[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 2, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E922-E923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE NEED FOR DIPLOMATIC DIALOG WITH CARIBBEAN NATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 2, 2007

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to enter into the Record an 
opinion editorial published in the CaribNews newspaper the week ending 
March 20, 2007 titled ``Caribbean-U.S. Summit In Washington: A Photo-OP 
or Meeting Of Substance, Only Time Will Tell.'' As well as, an article 
written by Tony Best, appearing the same week in the CaribNews paper, 
entitled ``Caribbean Leaders and President Bush to Meet; In Washington, 
In June, U.S.-Caribbean Relations, Economic Development, Trade To Be 
High On Agenda.'' Both articles comment on the Administration's sudden 
interest with the Caribbean nations in the Western Hemisphere.
  The White House has invited the leaders of the Caribbean nations 
(CARICOM) to a dialog regarding strengthening relationships between 
these countries and the United States. I am glad to see the 
Administration is reaching out to our Western Hemisphere neighbors, 
since these relations have been neglected far too long, making the U.S. 
an increasingly isolated nation among Western Hemisphere states and 
placing CARICOM-U.S. relations at an all time low.
  It is imperative that the United States find a way to pragmatically 
assess and be responsive to the social and economic challenges facing 
our neighbors in accordance with Washington's long-term political 
interests, since the region is often described as our ``Third border.'' 
CARICOM leaders have accepted Washington's invitation and are 
interested in addressing trade issues, as well as competitiveness and 
investment in mutually beneficial ways.
  In addition, CARICOM leaders during their visit to Washington will be 
reaching out to the members of Congress most interested in and with the 
jurisdiction over the issues affecting the Caribbean and the members of 
the Diaspora here in the United States.
  As we continue to strengthen our national economy and improve our 
standing in the international community it is important that we devote 
serious attention to strengthening U.S. relations throughout the 
Western Hemisphere.

  Caribbean Leaders And President Bush To Meet In Washington In June, 
  U.S.-Caribbean Relations, Economic Development, Trade To Be High On 
                                 Agenda

                             (By Tony Best)

       Caricom leaders are going to the White House in June to 
     meet with U.S. President George W. Bush.
       And the invitation list are to Presidents and Prime 
     Ministers, ranging from St. Vincent's Prime Minister, Dr. 
     Ralph Gonsalves, who is the current Chairman of Caricom, 
     Haiti's Rene Preval, Guyana's Bharrat Jagdeo, Jamaica's first 
     female leader, Portia Simpson Miller, and St. Lucia's Sir 
     John Compton, to Trinidad and Tobago's Patrick Manning, 
     Antigua's Baldwin Spencer, his counterpart in St. Kitts-
     Nevis, Dr. Denzil Douglas, and Grenada's Dr. Keith Mitchell, 
     not to mention Barbados' Owen Arthur, the Bahamas' Perry 
     Christie, Dominica's Roosevelt Skerrit and Suriname's Ronald 
     Venetiaan.

[[Page E923]]

