[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 96 (Thursday, June 24, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5434-S5435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ANGOLA
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, the National Security Strategy released
last month rightly states:
[d]ue to increased economic growth and political stability,
individual nations are increasingly taking on powerful
regional and global roles and changing the landscapes of
international cooperation. To achieve a just and sustainable
order that advances our shared security and prosperity, we
are, therefore, deepening our partnerships with emerging
powers and encouraging them to play a greater role in
strengthening international norms and advancing shared
interests.
The strategy goes on to note that expanding our partnerships with
emerging powers includes a number of African nations, specifically
South Africa. Indeed, I have great respect for South Africa's
leadership on the continent and internationally and am glad that we are
seeking to deepen our bilateral relationship. From peace and security
to climate change to nuclear nonproliferation, we should continue to
look for areas where we can team up with the South Africans.
I would also like to highlight another emerging power in Sub-Saharan
Africa that we should not ignore: Angola. Many of my colleagues will
recall the brutal civil war that devastated Angola. In my first trip as
a Senator to Africa, in 1994, I traveled with Senator Reid and Senator
Paul Simon to Angola to observe the tragic consequences of this
conflict. Decades of war left an estimated 1 million people dead, a
third of the country's population displaced, and millions of landmines
littered throughout the countryside.
Yet since the war ended in 2002, Angolans have made tremendous
strides to secure the peace and rebuild their country. According to a
recent UNICEF study, since 2002 the percentage of children attending
primary school has increased from 56 to 76 percent and infant mortality
has fallen by 22 percent. At the same time, Angola's economy has
registered double-digit GDP growth over recent years, mostly driven by
increasing oil production. Angola's future growth prospects, however,
are more diverse than just oil. According to the September 15, 2009,
New York Times article, ``Angola is poised to become a hub of liquefied
natural gas and diamond exports.''
With its economic growth and stability, Angola is also poised to play
a greater role on regional, continental, and international issues. It
has already become a major player in the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries, OPEC, and although it is not a member of the G-20,
President Dos Santos has been invited to some G-20 meetings. Angola has
also become involved in critical issues relating to the Gulf of Guinea,
which sits to its north. It supported the launch of the Gulf of Guinea
Commission in 2006 to resolve maritime disputes and ensure regional
cooperation and hosted a summit for heads of the state of the
commission in 2008. Finally, Angola has the potential to play a much
more active future role on issues facing the Southern African
Development Community, SADC.
For all these reasons, the United States has a strong interest in
deepening and broadening our relationship with Angola. Secretary
Clinton's visit to the country last year--in which she became the first
U.S. Secretary of State to stay overnight in the country--was a major
step to that end. She committed to developing a ``comprehensive
strategic partnership'' with Angola and to expanding our engagement in
the areas of trade, agriculture, health, and education.
To follow through on this commitment, we now need to ensure that our
Embassy in Luanda has the necessary programs and tools to pursue such a
partnership. We need to ensure there are sufficient incentives and
encouragement to attract Foreign Service officers to Angola given the
inordinately high cost of living and other hardships. And we should try
to ensure that we have the right staff, including representatives from
other agencies that can bring expertise on issues of commerce and
agriculture.
But expanding our engagement with Angola should not mean ignoring or
downplaying troubling issues of human rights and governance. In fact,
it should be quite the opposite; we need to actively encourage reform
in these important areas if we are going to pursue a truly
comprehensive and long-term partnership with Angola.
[[Page S5435]]
According to the State Department's 2009 Human Rights Report for
Angola, ``The government's human rights record remained poor, and there
were numerous, serious problems.'' Last weekend, the Wall Street
Journal reported that there continue to be abuses and killings by
soldiers and private security guards around diamond mines in Angola.
The international community should investigate these reports and ensure
that Angola is fully living up to its commitments in the Kimberley
Process. If it is not, there should be serious consequences.
More broadly, we should also consider whether certain gaps in the
Kimberley Process, such as promoting greater protection for human
rights, can be incorporated into the oversight procedures of
participating countries. We need to be realistic about what is possible
with a voluntary organization, but we cannot allow ongoing human rights
abuses involving diamonds to be ignored.
Issues of governance are also especially important for Angola's
development prospects. While the country has seen tremendous overall
economic growth in recent years, most Angolans have seen little, if
any, direct benefit. Corruption remains a serious and deep-seated
problem in Angola, including in the oil sector. For 2009, Transparency
International ranked Angola 162nd out of 180 countries in its annual
Corruption Perceptions Index. A report released in February by the
Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations documented how
certain Angolan officials have sought to use U.S. banks and financial
institutions to conceal funds acquired through corruption.
The Angolan Government has acknowledged that it needs to improve its
fiscal management and practices, and President Dos Santos has called
for a ``zero tolerance'' policy against corruption. I am pleased that
the President has said this, and we should look for ways to help the
government give real meaning to such a policy. At the same time, we
should explore ways that we and our international partners can put
pressure on corrupt officials in Angola to cease their illicit actions,
including travel bans and assets freezes, and more.
In terms of governance, it is also important that the Angolan
Government create the space for a strong civil society to develop--one
that allows for the free flow of information and includes independent
watchdog institutions that can demand accountability and transparency.
We should seek to expand our engagement with civil society
organizations and, as is appropriate, to help strengthen their capacity
and amplify their voices in policy debates.
Within the government, Angola's National Assembly has the potential
to play a strong oversight role, and I am pleased that Secretary
Clinton met directly with the National Assembly during her visit to
Luanda last year. We should look for ways, such as technical assistance
and parliamentary exchanges, that we can support and strengthen the
National Assembly's oversight roles.
Mr. President, none of this will be easy. Some in the Angolan
Government are still unwelcoming toward the United States because of
positions we took during their civil war. Many Angolans are also
skeptical about whether we genuinely have interests beyond accessing
oil. We need to take these perspectives seriously. But I believe we can
break through the suspicion and mistrust by demonstrating--through
greater resources and a more visible presence--that we seek a mutually
beneficial, long-term partnership with the people of Angola. In the
months and years ahead, I look forward to working with the
administration to that end.
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