U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

64–473 CC WASHINGTON : 2000

MARKUP ON H. CON. RES. 20 AND H. CON.

RES. 46

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

Thursday, October 14, 1999

Serial No. 106–100

Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international relations

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COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York, Chairman

WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania

JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa

HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois

DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey

DAN BURTON, Indiana

ELTON GALLEGLY, California

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida

CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina

DANA ROHRABACHER, California

DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California

PETER T. KING, New York

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio

MARSHALL ‘‘MARK’’ SANFORD, South

Carolina

MATT SALMON, Arizona

TOM CAMPBELL, California

JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York

BILL LUTHER, Minnesota

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina

ROY BLUNT, Missouri

KEVIN BRADY, Texas

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina

PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio

GEORGE P. RADANOVICH, California

JOHN COOKSEY, Louisiana

THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado

SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut

TOM LANTOS, California

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American

Samoa

MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey

ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey

ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio

CYNTHIA A. MCKINNEY, Georgia

ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida

PAT DANNER, Missouri

EARL F. HILLIARD, Alabama

BRAD SHERMAN, California

ROBERT WEXLER, Florida

STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, New Jersey

JIM DAVIS, Florida

EARL POMEROY, North Dakota

WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York

BARBARA LEE, California

JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York

JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania

RICHARD J. GARON, Chief of Staff

KATHLEEN BERTELSEN MOAZED, Democratic Chief of Staff

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman

AMO HOUGHTON, New York

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio

TOM CAMPBELL, California

GEORGE RADANOVICH, California

THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey

ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York

BARBARA LEE, California

TOM SHEEHY, Subcommittee Staff Director

MALIK M. CHAKA, Professional Staff Member

CHARISSE GLASSMAN, Democratic Professional Staff Member

CHARMAINE V. HOUSEMAN, Staff Associate

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C O N T E N T S

Page

LEGISLATION

H. Con. Res. 46, Urging an end of the war between Eritrean and Ethiopia

and calling on the United Nations Human Rights Commission and other

Human Rights Organizations to investigate human rights abuses in connection with the Eritrean and Ethiopian conflict ................................................... 6

H. Con. Res. 20, concerning economic humanitarian, and other assistance

to the Northern part of Somalia ......................................................................... 10

APPENDIX

The Honorable Alcee Hastings ............................................................................... 13

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MARKUP ON H. CON. RES. 20 AND H. CON.

RES. 46

Thursday, October 14, 1999

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Washington, D.C.

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:30 p.m., in room

2200, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edward R. Royce

(Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. ROYCE. [presiding] The Subcommittee on Africa will now

come to order to mark up two resolutions.

We will now consider House Concurrent Resolution 20, a resolution concerning economic humanitarian and other assistance to Somalia. The Chair lays the resolution before the Committee. The

clerk will report the title of the resolution.

The CLERK. ‘‘H. Con. Res. 20, concerning economic humanitarian——’’

Mr. ROYCE. Without objection, the clerk will read the preamble

and operative language of the resolution for amendment.

The CLERK. ‘‘Whereas, in the area of the northern part of Somalia——’’

Mr. ROYCE. Without objection, the resolution is considered as

having been read and is open to amendment at any point.

[The information referred to appears in the appendix.]

Mr. ROYCE. Now, this resolution was introduced on February 2

and referred by Chairman Gilman to this Subcommittee. It draws

much needed attention to Somalia, which has ceased to exist as a

nation. As a result of fighting between factions led by self-serving

war lords, there is no nation state left in Somalia today.

This resolution recognizes that the northern part of Somalia has

achieved a significant level of economic and social stability. This

should be commended. The resolution, however, should not be construed as calling for diplomatic recognition of Somalia-land. In fact,

the resolution calls for all Somali parties to work with the international community to achieve, quote, ‘‘a permanent end to the

civil strife there in the adoption of a permanent governmental

structure most conducive to the well-being and basic human rights

of all Somali people.’’

I would like to commend Mr. Campbell for authoring and Mr.

Payne, the Ranking Member, for co-sponsoring the resolution.

Do any Members seek recognition to discuss the resolution?

Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Chairman?

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Campbell of California.

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Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Chairman, thank you for your kind words.

You have accurately and forcefully described the purpose of the legislation. I am proud that Congressman Payne agreed to be the

original co-sponsor. I would emphasize that this is not all that

some want. It is not a recognition of a new country. I recognize

under our Constitution that the President to the United States has

the authority to recognize countries.

What it is, is a request that for the sake of the humanitarian

goals of assistance, that we should not hold that assistance back

from people capable of using it because conditions over which they

have no control have not yet ripened.

With that, and in view of the pending vote on the floor, Mr.

Chairman, I yield back. Thank you for scheduling this hearing.

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Campbell.

Are there any other Members seeking recognition?

If not, the gentleman from California, Mr. Campbell, is recognized to offer a motion.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Subcommittee report H. Con. Res 20, as amended—I believe it has been amended—

but let me say, if amended—if that is appropriate to say—that I

move this Subcommittee report H. Con. Res 20 favorably to the

Full Committee.

Mr. ROYCE. Without objection, the motion is agreed to.

Let us call the roll if we can.

The question is on the motion of the gentleman from California.

