[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 15, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H996-H998]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ADDRESS BY HER EXCELLENCY ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF, PRESIDENT OF THE 
                          REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA

  President JOHNSON SIRLEAF. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members 
of the United States Congress, and distinguished guests, I am deeply 
touched by the honor bestowed on my small but proud West African 
Republic of Liberia and on myself by inviting me to address this body 
of representatives of the people of the great United States of America. 
By this invitation, you have paid one of the greatest tributes there is 
to all those who laid down their lives for my country to be free and 
democratic. I can only say a big thank you.
  The people of Liberia and the people of the United States are bound 
together by history and by values. We share a deep and abiding belief 
in the power of freedom, of faith, and of finding virtue in work for 
the common good.
  The national motto of Liberia, founded, as you know, by freed 
American slaves, is: ``The love of liberty brought us here.'' We became 
the first independent republic in Africa. Our capital, Monrovia, is 
named for your President, James Monroe. Our flag is a star in a blue 
field and red and white stripes. Its one star makes us the ``lone star 
state'' in Africa. Our constitution and our laws were based upon yours. 
The U.S. dollar was long our legal tender and still is used alongside 
the Liberian dollar today.
  But our ties greatly exceed the historical connection. I stand before 
you today as the first woman elected to lead an African nation, thanks 
to the grace of almighty God; thanks to the courage of the Liberian 
people, who chose their future over fear; thanks to the people of West 
Africa and of Africa generally, who continued to give hope to my 
people. Thanks also to President Bush whose strong resolve and public 
condemnation and appropriate action forced a tyrant into exile; and 
thanks to you, the Members of this august body, who spurred the 
international effort that brought blessed peace to our nation.
  It was the leadership of the 108th Congress, more than 2 years ago, 
that paved the way for a United Nations force that secured our peace 
and guaranteed free and fair elections. It was your $445 million 
addition to a supplemental appropriations bill that attracted 
additional commitments from international donors. With those funds, we 
have laid the foundation for a durable peace, not only in Liberia, but 
in the whole West African subregion. Special appreciation goes to the 
109th Congress, those of you in this room, for the effort in recent 
weeks to meet Liberia's developing needs.
  Honorable ladies and gentlemen of this Congress, I want to thank you. 
The Liberian people have sent me here to thank you for your vision. Our 
triumph over evil is also your triumph.
  Our special relationship with the United States brought us benefits 
long before the autumn of 2003. Thousands of our people, including 
myself, have been educated in American missionary schools and gone on 
to higher training in this country. You have generously welcomed tens 
of thousands of our people as they fled war and persecution.
  I was among them. In 1985, after challenging the military regime's 
failure to register my political party, I was put in jail with several 
university students who also challenged military rule. This House came 
to our rescue with a resolution threatening to cut off aid to the 
country unless all political prisoners were freed. Months later, I was 
put in jail again, this time in a cell with 15 men. All of them were 
executed a few hours later. Only the intervention of a single soldier 
spared me from rape. Through the grace of almighty God and the mercy of 
others, I escaped and found refuge here, in Washington, D.C.
  But long before that, our country and I benefited from Liberia's 
special relationship with the United States. My family exemplifies the 
economic and social divide that has torn our nation. Unlike many 
privileged Liberians, I can claim no American lineage. Three of my 
grandparents were indigenous Liberians; the fourth was a German who 
married a rural market woman. That grandfather was forced to leave the 
country when Liberia, in loyalty to the United States, declared war on 
Germany in 1914.
  Both of my grandmothers were farmers and village traders. They could 
not read or write any language, as more than three-quarters of our 
people still cannot today; but they worked hard, they loved their 
country, they loved their families, and they believed in education. 
They inspired me then, and their memory motivates me now to serve my 
people, to sacrifice for the world and honestly serve humanity. I could 
not, I will not, I cannot betray their trust.
  My parents were sent at a young age to Monrovia, where it was common 
for elite families to take in children from the countryside to perform 
domestic chores. They endured humiliations and indignities, but my 
mother was fortunate to be adopted by a kind woman, and both my parents 
were able through this system to go to school, a rarity at that time 
for poor people. My father even became the first native Liberian in the 
Liberian national legislature.
  I was not born with the expectation of a university education from 
Harvard or being a World Bank officer or an Assistant Secretary-General 
of the United Nations. When I was a small girl in the countryside, 
swimming and fishing with twine made from palm trees, no one would have 
picked me out as the future president of our country.
  I graduated from the College of West Africa, a United Methodist high 
school. I waited tables to support my studies in the United States, 
college in Wisconsin and graduate school in Massachusetts. I went on to 
enjoy the benefits and advantages of a world-class education.
  So my feet are in two worlds, the world of poor rural women with no 
respite from hardship, and the world of accomplished Liberian 
professionals, for whom the United States is a second and beloved home. 
I draw strength from both.
  But most of our people have not been as fortunate as I was. Always 
poor and underdeveloped, Liberia is only now

