Donald Payne

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues an issue of great importance to our Nation and to the international cultural community. I was tremendously pleased to learn that the matter of the Elgin Marbles is now being considered by the British Parliament and would like to offer my support for all efforts by the committee to conduct a thorough, authoritative examination of all the issues of return of the Parthenon Sculptures to the Acropolis. The House of Commons, committee on Culture, Media and Sport will be examining the issue of the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles as a part of its present Inquiry On Cultural Property: Return and Illicit Trade. Last week, the committee traveled to Athens to conduct on-site meetings on the issue with the Hellenic Republic. The Parthenon was built nearly 2,500 years ago by the original Periclean democracy. The Parthenon Marbles are the segments of the Parthenon temple frieze and structures removed by Lord Elgin from the Parthenon Temple in Athens to London in 1801 to 1816 under the circumstances of debatable legality. The subject of the Parthenon Marbles is not a Greek-British issue but one of international and U.S. interests. Within the international community, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, and the European Parliament have issued declarations urging that the Marbles be returned to Greece. From the major government buildings of all Western democracies to the emblem of UNESCO, the Parthenon is the recognized international symbol of culture and democracy. Within Great Britain, two polls over the last 2 years demonstrated that the British public favors the reunification of the Marbles. Last year, an Early Day Motion, signed by 112 members of the British Parliament, was presented urging the return of the Marbles. In March, the Economist magazine published a definitive article on the issue including its own poll of Parliament showing very significant support for the return of the Marbles. No modern legal concepts of cultural properties apply to the case of the Parthenon Marbles because of the following tragic coincidence. The removal of the Parthenon Marbles occurred on the eve of all modern treaties and international legal precepts regarding cultural property, even in the same decades that the Allies in Europe broke historic ground when they returned the cultural property seized by Napoleon to the Nations of origin. The committee will need to apply strict interpretation of its own legal principles as it weighs the rights of the possessor against the rights of the creator, a very important principle. The return of the Parthenon Marbles would raise no cause for concern for any other world museums, especially in the United States. Additionally, the Parthenon Marbles is unique, and their reunification would not create a precedent for other museums. Likewise, reunification of the Parthenon Marbles neither establishes a principle for American museums nor poses a threat to our own cultural heritage. From an ethical point of view, we can imagine the United States position if a foreign diplomat began carting away sculptures from the roof of the Lincoln Monument, which actually the Lincoln Monument was structured after the Parthenon, and they were now in a foreign museum. From an artistic and cultural point of view, we should consider that the sculptures were integral, structural parts of the architecture, dismembered and taken from the roof of the Parthenon temple. The Parthenon Marbles are not merely ``statutory,'' movable decorative art, but integral, interdependent parts of a temple. Over the centuries, the Parthenon has been a place of worship for three religions in addition to pre-Christian worship of Athena, goddess of wisdom, Orthodox Christian, Catholic, and Muslim. President Clinton's recent comments in Athens and to British Prime Minister Tony Blair have advanced the debate. Significantly, within days, Prince Charles announced his support for the return of the Marbles to its original place. This will promote a dialogue between the Greek and the British governments which may lead to the reunification of the Marbles to their original home on the Acropolis, hopefully in time to celebrate the 2004 Olympics, which as we know starts in Greece. Emblems of our culture, in fact, were adopted from the Parthenon and the democracy and culture it represents, including the Lincoln Memorial, the Supreme Court, and innumerable important public buildings and monuments. In the United States, the Committee on the Parthenon has served as a primary catalyst in building public awareness and government support. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I urge that we support this and I have introduced legislation to move it forward.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chairman, since we have such little time, we have heard about the domestic priorities which I support, I would just like to say that in light of the flooding in Mozambique we have requested $320 million to the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance to support in that emergency. Also we are asking for emergency supplemental of $1.6 billion for the HIPC countries hit by the floods, such as Mozambique, South Africa, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. We also ask to restore the Development Fund for Africa to $804 million. This budget also provides an additional $100 million for the African Development Fund; $10 million for the Great Lakes Initiative, designed to build a credible and impartial system of justice in that region. We support an additional $200 million for AIDS through the World Bank; $60 million for economic development to support democratic institutions in Haiti; and $1 million to support bilateral/multilateral efforts in Papua New Guinea and to help the United Nations administration resolve the conflict on the island of Bougainville.