       In short, quite unlike the invitations, which the White 
     House sent out to a handful of Caribbean leaders a few years 
     ago to sit down with President Bush over breakfast, a glaring 
     attempt to snub those countries, which opposed the invasion 
     of Iraq, all of Caricom's heads of government are to be 
     invited this time around.
       Although President Bush has met with a few of the region's 
     leaders from time to time, the upcoming summit will be the 
     first of its kind in Washington with Caribbean Prime 
     Ministers and Presidents since Bush took office.
       It is being arranged at a time when the Bush Administration 
     is under fire throughout the Western Hemisphere for virtually 
     ignoring Caribbean and Latin American economic and social 
     issues.
       It is scheduled for June 21 when many of the Caribbean 
     leaders are due in Washington for the U.S. Conference on the 
     Caribbean. While the White House agenda has not been 
     finalized, diplomatic sources say trade, investment, economic 
     and social development and U.S. role in the Western 
     Hemisphere may be discussed.
       It is not yet known how many of the Prime Ministers and the 
     Presidents would attend the conference or accept the 
     invitation to the White House session.
       ``It's too early to indicate what will be discussed at the 
     conference but it is our expectation that most if not all of 
     the Prime Ministers and Presidents as well as the foreign 
     Ministers will be traveling to Washington for the 
     conference,'' Elsworth John, St. Vincent's Ambassador in 
     Washington and coordinator of the conference told the New 
     York Carib News.
       But Michael King, Barbados' Ambassador to the U.S., 
     pinpointed a few issues, which might be discussed during the 
     Caribbean conference.
       ``We are hoping that all 15 heads of government will attend 
     from our region,'' said King. ``The conference is going to 
     look primarily at three or four issues, mainly the 
     strengthening of the relationship between the U.S. and 
     Caricom with a view to addressing the priority areas for the 
     Caribbean's future growth and development. We will be looking 
     at such issues as trade, competitiveness and investment in 
     mutually beneficial and reinforcing ways. Obviously, we would 
     be looking at deepening and broadening the dialogue between 
     the Governments and peoples of Caricom and the United 
     States.''
       John said that when Caricom leaders met recently in his 
     country under the Chairmanship of Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, St. 
     Vincent's Prime Minister, they approved the broad outlines of 
     the conference and approved the summit with President Bush.
       ``The conference was discussed at the recent Caricom Heads 
     of Government Conference held in St. Vincent & the 
     Grenadines.
       The Heads of Government meeting signed off on the 
     conference and supported the program as it was structured,'' 
     he explained. ``The meeting with President Bush is scheduled 
     for the Thursday, the final day of the conference which 
     begins on June 19th and ends on the 21st. It will be at the 
     White House.''
       Dr. Gonsalves, current Chairman of Caricom, has already 
     urged the region's leaders to ``clear their calendars for 
     that particular time'' so they could participate in the 
     conference and the meeting with President Bush, said John.
       The conference will be part of the celebrations marking 
     Caribbean Heritage Month that is being observed across the 
     United States in June to underscore the contributions of 
     Caribbean immigrants and the countries themselves to 
     America's prosperity.
       After much prodding, President Bush last year signed into 
     law a Bill that designates June as Caribbean Heritage Month 
     and West Indians in such places as New York, Washington, 
     Miami, California, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore are 
     planning a variety of cultural, economic, religious and other 
     social events to draw attention to the region.
       ``Caribbean Heritage month is important to all of us,'' 
     said King.
       John put it differently.
       ``This conference comes at a time when the United States is 
     beginning to show a lot more interest in its relationship 
     with this Hemisphere,'' he said.
       ``This conference came out of a meeting between the U.S. 
     Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and the foreign 
     ministers from the Caribbean where it was decided that it 
     would be a good idea for the leaders from the Caribbean to 
     come to Washington to meet with the President in a summit and 
     the Foreign Ministers to meet with the Secretary of State.
       But the plans go beyond Caribbean and U.S. Government 
     officials sitting down and talking about political and 
     economic issues.
       ``We felt that it was an opportune time for us to have a 
     people to people connection, seeing that there are so many 
     people from the Caribbean in the Diaspora,'' John added. ``In 
     addition, we want to establish closer links between the 
     businesses, the private sector from the Caribbean and the 
     United States. What we are doing is to proceed on all of 
     those fronts in our preparations for the conference.''
       Hence, sessions on the Diaspora, the private sector and 
     culture and a meeting with key Congressional leaders, 
     including Congressman Charles Rangel, Chairman of the 
     powerful Ways and Means Committee.
       ``We are in the process of having consultations with the 
     State Department on exactly what the content of the 
     discussions will be,'' said John.
       The World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the 
     Organization of American States are also being consulted on 
     the plans for the different sessions.
       Mr. Bush is winding up a week long tour of Latin American 
     nations where he was met with demonstrations and criticisms 
     from thousands of citizens who oppose the Bush foreign 
     policy, especially the war in Iraq.

