[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 71 (Thursday, April 27, 2023)] [House] [Pages H2056-H2069] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Date: 2023-04-27
Chamber: HOUSE
Mr. MEEKS: I want to clarify for Mr. Mills that when I mentioned we had not had any deaths in Somalia, I said in the last 4 years. I was acknowledging what happened before. In the last 4 years we have not lost any American troops in Somalia. Let me also say, as I said earlier, I am happy that we are having this debate and talking about the continent of Africa. If we do that, we have to listen to the African--I can just recall, and sometimes many of my colleagues, especially on the other side of the aisle, argue that we don't get the votes we need at times in the U.N. from African countries. I recall when we were trying to get votes in regard to Russia's illegal invasion into Ukraine, and I had to call on African ambassadors. They said: Now you are calling? We haven't heard from the United States for a while. Now you want something from me?  {time}  1315  We have been asking for assistance in regard to security, and then I watched to see what was taking place when we looked at our diplomacy. It took over two decades before, in the 117th Congress, we passed a State Department authorization bill, and we had to do that through the NDAA as opposed to saying we were going to stand strongly on diplomacy. Guess what China did during that period of time? They doubled their diplomacy budget. Guess what else is happening? For the first time, China has more consulates than the United States of America. General Kelly said that either we do and get engaged in more diplomacy, or we are going to have to spend more money on bullets. We have an opportunity to engage and listen to allies and work with our allies. Many allies have more, and should have more, responsibility on the continent because they colonized it and are working with us collectively to try to make sure that the Chinas and the Russias of the world are not invested and that we are invested, and we are not. It is our challenge, and I hope that when we get past this debate, we will be able to have another one. I look forward to doing it, particularly in our committee, so that we can figure out collectively, as Ms. Ilhan Omar said, how we can work together and listen to make sure that we have an overall strategy. I say this in regard to both parties. I say this to the administration that should be doing more on the continent of Africa. So, yes, this is not a partisan debate. This is an American debate. This is an opportunity to be attentive to a continent that is the fastest growing and the youngest on this planet but that we have ignored for far too long. We have to wake up and do more for the continent of Africa and figure out diplomacy, figure out how we can help protect them from being victimized by terrorism, and figure out how we can strengthen institutions. We have a lot of work to do. We have to figure out how we reauthorize AGOA, figure out how we work with the African Union, and figure out how we work with the African organizations. That is our challenge because, if not, we imperil ourselves. I could agree that this is not just an investment in the continent; it is aninvestment for America and America's leadership. Let's lead. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).