[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 117 (Wednesday, July 16, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1480-E1482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CARIB NEWS EDITORIALS SPEAK OF PROGRESS IN THE CARIBBEAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 16, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to enter into the Record two 
editorials from the June 24, 2008, publication of CaribNews.
  The first editorial is entitled ``Caribbean Heritage: Building on Its 
Foundations In a Foreign Land.'' The piece reminds us of the distance 
that those of Caribbean heritage have traveled both physically and 
figuratively. ``Confidence in their inner strength has helped people 
from the Caribbean to win their independence from an imperialistic 
stranglehold, fight alongside their long-standing African-American 
allies, in the battle for respect for people's human rights, and 
succeed in opening up new vistas for the generations that come after 
them.'' Caribbean Americans have come a long way from being strangers 
in a foreign land to gaining recognition for their contributions to 
American culture.

[[Page E1481]]

  The second editorial is entitled ``Wanted: A Productive Caribbean 
Community Conference.'' This piece speaks of the importance of the 
CARICOM Conference but also how important it is that the leaders of 
CARICOM take the lead on the next steps necessary for the Conference to 
have tangible results. To make sure that follow-up is taken care of, it 
has been suggested that CARICOM ``consider establishing a permanent 
diplomatic outpost whose responsibility would be to ensure that 
regional initiatives . . . are not simply talked about but are 
launched.'' The editorial echoes the voice of many in the opinion that 
the CARICOM leaders have done badly in the past with follow-up. It is 
now up to them to make sure that the benefits of the conference are 
realized.

                  [From the CaribNews, June 24, 2008]