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 431, a resolution to support humanitarian aid for Mozambique. I would like to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the Chairman of the Committee on International Relations, for allowing this to come to the full committee, and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Gejdenson) for also supporting this resolution. I would like to commend the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, for his outstanding work on the Subcommittee on Africa, where he has taken many initiatives. I would like to give special congratulations to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), a new member on the committee, who has taken his responsibilities extremely seriously and has been a tremendous asset to the Subcommittee on Africa with his energy and his knowledge and his compassion for the work of the subcommittee. So it is a pleasure for me to work alongside the gentleman and other members of the Subcommittee on Africa, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee). Mr. Speaker, let me say that this is a very timely resolution. As you know, the Republic of Mozambique has been experiencing severe floods which began early last month, the worst in over 40 years. Massive flooding not only devastated the lands of Mozambique, but it also hit South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Madagascar. What began as a heavy rain soon turned into Cyclone Eline and brought disastrous floods to the south and central parts of the country. Secondly, there was a second cyclone that came unexpectedly, and then a third. So the initial slow response was exacerbated by the fact that the second and third cyclone came to bring devastating rains to that region. Grim images flashed over CNN and showed Mozambicans stranded on tops of trees and utility poles. Sophia Pedro, a young mother, gave birth to a baby, a little girl, in a treetop, where she sought refuge for 4 days earlier. The torrential rains took a heavy toll on the population, with several hundred dead and over 1 million refugees. This natural disaster, the worst in Southern Africa's recorded history, has interrupted the economic, political, and social miracle of Mozambique which it has created for itself during the past decade. Few people know that before this disaster, Mozambique had the fastest and most sustained economic growth of any country in the world. This resolution recognizes these things that I have mentioned, and further calls for the U.S. to take the lead in the international community to coordinate relief efforts; it commends South Africa for its swift response; it commends the British government for cancelling its bilateral debt; and, finally, it encourages the multilateral institutions to constructively deal with debt reduction. Mozambique has complied with the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, HIPC. Last year, Mozambique completed the requirements to receive $3.7 billion in debt reduction from external creditors, the largest reduction under the HIPC initiative. In conclusion, let me say Mozambique is an impoverished country of 19 million, and debt relief means flood relief. Land mines have been exposed and must be dealt with. Mozambique, as we all know, was one of the last colonies in Africa. It wasn't until 1974 when Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde and Angola became independent, the final release of countries other than South Africa under a colonial-type regime. But after independence, after the colonial powers were thrown off them, the Cold War took its toll by rearing its ugly head and wreaked havoc on that country, with Renamo forces being supported by the West and Frelimo forces being supported by the opposition parties. Therefore, it created the civil war that continued on because of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It had nothing to do with the people of Mozambique, but pawns again of the major powers in the world. So we feel that they are still recovering from this 16-year civil war between Renamo and Frelimo which ended in 1992. I had the opportunity to talk to President Chissano just one month ago where the miracle of Mozambique was discussed. He was just reelected in January of this year. So we are asking for more assistance for this catastrophic situation. Although relief was slow initially, I am pleased, however, that USAID finally supplied some $12.8 million for airlifts, and the Department of Defense allotted $37.6 million for an emergency assistance package to include a 30-day deployment of resources. Conversely, the response to natural disasters in Turkey was met with an overnight swift and quick and decisive action. This disaster alone costs the country hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild. It will cost them many, many person hours. Ambassador Marcos of Mozambique has estimated that for flood supplies alone and medicine, the costs will exceed $65 million that they need immediately. So we are simply here to once again say that we all support the aid going to Mozambique, and we hope that the world will continue to support them.