Africa: Senator Says Africa, US Have Common Interests

9 July 2004
United States Department of State (Washington, DC)
By Erica Matsumoto

Washington, DC — Feingold addresses conference on U.S. Africa policy

The top-ranking minority member of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, Senator Russell Feingold, says he welcomes the Bush administration's new, energized focus on Africa.

But the American people need to make sure, Feingold said, that senior leaders in the administration "are proactive in their approach and demonstrate the political will to build the relationships with African partners that [he believes] are so important to our future."

The Wisconsin Democrat made his remarks at an Africa policy conference sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Capitol Hill July 8, held in conjunction with the release of the Africa Policy Advisory Panel report, "Rising U.S. Stakes in Africa."

Following an address by Secretary of State Colin Powell, Senator Feingold's keynote speech focused on the importance of gradual but lasting initiatives aimed at helping the continent develop socially and economically, and highlighted the similarities between American and African interests.

Noting, "Our first foreign policy priority is to combat terrorism," Feingold said attacks like the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings and the 2002 bombings in Mombasa should be neither overlooked nor underestimated. "Africa is unquestionably an important part of the effort to combat terrorism," he said. "Consistent and credible reports have documented terrorist organizations operating in northern, western and southern portions of Africa, which leaves no room to doubt the importance of Africa."

However, "our policies need to be more than reacting to crisis and batting down emerging threats," he said. He underscored the greater importance of long-term solutions, to create a "lasting stability to these terribly unstable places, and to gain access to solid information and to build lasting relationships."

"Short-term fixes such as military strikes on terrorist training camps or freezing assets of terrorists involved in money laundering may address some immediate threats, but they will do little to ensure that our children will not face the same problems in the years to come," the lawmaker declared.

Feingold acknowledged that there have been steps in the right direction. "I applaud the administration's East African Counter-Terrorism Initiative, which recognizes that there are real threats in Somalia," he said. He added that he "wholeheartedly" supports President Bush's $15 billion commitment to HIV/AIDS, saying that it "will be remembered by history as one of his finest hours."

However, "there should be no return to the convenient, short-sighted patron-client politics of the past, and we should not subordinate basic human rights to fulfill the larger strategic goals, because, as it did in Liberia and in the Congo, such a tactic has proven to backfire on its user," the senator said.

"We must not repeatedly 'rediscover' Africa with a flurry of flashy new initiatives that are usually financed by squeezing resources out of the last round of initiatives, or worse, out of basic development efforts," he emphasized.

Turning toward economics, Feingold said that responsible accounting must replace the corrupt, self-indulgent system of many African governments. "We must move beyond rhetoric to fight corruption," he said. A corrupt business climate "discourages private investment and hampers growth. The administration needs to promote transparency."

"We need to prove to [Africans] that we share their interests," Feingold said. To reach to the root of Africa's problems and bring real security and change to African people, he said, "we must address the underlying issues of disenfranchisement and marginalization that are at the heart of conflict, especially in the crisis in Darfur."

But lasting and substantial change must come from Africans themselves, he stated emphatically.

After 12 years on the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, Senator Feingold remains tirelessly enthusiastic. "There is so much to be done, so many opportunities to foster real partnerships and to help cultivate real allies. I hope today marks the start of a concerted bipartisan effort to strengthen U.S. policy in Africa. It is not just Africa's future. Our American future is at stake."

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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