          Wanted: A Productive Caribbean Community Conference

       ``The Diaspora is essential to our success.''
       Dr. Denzil Douglas was referring to the hundreds of 
     thousands, some say million-plus immigrants from the English, 
     French, Dutch and Spanish-speaking countries that comprise 
     the Caribbean archipelago.
       Actually, he was zeroing in on a major reason why most of 
     Caricom's Prime Ministers and Presidents are heading to New 
     York City this week for a dialogue with nationals of their 
     countries who have made the northeastern region of the United 
     States their home.
       For in organizing the first-ever summit of Caribbean 
     leaders in New York City, the planners put meetings with the 
     Diaspora high on the agenda. That made a lot of sense. 
     Caribbean-New Yorkers, indeed West Indian-Americans, as they 
     sometimes refer to themselves, are part of the vertebral 
     column, a segment of the region's economic and social 
     backbone.
       It would be outside the realm of common sense for a two day 
     conference of the kind being arranged to occur without a 
     meaningful dialogue between the leaders and the Antiguans, 
     Belizeans, Bahamians, Barbados, Grenadians, Dominicans, 
     Guyanese, Haitians, Jamaicans, Vincentians, Kittians, St. 
     Lucians, Trinidadians, you name them.
       U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel, Chairman of the powerful 
     Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives and 
     easily one of the most influential members on Capitol Hill 
     summed up the situation well when he told this newspaper ``we 
     see this as an opportunity for the leaders of these sovereign 
     nations of the Caribbean to meet with their nationals and 
     have an important dialogue.''
       But exchanging views is one thing, acting on the ideas is 
     another. Far too often Caribbean leaders come to the City, 
     visit Miami, Toronto, Boston, Hartford and other places with 
     large Caribbean immigrant populations, have meetings, promise 
     a lot but deliver on precious little.
       The real problem is a lack of an effective follow up and 
     that's a commitment which the heads of government can make 
     and solve. Caricom itself should consider establishing, a 
     permanent diplomatic outpost whose responsibility would be to 
     ensure that regional initiatives designed to forge stronger 
     links with the Diaspora are not simply talked about but are 
     launched.
       Granted, Caribbean countries have their own missions and 
     Consulates-General in Washington and New York to get things 
     done but that's at the individual nation level.
       Yes, we know that the money supply is tight and that at a 
     time of escalating energy and food prices the countries have 
     other priorities. But for a region which receives billions 
     annually from its overseas nationals, a slender operation 
     with well defined set of goals can't break the bank.
       But the Diaspora isn't the only major objective of the 
     summit that begins on Thursday and ends the following day. 
     Investment and trade are crucial to Caricom's future 
     prosperity and any concerted effort to help open the doors to 
     such investment would be useful. The leaders are going to 
     Wall Street. Goldman Sachs, one of the world's leading 
     investment banks and the New York Stock Exchange, another 
     financial services industry leader, are to host the heads of 
     state or government at closed door meetings. In addition, 
     Ambassador Susan Schwab, U.S. Special Trade Representative is 
     coming to New York to sit down to talk trade and explore 
     opportunities to increase the flow of goods from the region 
     to the United States and the other way around.
       Now that the legislation which extends the life of the 
     Caribbean Basin Initiative has survived the threat of a veto 
     by President George Bush, Ambassador Schwab should be in a 
     position to tell the leaders how they can link arms so their 
     countries can export more to the U.S.
       Congressman Rangel, who brokered both the Wall Street 
     sessions and the talks with Schwab, was careful to limit his 
     expectations to the goals of the Caribbean. That's wise.
       ``I would hope that the Caricom leaders get what they wish 
     out of the meeting with Ambassador Schwab,'' was the way he 
     articulated it.
       It wasn't simply a matter of being diplomatic but his 
     approach was essentially correct because in the end it's up 
     to the executive branch of the U.S. government and to the 
     Caribbean states to agree on the architecture of trade.
       Education and the relationship between tertiary level 
     institutions in the Caribbean and the United States are 
     another vital item on the agenda. The universities and 
     colleges in the Caribbean and the U.S. can benefit from 
     closer collaboration. The City University of New York, the 
     University of the West Indies, the University of Guyana and 
     the University of Suriname come quickly to mind as example of 
     schools that can and must fashion stronger ties.
       York College in Queens and Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn 
     are making a substantial contribution to the educational 
     development of the Caribbean immigrant community. Their 
     leadership, Dr. Marcia Keiz at York and Dr. Edison Jackson at 
     Medgar Evers, are well attuned to the needs of the 
     communities they serve, including Caribbean students. It 
     would be wise to open up new lines of cooperation and 
     communication with the universities in the Caribbean so that 
     there would be an exchange of faculty and students and the 
     launching of innovative programs that can help all partners, 
     not just the Caribbean.
                                  ____


                  [From the CaribNews, June 24, 2008]