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleagues here in the House of Representatives to join me in honoring a woman of remarkable accomplishments, Patricia Campbell Glenn, who has earned a reputation as an outstanding public servant. As the Regional Director of the United States Department of Justice, Community Relations Service in Region II consisting of New York, New Jersey, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, her agency is responsible for the mediation of all community-based racial and ethnic disputes. Ms. Glenn has the distinction of being the only female director in the country. During her tenure at the Department, she was deputized as a special U.S. Marshall in Conway County, Arkansas; she mediated systemic issues cases in federal correctional facilities, and she mediated disputes between Native Americans and the federal government. In 1996, she was selected to direct the National Arson Task Force in Washington, D.C. for the Community Relations Service. The Task Force had the direct responsibility for the resolution of all disputes related to the arson of churches. Ms. Glenn has conducted Hate Crime training with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center out of Glynco, Georgia since 1992, the U.S. Trustees, Bankruptcy Courts, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service, Uniform Division. Her impressive achievements include being selected as one of the fifty outstanding females in the Justice system; becoming the first female to receive the Outstanding Regional Director Award; being listed in Who's Who in American Women and in the Midwest; and being selected in 1998 as National Mother of the Year by the Ashley Steward Retail Association. In addition, she was responsible for the first nationwide agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance when problems between races and cultures arose during national disasters; mediation of community concern regarding police practices in Paterson, New Brunswick, Montclair and Newark, New Jersey; mediation between African American and Jewish faculty at Kean University; and many other achievements. She received a B.S. in English Education from Ohio State University and an M.A. in Speech Communication from Montclair State University. She has lectured at Yale University, conducted classes at Passaic Community College, taught Conflict Resolution in Moscow and established conflict resolution programs in St. Petersburg and Komi, Russia. Currently, she is an adjunct instructor at Montclair State University. Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in paying tribute to a remarkable public servant, Patricia Campbell Glenn, for her highly successful work and in wishing her all the best in her future endeavors.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, the reason the minimum wage must be increased over 2 years instead of 3 years is simple, because the increase is long overdue. The tiptoe approach that many Members of the other side of the aisle advocate is not fair for hard working men and women that find themselves at the lower spectrum of the income wage. Just a little while ago, I received a letter from a constituent of mine that worked full time all year-round and was still significantly below the poverty line for his family of three. If my colleagues are wondering how a full-time worker in this day and age could still be below the poverty line, the answer lies in the inadequate minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. Even a modest $1 increase that we are debating today is not enough to lift him and his family above the poverty line. Why then should he, and the other 11.8 million minimum wage workers, have to wait 3 years for a dollar increase to take place? The opponents of raising the minimum wage over 2 years claim that it will have a negative impact on jobs. Since the last increase in the minimum wage in 1996, 1997, the unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level in 30 years, and an estimated 8.7 million new jobs are being created. These are not Internet jobs. By contrast, 1.2 million new retail jobs have been added, 415,000 new restaurant jobs have been added and over 4.4 million service jobs have sprung up. How does that have a negative impact on employment? Let me leave my colleagues with this thought: Between 1980 and 1998, the average worker increased their pay by 68 percent, while at the same time, the pay for the average CEO has increased by 757 percent. If the minimum wage had been indexed to CEO pay, it would be worth $23 an hour. We need to cut this disparity. We need to have a minimum wage, we should have a livable wage which is even $8.30 an hour if we are going to take people out of poverty. We cannot continually tell people to work 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, a family of three, and still be in poverty. It is hypocrisy. We have grown to the lowest unemployment rate in the history, and we had an increase in the minimum wage. Please reject the 3-year, add the 2-year, which should be a 1-year.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my outrage over the shooting and subsequent verdict in the case of Amadou Diallo, Mr. Diallo, an innocent young African immigrant who came to the United States aspiring for a better life. Plainclothes officers who belong to an overaggressive street crime unit were supposed to be looking for an armed rapist. Mr. Speaker, was that rapist Amadou Diallo? No. He was simply a black man going home after a long day's work. The officers approached Amadou, and what happened is not completely clear. But in the end, the unarmed young man's body lay in front of his vestibule caught in a hailstorm of 41 bullets. The reason, the police said, they thought that a wallet was a gun; although he was left-handed, and the wallet was not anywhere near the left hand. A senseless death. But what is even more disturbing was the jury's verdict, which acquitted all the officers of all charges, ranging from second-degree murder to negligent homicide. Mr. Speaker, let me say we must call upon the Justice Department to investigate this case so that the deepening fear between minorities and the police who are supposed to protect them will end.