All those in favor of the motion say aye.

All those opposed say no.

The ayes have it. That motion is agreed to.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Excuse me. Do you think we should go to the second resolution now or do you want to wait?

Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Chairman, let us try to finish.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Let us do it.

Mr. ROYCE. OK. We will now consider House Concurrent Resolution 46, urging the end of the war between Eritrean and Ethiopia

and calling on the United Nations Human Rights Commission and

other human rights organizations to investigate human rights

abuses in connection with the Eritrean and Ethiopian conflict concerning economic, humanitarian, and other assistance.

The Chair lays the resolution before the Committee. The clerk

will report the title of the resolution.

The CLERK. ‘‘H. Con. Res. 46, urging an end to the war between

Eritrean and Ethiopia and calling on the United Nations Human

Rights Commission and other human rights organizations to investigate human rights abuses in connection with the Eritrean and

Ethiopian conflict.’’

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, and, without objection, the clerk will

read the preamble and operative language.

The CLERK. ‘‘Whereas, peace and stability——’’

Mr. ROYCE. Without objection, the resolution is considered as

having been read and is open to amendment at any point.

Mr. ROYCE. Just to brief, this resolution was introduced on

March 9 and referred to this Subcommittee. It urges an end to the

17-month long war between Eritrean and Ethiopia that has reVerDate 11-SEP-98 12:45 Jun 15, 2000 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 \PRESS\64473.TXT HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1
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sulted in the loss of more than 70,000 to date and calls for the investigation of human rights abuses in connection with the conflict.

Hopefully, this resolution will help to bring home to both sides

of the conflict that Congress has lost patience with the intransigence that keeps a war going that neither side can afford. It recognizes the OAU framework, which both sides claim to accept, and

provides an equitable basis to end the devastating conflict. I would

like to commend the author, Mr. Campbell for this resolution.

Do any Members seek recognition?

Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Chairman?

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Campbell.

Mr. CAMPBELL. I am honored to have my good friend, Congressman Payne, as original co-sponsor and my good friend, Congressman Chabot. I think, however, that it is a point of view what we

all share.

Personal note: My heart is broken over this fight. I have said so

publicly. My wife and I spent Thanksgiving in Eritrea and then in

Ethiopia 2 years ago. We love the people of both countries. They

should not be at war.

Not only are they at war, Mr. Chairman, but they are engaging

in human rights abuses of the most serious kind, which have come

to light during the war. It is only because of a desire of diplomacy

that I do not like going into much more pointed accusations, which

I would perhaps go into; in fact, I might even at some point very

soon.

Mr. ROYCE. Perhaps on the floor.

Mr. CAMPBELL. I would say we are tempted to. This war should

not happen, and the people should not be killing each other in the

manner that they are. There are human rights abuses in connection with deportation, in connection with the way the war is conducted, in connection with the manner in which lives are being

lost.

Mr. Chairman, because you care so deeply, how hard it is to get

colleagues’ attention to Africa. When something like this happens,

the natural reaction is ‘‘Well, there they go again.’’

If Americans had taken this attitude about World War I, they

would have said, ‘‘Well, there go those Europeans fighting each

other again.’’ Or the second world war, as well, and yet when people say that about Africa, it seems to pass without challenge. So,

that is the harm that has come from this war.

At risk of making a diplomatic breech, I shall be silent and simply say this one matters to me immensely. I am grateful that you

scheduled it for markup, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE. We thank you, Mr. Campbell.

Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Chairman?

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Hastings.

Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Chairman, I would just like to echo the remarks of my distinguished colleague from California, but, more importantly, in light of the fact that he is not here to say for the

record what I know all of the Members of this Committee know

and that is that Donald Payne has spent an extraordinary amount

of time, and we all appreciate very much his not only being a cosponsor here but his continuing urging of parties to continue to engage in actions that will decrease tensions and bring about a quick

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and peaceful resolution of this conflict. I join in that, and the statement that I had for the record, Mr. Chairman, I would ask permission to revise and extend and include that statement.

Mr. ROYCE. We will do that, Mr. Hastings.

Mr. Chabot.

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you, and I will be very brief. I would like

to join my colleagues. I am an original co-sponsor of this resolution,

and we had an opportunity to meet with representatives of the Eritreans and the Ethiopians on numerous occasions, and, as Mr.

Campbell said, one just can’t help but just shake their head about

this. All wars are tragic. This is a war that is particularly tragic

and really pointless, and these parties should not be fighting. One

can never afford a war, so they—and they certainly can’t afford this

one—and I hope that this does some good, but it gets very frustrating.

Yield back.

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you. There being no other further debate on

this issue, I will recognize the gentleman from California for a motion.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Chairman, I move the Subcommittee report

H. Con. Res. 46 favorably to the Full Committee.

Mr. ROYCE. Without objection, the motion is agreed to.

The question is on the motion, and all those in favor say aye.

Opposed say no.

The ayes have it. The motion is agreed to.

This markup session is adjourned, and we are adjourned until

after the vote at which point we will come back for our hearing on

the United States South Africa Relations: Present and Future.

So we will return in 15 minutes.

[Whereupon, at 1:46 p.m., the Subcommittee recessed, and proceeded to other business at 2 p.m.]

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A P P E N D I X

OCTOBER 14, 1999

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