[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25685]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          IT'S TIME TO PULL THE PLUG ON ASSISTANCE TO ETHIOPIA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DANA ROHRABACHER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 9, 2005

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, the international community knows that 
the May 15 election in Ethiopia was rigged, and yet our government and 
other nations along with international banks and aid agencies, continue 
to prop up the corrupt regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Last week 
Meles security forces killed 76 members of the opposition party that 
refused to join the parliament and yet U.S. taxpayer money continues to 
flow.
  Mr. Speaker, what will it take to turn off the spigot? The United 
States Agency for International Development in FY 2004 spent $75 
million propping up the Ethiopian dictators, in FY 2005 it was $55 
million and in FY 2006 it will be $51 million. What have we received in 
return? We have aligned ourselves with a ruler who is complice in the 
murder of voters who only wanted an honest election. Thousands of good 
people were arrested last week when they peacefully took to the streets 
after the Ethiopian political opposition refused to join parliament 
because of the rigged election. Many were greeted with live ammunition 
and gunned down dead like animals.
  Prime Minister Meles must now step aside and the international 
community must step forward to decide what to do about the stolen 
elections. This week thousands came out to protest in front of the 
White House. Today many Americans of Ethiopian origin are demonstrating 
at the State Department. Our Nation must support them and democracy in 
Africa. Continuing business as usual with Ethiopia is not the way to do 
so. It's not the American way.
  Let it be understood, America is on the side of the people struggling 
for an honest democratic government in Ethiopia. The popular opposition 
to Ethiopia's current corrupt regime is comparable to the Orange 
Revolution in Ukraine and the brave Lebanese demonstrators who removed 
the Syrian puppet regime in their country. Our State Department is 
often wrong and timid. In the case of Ethiopia, Americans clearly back 
democratic reform movement and that should be our government's policy.

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