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleagues here in the U.S. House of Representatives to join me in paying tribute to an outstanding public servant from my home state of New Jersey, Mr. Robert E. Stephens, the Director of the Division of Operations at New Jersey Department of Corrections. Mr. Stephens began his career with the State of New Jersey in 1975 as the Superintendent of Newark House, a community-based service center. In 1982, he became Assistant Superintendent for the Mid-State Correctional Facility. In 1984, he advanced to the position of Superintendent of the Mid-State Correctional Facility, where he remained until 1986 when he became Administrator of Northern State Prison. In 1993 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Division of Operations, and in 1994, he became the Director of the Division of Operations. During his tenure, Mr. Stephens has earned an excellent reputation as a professional of the highest integrity, competence and ability to bring people together. He is well respected for his outstanding leadership and for his many accomplishments over the year. On February 18, 2000, friends, family and colleagues of Mr. Stephens will gather to honor him for his many years of service. I know that my colleagues in Congress join me in offering our appreciation to Mr. Stephens for a job well done and our very best wishes for continued success.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me first of all commend the gentleman from the great State of Georgia (Mr. Lewis) for calling this special order highlighting the Greensboro sit-in that began on February 1, 40 years ago. I rise to join my colleagues in honoring this very important and historical day in history. Let me begin by asking, What is a patriot? Usually the term ``patriot'' evokes images of our first President, George Washington. As a young boy, every class that I went to in my elementary and secondary schools in Newark, New Jersey, had a picture of George Washington. He was the patriot, he was the father of our Nation. If you were to ask me what a patriot is, however, I would certainly say George Washington was one, but I also would think of the four particular young men who we have been talking about tonight in 1960: Ezell A. Blair, now Jibreel Khazan; Franklin E. McCain; Joseph A. McNeil; and David L. Richmond. These were young men who were patriots, also, because they sparked an American revolution of their own. As we think of these two images, they may seem unrelated, but they are in fact joined by the underlying principle of their actions, liberty, freedom and fairness. These young men were in search of more than just food and beverages. Their hunger and thirst was much deeper. They wanted to drink from the fountain of equality and freedom and were therefore attacking the social order of the time. The first day there were four; the second day 20. What ensued was that thousands started. As they say, ``If you start me with 10 who are stout-hearted men, then I'll soon give you 10,000 more.'' Of course today we have to be gender sensitive, so I would paraphrase it by saying, ``Start me with 10 who are stout-hearted men or women and I'll soon give you 10,000 more.'' They used to say, ``It is better to build boys than to mend men.'' We have a difficult time making it fit, but I say men and women, too. But let me say that these four young men started a revolution. So in a world full of images and symbols, I can think of nothing more powerful than the idea of these four young men, because it is said that nothing is as important as a dream whose time has come. As these men sat silently and calm at Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960, it showed the courage and image that embodied a movement that changed the face of America. As I conclude, Frederick Douglass once said, in 1857, ``Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.'' I conclude again by saying that we are thankful for those young men at that time. I also participated in Newark by us supporting them in those days, picketing Newark's Woolworth's store. I know recently Woolworth's announced the closing of 500 or so stores. I was just wondering whether that lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, was one of those that finally closed.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute and to congratulate the outstanding accomplishments of ten distinguished teachers from New Jersey. These great individuals have dedicated over twenty years each to educating and uplifting New Jersey's brightest little stars: our youth. They have truly demonstrated a solid commitment to building strong foundations for their students; in and outside of the schoolrooms. As a result of their diligent work towards promoting leadership in our children, these teachers will be honored by the Phi Chapter of lota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc. on November 20. lota Phi Lambda Sorority, a national business women's sorority, is devoted to projecting the philosophy of the pursuit of excellence in all worthy endeavors among youth. The teachers being honored during the Apple for the Teacher program, part of the National Education Week celebration, are: Carolyn S. Banks; Gloria J. Bartee; Henry B. Clark; Phyllis K. Donoghue; Victoria Gong; Mary Jo Grimm; Gail D. Lane; Robin C. Lewis; Simone Wilson; Kathleen Witche. Mr. Speaker, I ask that all my colleagues join me in congratulating these superb teachers on their efforts to improve the community. When our teachers demonstrate such initiative, we as a nation prosper.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt).