     Caribbean-U.S. Summit in Washington--A Photo-Op or Meeting of 
                     Substance, Only Time Will Tell

       After six years of lost opportunities, the Bush 
     Administration has decided to open the White House doors to 
     all the leaders of the Caribbean whose countries form 
     Caricom. What a pity it has taken so long for the United 
     States Chief Executive, George Bush, to do what was right and 
     to come to terms with the realities of the Western Hemisphere 
     in general and the Caribbean in particular.
       The invitation to the Presidents and Prime Ministers to a 
     sit down meeting shouldn't simply be a photo opportunity but 
     a chance to open up a meaningful dialogue with countries that 
     have been principled allies of the United States for 
     centuries.
       The summit which is scheduled for June 21, the end of a 
     three day U.S. Conference on the Caribbean can be made into a 
     meaningful exercise with sessions, not simply at the White 
     House but on Capitol Hill, with the Congressional Black 
     Caucus and other lawmakers who have the Caribbean's interest 
     at heart. Meetings with the Diaspora and the private sector, 
     all with the goal of advancing the economic and social 
     development of the countries in the region can be useful to 
     the process of bringing people together and helping the 
     region to attain its goals. Although trade, investment, 
     immigration and broad areas of economic and social 
     development are expected to dominate the agenda, it's our 
     hope that the region would resist the temptation to put 30 
     items on an agenda for a series of short meetings. That has 
     prevented previous meetings from turning out to be productive 
     exchanges of views.
       How much better it could have been if the high-handedness 
     of Republicans in and out of the White House and the Congress 
     hadn't been a fact of life for the Caribbean. Only if the 
     Bush Administration and the Republicans in the House and 
     Senate had recognized the importance of treating small 
     countries with dignity and respect, instead of trying to make 
     them feel as if they were Lilliputians that should be 
     ignored.
       Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton thought it was 
     useful to travel to the Caribbean to exchange ideas and 
     discuss programs and policies with America's neighbor, but 
     not this Chief Executive.
       Indeed, Bush behaved in such an unfortunate manner by 
     seeking to snub those countries and their leaders who 
     disagreed with the invasion of Iraq and the resulting debacle 
     that he dissipated so much goodwill. For at a time when Bush 
     should have been making friends with his natural allies he 
     sought to punish many of them by declining to meet with 
     critics of his policy. That pettiness is unbecoming of the 
     most powerful nation in the world.
       Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister and Mr. Bush's 
     principal ally in Iraq had the good sense to schedule a 
     meeting in London, invited all of them for a session in 
     London, so they could talk about the way forward, 
     economically and socially for the Caribbean.
       That's why Caribbean-U.K. relations are so warm.
       The conference and the summit offer Bush and the Caricom 
     heads a chance to address questions of common concern such as 
     Washington's future role in efforts to strengthen economic 
     and trade links within Caricom itself and in the Hemisphere 
     as a whole.
       For their part, the Prime Ministers and Presidents can send 
     a strong message to Congress that the unresolved immigration 
     mess, including the deportation of all criminal aliens, 
     regardless of their individual histories, was damaging the 
     Caribbean's social system.
       It's important that the dialogue in Washington reaches out 
     to the Diaspora across the United States. With the exception 
     of Trinidad and Tobago, remittances and other forms of 
     assistance from the Caribbean immigrants abroad are a vital 
     source of foreign exchange, so much so that in Jamaica's case 
     they top the list while in others they amount to number two 
     or three. Caricom has paid lip service to the Diaspora, with 
     officials making periodic forays into North America and 
     England but avoiding the creation of any permanent method of 
     communication and follow-up to initiatives that are talked 
     about but allowed to fall by the wayside.
       If that problem isn't addressed the conference during 
     Heritage Month would end up as yet another exercise in 
     futility.
       In the past, town meetings have been held, presentations by 
     leaders were scheduled and made but afterwards, nothing 
     happened.
       For instance, cricket World Cup has started and the 
     promised collaboration with U.S.-based Caribbean firms and 
     other interests have not materialized.
       A somewhat similar thing is happening with the Caribbean 
     Single Market and Economy. Caricom as an institution should 
     use this conference to put meaningful and permanent links and 
     establish effectively relationships with the communities that 
     pump more than $2 billion in foreign exchange annually into 
     the economies back home.




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