[[Page H997]]

emerging from two decades of turmoil that destroyed everything we 
managed to build in a century and a half of independence. The costs of 
our conflict run wide and deep, manifested in varied ways: 
mismanagement, corruption, bad governance, massive looting of public 
treasury and assets. Unlike the tsunami in Asia and Katrina here in 
your own country, where the destruction and human casualty were caused 
by nature, we participated in or stood silently by in our own self-
destruction. Our country agonized with your citizens and the victims 
and families of these natural tragedies and our country also agonized 
with itself over the effects of a senseless civil war.
  In the campaign months, I traveled to every corner of our country. I 
trudged through mud in high boots, where roads did not exist or had 
deteriorated past repair. I surveyed ruined hospitals and collapsed 
clinics. I held meetings by candlelight, because there is no 
electricity anywhere, including the capital, except from private 
generators. I was forced to drink water from creeks and unsanitized 
wells, all of which made me vulnerable to the diseases from which so 
many of my people die daily.
  I came face to face with the human devastation of war, which killed a 
quarter of a million of our 3 million people and displaced most of the 
rest. Hundreds of thousands escaped across borders. More, who could 
not, fled into the bush, constantly running from one militia or 
another, often surviving by eating rodents and wild plants that made 
them sick and even killed them.

  Our precious children died of malaria, parasites and malnourishments. 
Our boys, full of potential, were forced to be child soldiers, to kill 
or be killed. Our girls, capable of being anything they could imagine, 
were made into sex slaves, gang-raped by men with guns, made mothers 
while they still were children themselves.
  But listening to the hopes and dreams of our people, I recall the 
words of a Mozambican poet who said, ``Our dream has the size of 
freedom.'' My people, like your people, believe deeply in freedom; and 
in their dreams, they reach for the heavens.
  I represent those dreams. I represent their hope and their 
aspirations. I ran for President because I am determined to see good 
governance in Liberia in my lifetime. But I also ran because I am the 
mother of four, and I wanted to see our children smile and play again.
  Already, I am seeing those smiles. For even after everything they 
have endured, the people of Liberia have faith in new beginnings. They 
are counting on me and my administration to create the conditions that 
will guarantee the realization of their dreams. We must not betray 
their trust. All the children I meet, when I ask what they want most, 
say, ``I want to learn.'' ``I want to go to school.'' ``I want an 
education.'' We must not betray their trust.
  Young adults, who have been called our lost generation, do not 
consider themselves lost. They, too, aspire to learn and to serve their 
families and their communities. We must not betray their trust.
  Women, my strong constituency, tell me that they want the same 
chances that men have. They want to be literate. They want their work 
recognized. They want protection against rape. They want clean water 
that won't sicken and kill their children. We must not betray their 
trust.
  Former soldiers tell me they are tired of war. They do not want to 
have to fight or run again. They want training. They want jobs. If they 
carry guns, they want to do so in defense of peace and security, not 
war and pillage. We must not betray their trust.
  Entrepreneurs who have returned from abroad with all their resources, 
risking everything to invest in their country's future, tell me they 
want a fair and transparent regulatory environment. They want honesty 
and accountability from their government. We must not betray their 
trust.
  Farming families who fled the fighting for shelter in neighboring 
countries or found themselves displaced from their communities want a 
fresh start. They want to return home. They want seeds. They want farm 
implements. They want roads to get their goods to market. We must not 
betray their trust.
  I have many promises to keep. As I won elections through a free and 
