[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 112 (Friday, July 13, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1504-E1505]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NEW YORK CARIBNEWS ARTICLE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 12, 2007

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to enter into the Record an 
article published in the New York CaribNews, for the week ending July 
10, titled ``President George Bush to Send U.S. Secretary of Education, 
Margaret Spellings to Caribbean.'' While the Caribbean Community--
CARICOM--nations were in the United States last month, they highlighted 
the education challenges the region is facing. The article discusses 
Secretary of Education Spellings' upcoming visit to the region 
following up on their concerns, in the hopes of developing a 
cooperative solution to boost CARICOM's educational systems.
  The Secretary's trip will focus on the need to foster stronger 
tertiary educational systems throughout the region. By sharing our 
experiences in addressing the challenges of education, we can 
strengthen our efforts to reach the goal of better education for all 
throughout the region. Quality education for all is a recipe for growth 
and innovation that leads to economic and social development. Education 
is a way out of poverty and fosters democracy, as well as respect for 
human rights.
  In her visit to the CARICOM nations, I also encourage her to visit 
the nation of Haiti. This country is the most economically vulnerable 
of the CARICOM states and would benefit greatly from methodologies to 
address their education challenges. Haiti is a nation of 9 million 
habitants and it is estimated that more than half of the population is 
unable to read and write. This trend cannot continue due to the 
increased interdependency of countries caused by globalization. It does 
not benefit the United States or the Western Hemisphere to continue to 
leave behind the thousands of Haitian children each year by allowing 
illiteracy to prevail. Lack of education leads to poverty and it is my 
contention that poverty puts the security of the region at risk.
  I cannot underscore enough the importance of a consistent and 
progressive relationship between the United States and the Caribbean. 
Educational collaboration with our partners in the western hemisphere 
will lead to higher living standards and stronger democracies.

  President George Bush To Send U.S. Secretary of Education, Margaret 
                        Spellings, to Caribbean

                             (By Tony Best)

       U.S. Secretary of Education is going to Jamaica, Trinidad 
     and Tobago, St. Vincent and their neighbors to see how they 
     can work together to boost CARICOM's educational system.
       Margaret Spellings, the first mother of school-aged 
     children to serve as Education Secretary, is being sent to 
     the region by President George Bush.
       The proposed visit is a follow up to the recent summit in 
     Washington between the United States chief executive and 
     CARICOM leaders held at the State Department in Washington in 
     June.

[[Page E1505]]

       Dr Ralph Gonsalves, St. Vincent's Prime Minister, who until 
     yesterday was chairman of CARICOM and is being succeeded by 
     Barbados' Prime Minister Owen Arthur, first disclosed plans 
     for Spellings' visit at the behest of President Bush.
       Dr. Gonsalves, a former political science lecturer at the 
     Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies before 
     studying law and entering active politics in his homeland, 
     said that the President indicated to the Caribbean Prime 
     Ministers and President that the Education Secretary would go 
     to the region to meet with government officials and 
     educators.
       ``We welcome any opportunity to work with the United States 
     to expand our educational institutions. The President told us 
     that the Secretary of Education, a member of his cabinet is 
     eager to visit the Caribbean to meet with us,'' he said.
       Spellings, a key architect of President Bush's ``No Child 
     Left Behind'' education program, is expected to pay 
     considerable attention to the Caribbean's efforts to boost 
     tertiary level educational opportunities and to link 
     universities and colleges at the regional and national 
     levels, including the University of the West Indies (UWI), 
     the Universities of Guyana, Suriname Jamaica and Trinidad and 
     Tobago and other colleges in the Bahamas, Barbados and the 
     OECS.
       ``The linking of the colleges and the university is 
     something we consider to be very important,'' said Gonsalves.
       Barbados' Foreign Minister, Dame Billie Miller, who 
     confirmed the proposed Spellings visit, described it as a 
     natural follow-up to the extensive discussions about 
     education at the summit.
       ``All sides agreed it was the most important thing, 
     education and training,'' she said. ``Indeed, it was pointed 
     out to President Bush that in some areas we in the region are 
     the donor community.''
       Specifically, 60 per cent of the doctors trained at the 
     University of the West Indies end up working in the United 
     States.
       ``This was part of a discussion with the President, the 
     Ways and Means and the Foreign Affairs Committees of the 
     House of Representatives as to why so many Caribbean students 
     were now choosing to go to Cuba for training because it was 
     at a fraction of the cost of training in the United 
     States,'' she pointed out.
       As a matter of fact, Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo went 
     to great lengths to explain that training provided by Cuba to 
     West Indian students was to ``offset the brain drain'' from 
     the Caribbean to the United States.
       ``In that respect, we are the donor rather than the donee 
     committee. It was generally discussed that technology 
     transfer was really very important and we had to do a lot 
     more work at the post secondary and tertiary education 
     stages.
       The heads spoke of the vision in this region among the 
     universities, not only the University of the West Indies in 
     Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados but the 
     Universities in Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica and now the 
     University of Trinidad and Tobago and soon to be the 
     University College of Barbados and another independent 
     university in Jamaica as well.
       ``It was felt that we had to have a far greater interface 
     in the region because gone are the days when most of our 
     graduates doing post graduate work would go to Europe,'' she 
     added.
       The dates and the itinerary for Spellings' visit have not 
     yet been worked out. Dr. Gonsalves said his country was the 
     beneficiary of scores of scholarships offered by Cuba, 
     Venezuela, Mexico, China and Malaysia.

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