'' he said. ``We should treat them 
     with the respect they deserve. They aren't colonial 
     territories that can be pushed around or ignored to suit our 
     every whim. Many in the Administration didn't like their 
     position on Iraq and even went so far as to threaten them. 
     It's time that the Bush White House recognize that the 
     Caribbean countries, including those in Caricom, are among 
     our closest neighbors and remain our strong allies. We must 
     treat them as friends and not try to punish them if they 
     disagree with us from time to time.''
       In his address to the breakfast, which was attended by 
     scores of Jewish community leaders, senior diplomatic and 
     consular officials from the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, Asia, 
     Israel and other nations, Rangel spoke about the need to 
     respect the U.S. constitution and the rights to privacy ``of 
     our people.'' While emphasizing America's commitment to 
     Israel, which was ``well-known,'' the Representative of 
     Harlem and surrounding communities in Manhattan said that the 
     sons and daughters of Americans who were being killed in Iraq 
     were not the children of members of Congress, corporate 
     America or people in the White House.
       Engel said that the upcoming meeting in the Bahamas was 
     important for both the U.S. and the Caricom because it would 
     give Rice a chance to convey a ``sense of involvement and 
     engagement of the United States with the Caribbean'' 
     countries.
       ``It's one thing to pay lip-service to it,'' added the 
     Bronx Democrat. ``It's another to really act. They are many 
     pressing issues, not only immigration, which must be 
     considered. The economy of the Caribbean is one such issue.''

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