peaceful process, I must preserve freedom and keep the peace. As I 
campaigned against corruption, I must lead a government that curbs it. 
As I was elected with the massive vote of women, I must assure that 
their needs are met.
  We are not oblivious to the enormity of the challenges we face. Few 
countries have been as decimated as ours. In the chaos of war, our HIV 
rates have quadrupled. Our children are still dying of curable 
diseases, tuberculosis, dysentery, measles, and malaria. Schools lack 
books, equipment, teachers, and buildings. The telecommunications age 
has passed us by. We have a $3.5 billion external debt, lent in large 
measure to some of my predecessors who were known to be irresponsible, 
unaccountable, unrepresentative, and corrupt. The reality that we have 
lost our international creditworthiness bars us from further loans, 
although now we would use them wisely.
  Our abundant natural resources have been diverted by criminal 
conspiracies for private gain. International sanctions, imposed for the 
best of reasons, still prevent us from exporting our raw materials. 
Roads have disappeared and bridges have been bombed or washed away. We 
know that trouble could once again breed outside our borders. The 
physical and spiritual scars of war are deep indeed.
  So with everything to be done, what must we do first? We must do 
everything we can to consolidate the peace that so much was paid to 
secure, and we must work to heal the wounds of war. We must create an 
emergency public works program to put the whole nation to work and give 
families an income through the rebuilding of critical infrastructure, 
strengthening security and attracting investment. We must rehabilitate 
the core of an electricity grid to high-priority areas and institutions 
and visibly demonstrate to the people that government can provide 
necessary services.
  We must bring home more of our refugees and resettle the displaced. 
We must give them the tools to start anew, and encourage more of our 
skilled expatriates, who have the knowledge and the experience to build 
our economy, to return home. For those unable to come home, we must 
appeal to you to grant them continuing protective status, and residency 
where appropriate, to put them in a condition to contribute to their 
country's reform and development.
  We must complete the demobilization of former combatants and 
restructure our army, police and security services. We must create 
legal systems that preserve the rule of law, applied to all without 
fear or favor.
  We must revive educational facilities, including our few 
universities. We must provide essential agricultural extension services 
to help us feed ourselves again, developing the science and technology 
skills to ensure that we prosper in a modern global economy. We must 
create an efficient and transparent tax system to ensure the flow of 
government revenues and create a hospitable investment climate.
  With few resources beyond the will of my people, I want you to know, 
we have made a strong beginning. During my first few weeks in office, 
by curbing corruption we have increased government revenue by 21 
percent. We have canceled noncompliant forestry concessions and 
fraudulent contracts; required senior government appointees to declare 
financial assets; implemented cash management practices to ensure 
fiscal discipline and sharpen efficiency; met the basic requirements 
for eligibility under the U.S. general system of preferences and 
initial Ex-Im Bank support; restored good relationships with bilateral 
and multilateral partners; commenced the process leading to an IMF-
supported staff monitoring program; accelerated implementation of the 
Governance Economic Management Plan, the GMAP; and launched a Truth and 
Reconciliation Commission to investigate the abuses of war.
  But while we seek national unity and reconciliation, we must not 
sacrifice justice. I respect the lifesaving role that our West African 
neighbors, particularly Nigeria, played at no small cost to them in 
accepting to host Mr. Charles Taylor. Liberians are deeply grateful. 
But I say here, as I have said before, Liberia has little option but to 
see that justice is done in accordance with the requirements of the 
United

[[Page H998]]