   Caribbean Heritage: Building on Its Foundations In A Foreign Land

       As one of the Caribbean's literary giants, George Lamming 
     is well-placed to articulate his awareness of the role of the 
     artist and the creative imagination of people from the West 
     Indies.
       ``The central and seminal value of the creative imagination 
     is that it functions as a civilizing and a humanizing force 
     in a process of struggle,'' was the way he put it quite 
     eloquently and succinctly.
       As he explained it, artistic expression, whether a work of 
     art, a play in the theater, a piece of pulsating music, a 
     poem or a novel, not to mention dance ``offers an experience 
     through which feeling is educated. Through which feeling is 
     deepened. Through which feeling can increase capacity to 
     accommodate a great variety of knowledge.''
       Many of these manifestations of ``feeling'' are being 
     thrust onto center-stage in New York City and indeed across 
     the United States in June as the celebrations marking 
     Caribbean Heritage Month allow immigrants from the English, 
     French, Spanish and Dutch-speaking nations, coastal states 
     and territories that comprise the archipelago to present 
     their cultural background and its underpinnings in a fashion 
     that warms the cockles of one's heart, especially those of 
     the anthropologists and the sociologists in our midst.
       An area of conquest, colonial domination, imperialism and 
     in the past 40-plus years, a region which manifestly asserts 
     self-determination, independence and nationalism, the 
     Caribbean has come to be recognized as an important sub-
     region of the world's developing countries that belong to a 
     host of international institutions, ranging from the United 
     Nations, UNESCO, and Organization of American States to 
     UNICEF, the Group of 77 developing countries, now led by 
     Antigua & Barbuda to the International Cricket Council, and 
     the global Olympic movement, to name a few.
       Its heritage provides a set of building blocks that aided 
     the transformation of a collection of colonial possessions 
     into a vibrant civilization with an interesting past and a 
     bright future. It's a heritage whose components are not only 
     cultural expressions, in the sense of the artistic but are 
     firmly grounded in religion, governance, respect for law and 
     order and a firm belief that the governed must select its 
     governors and governments. Just as important, the society 
     must extend a helping hand to the less fortunate by creating 
     opportunities for those at the bottom of the economic and 
     social ladder.
       This rich heritage as reflected in literature, music, 
     dance, diverse languages and a range of religious experience, 
     not to mention traditions that have given birth to vital 
     regional state and local institutions that help to fashion 
     our behavior and the orderly way of everyday life, can't be 
     ignored or downplayed.
       Wherever Caribbean immigrants go, whether in Britain, North 
     American, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia or the Middle 
     East, their music, literature, indeed, their entire way of 
     life is transplanted into the soil they describe as home-
     away-from home.
       It was that pride and belief in themselves and what Norman 
     Manley, a builder of modern day Jamaica whose influence 
     extended up-and-down-and-around the Caribbean, called ``their 
     own destiny.''
       That confidence in their inner strength has helped people 
     from the Caribbean to win their independence from an 
     imperialistic stranglehold, fight alongside their long-
     standing African-American allies in the battle for respect 
     for people's human rights; and succeed in opening up new 
     vistas for the generations that come after them.
       Such qualities plus the friendship, support and respect of 
     members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate 
     led the recent decision of the Congress to designate June as 
     Caribbean Heritage Month. And when at first President George 
     Bush hesitated to sign the legislation into law, the 
     machinery of persuasion switched into high gear and he 
     eventually felt it necessary to affix his signature to it and 
     declare it an important step forward for the United States 
     and the peoples of the Caribbean.
       As West Indians think of their heritage, inevitably their 
     thoughts go back to those early trail blazers who fought 
     alongside the

[[Page E1482]]

     revolutionaries to throw off the colonial chains in the 18th 
     century. Crispus Attucks, the first to die in the American 
     war of independence against England was said to be from the 
     Caribbean. Their thoughts also dart to Prince Hall, the 
     Caribbean immigrant who devised a plan for the education of 
     Blacks in Massachusetts and who fought to end slavery in the 
     United States, the Caribbean and indeed the rest of the 
     world.
       Frederick Douglass, the 19th century golden trombone of the 
     abolition movement that helped to erase the bloody stain of 
     immorality spawned by slavery in the Americas in general and 
     the United States in particular, once paid tribute to the 
     role of West Indians in that epic struggle.
       Zeroing in on Emancipation Day in the West Indies in the 
     first half of the 19th century, he described it as ``the 
     first bright star in a stormy sky--the first smile after a 
     long providential frown--the first ray of hope--the first 
     tangible fact demonstrating the possibility of a peaceful 
     transition from slavery to freedom, of the Negro race.''
       Few, if any one, could say it better.
       Whoever else, he went on, may either seek to forget or 
     slight the claim of that historic day, ``it can never be said 
     of us other than memorable and glorious.''
       Almost a 100 years later Marcus Garvey and others took up 
     the torch to illuminate the path to political and economic 
     self-determination and much later still, Malcolm X, Shirley 
     Chisholm and a host of others served as standard bearers for 
     those principles of equality for Blacks with the rest of 
     humanity.
       The vibrant Caribbean communities across the land have 
     every reason to be proud of their heritage and shouldn't 
     forget those who helped them along the way to turn the dream 
     of a Caribbean Heritage Month into reality.
       Their Black brothers and sisters on Capitol Hill and their 
     supporters of every color and ethnic background in and out of 
     the House of Representatives and the Senate must be hailed 
     and recognized for what they have done in bringing about the 
     official recognition and the celebrations that showcase that 
     heritage.

                          ____________________