Nations and the broad international community.
  I know that my government must go beyond these strong beginnings, 
must do much more than we have done so far, and we must do it quickly. 
Our people's courage and patience are formidable, but their 
expectations are high. And their needs are urgent.
  This does not mean that we want big government. We cannot afford it, 
and we believe that government should not attempt to do what civil 
society and business can do better. The people of Liberia know that 
government cannot save the country. Only their own strength, their 
determination, their creativity, resilience and their faith can do 
that.
  But they have the right to expect the essentials that only a 
government can provide. They have the right to a government that is 
honest and that respects the sanctity of human life. They need and they 
deserve an economic environment in which their efforts can succeed. 
They need infrastructure, and they need security. Above all, they need 
peace.
  That is the task of my administration. To meet that challenge, to do 
what is right, I ask for the continuing support of this Congress and 
the American people.
  Honorable ladies and gentlemen, my appeal comes with the recognition 
of all that you have already done. In addition to the financial 
assistance to disarm our fighters and feed and house our displaced, the 
artful diplomacy of the United States was central to ending our long 
conflict. We thank you with all our hearts.
  As small and impoverished as we are, we cherish the friendship we 
have had with you. During the Second World War, we stood together, even 
if only symbolically, to fight Nazi expansionism and tyranny. At the 
request of President Roosevelt, we planted rubber trees after the 
Japanese seized the Indonesian supply. When U.S. law prohibited sending 
ships to a Europe at war, we agreed to establish a shipping registry to 
help transport American goods. During the Cold War, we hosted a 
submarine tracking center, an intelligence listening post, and one of 
the largest Voice of America transmitters in the world.
  Again, we ask that we continue working together, but we do not ask 
for patronage. We do not want to continue in dependency. The benefits 
of your assistance must be mutual.
  Honorable Members of Congress, much is at stake for all of us. 
Liberia at war brought misery and crimes against humanity to its 
neighbors, a toll that is beyond calculation. A peaceful, prosperous 
Liberia can contribute to democracy, stability, and development in West 
Africa and beyond.
  Nine times--nine times--in the past 15 years, the United States has 
been forced to evacuate official Americans and their dependents from 
our country, at enormous cost to your taxpayers. Monrovia, I am told, 
is the most evacuated U.S. embassy in the world. I am determined that 
you will not need to rescue your people from our shores for a 10th 
time. You contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to a U.N. 
peacekeeping force in Liberia. A fraction of this will be required to 
support a peaceful and stable Liberia.
  Honorable Members of this great Congress, think with me about this. 
What is the return on an investment that trains young combatants for 
life, rather than death? What is the yield when our young men can 
exchange their guns for jobs? What is the savings in food aid when our 
people can feed themselves again? What is the profit from educating our 
girls to be scientists and doctors? What is the dividend when our 
dependence ends, and we become true partners rather than supplicants?
  Honorable Members, we know that there is no quick fix for the 
reconstruction of our country; but Liberians, young and old, share 
their government's commitment to work, to be honest, to unite, to 
reconcile, and to rebuild. A nation so well endowed, so blessed by God 
with natural resources should not be poor. Starting from a small base, 
as we do, we have rubber and timber and diamonds and gold and iron ore. 
Our fields are fertile. Our water supply is plentiful. Our sunshine is 
warm and welcoming.
  With your prayers and with your help, we will demonstrate that 
democracy can work, even under the most challenging conditions. We will 
honor the suffering of our people, and Liberia will become a brilliant 
beacon, an example to Africa and to the world of what the love of 
liberty can achieve. We will strive to be America's success story in 
Africa, demonstrating the potential in the transformation from war to 
peace; demonstrating the will to join in the global fight against 
terrorism; demonstrating that democracy can prevail, demonstrating that 
prosperity can be achieved.
  The people of Liberia have already rolled up their sleeves, despite 
overwhelming obstacles, confident that their work will be rewarded, 
confident in the hope and promise of the future.
  The women of Liberia and the women of Africa, some in the 
marketplaces and some in the high levels of government, have already 
shared their trust and their confidence in my ability to succeed and 
ensure that the doors of competitive politics and professionalism will 
be opened even wider for them.
  Honorable Members, I will succeed. I will not betray their trust. I 
will make them proud. I will make you proud in the difference which one 
woman with abiding faith in God can make.
  God bless you.
  [Applause, the Members rising.]
  At 2 o'clock and 49 minutes p.m., Her Excellency Ellen Johnson 
Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, accompanied by the 
committee of escort, retired from the Hall of the House of 
Representatives.
  The Assistant to the Sergeant at Arms escorted the invited guests 
from the Chamber in the following order:
  The Members of the President's Cabinet;
  The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.

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