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 46 and would like to commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the chairman of the committee, and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Gejdenson), the ranking member on the Committee on International Relations, for bringing this resolution swiftly to the floor of the House. Let me also thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), chairman of the committee, and the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell), the prime sponsor of this resolution, for their tireless work on behalf of the continent of Africa. H. Con. Res. 46 says briefly that the Nations of Eritrea and Ethiopia should end their border war and that the United Nations Human Rights Commission and other human rights groups should investigate human rights abuses that have been perpetrated on the people of those two countries. It also deplores the escalation of conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which has resulted in massive loss of lives and substantial economic hardship. The resolution urges both countries immediately to bring an end to violence. The resolution goes on to commend the Organization for African Unity and former U.S. National Security Advisor, Mr. Anthony Lake, and our Assistant Secretary for African affairs, Dr. Susan Rice, for their efforts to mediate this conflict along with the OAU and other world leaders. This resolution strongly affirms the United States support of the OAU framework for peace and calls upon the UN Human Rights Commission and all human rights organizations to investigate human rights abuses in connection with the tensions, deportations, and displacement of the population. This war has been going on for 1\1/2\ years and has gone on too long. I have known and do know both President Isaias of Eritrea and Prime Minister Meles of Ethiopia for some time. I have visited both of them in their countries on several occasions. They both are outstanding, bright leaders. So it makes no sense that two persons who have known each other, distantly related, can continue on with a war of this nature. I had the privilege first to visit Ethiopia back under the rule of the former emperor of Ethiopia, His Excellency, Mr. Haile Selassie. It was the people like the Mengistu who took Ethiopia down the wrong path, but people like Meles and Isaias fought against the brutal dictator and dispelled him from the country. After successfully ousting Mengistu, Ethiopia gave Eritrea an opportunity to vote for its independence in 1993, following an internationally monitored referendum. As my colleagues may know, the original vote was supposed to occur in 1962, but was never called. But we give credit to Prime Minister Meles for allowing the vote to go forward, and Eritrea voted to separate itself. So I would just hope that this war would end. I would like to encourage the Algerian government to continue its efforts as a mediator in the conflict. The former Prime Minister of Algeria is convening a meeting this week to once again attempt to bring both sides together. Last week, I had an opportunity to speak with the Honorable Dawit Yohannes, Speaker of the House of the People's Republic of Ethiopia, and I encouraged his government to review again the OAU document, outlining a ceasefire and urged them to accept it. Both Ethiopia and Eritrea have undermined their respective economic development gains by engaging in a war that has cost both sides over $100 million, and some estimates claim that as many as 70,000 lives have been lost in this World War I type trench warfare. Civilian casualties are also very high, but the numbers are unknown. The Ethiopian and Eritrean conflict has hindered the United States' effort and curtailed our efforts to try to work against the Islamic fundamentalist government in Sudan that have been dealing with terrorists from Yemen and has been destabilizing northern Kenya. The IGAD peace process, chaired by Mr. Moi, has, as its members, both Ethiopia and Eritrea and Uganda, all embroiled in wars. So therefore peace cannot be negotiated in Sudan when these are conflicted themselves. So this war must end. It has put an end to our ACRI, the African Crisis Response Initiative, which was being trained in Ethiopia, which will once again set back peacekeeping on the continent. This war has taken a heavy toll on both sides of the conflict. It threatens to induce famine in Ethiopia and Eritrea and Sudan. Last year, the lack of adequate food put 2.6 million people in harm's way because of that. In conclusion, let me say that I am pleased by the swift, quick, and decisive action taken, once again, by Tony Lake and Dr. Rice, and I encourage them to continue to promote a political settlement. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos).

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder).

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), who has lent his voice in a very short and rapid time. And let me once again thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) for the outstanding work he has done, being there on the line.

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I urge support of H. Con. Res. 46. I would also like to say that this conflict is starting to be felt here even in our Nation's capital between Ethiopians and Eritreans. I ask the Ethiopians and Eritreans here in our country to urge their governments to put down the weapons of war. Ethiopia and Eritrea do not have the oil of Angola or Nigeria, nor the diamonds of the Congo or Sierra Leone, or the gold of South Africa or Botswana, and so the fight is really, unfortunately, a dispute that we believe can come to a solution.

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me also commend the gentleman from California for the outstanding work he has done in being the conscience and the historian to this body. On many questions that come up, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) is always there with a historical and accurate display of what happened; and as long as we remember the past, then we can perhaps avoid problems in the future. I stand to add my support to H. Con. Res. 188, commending Greece and Turkey for their mutual and swift response to the recent earthquakes in both countries by providing each other with humanitarian assistance and relief. I think that it shows that there are more similarities in people than differences, and sometimes leaders create differences that should not be there. For Greece to respond immediately to the terrible earthquake in Turkey, to go there to help people in need and then having a similar situation, not quite the magnitude, but Turkey responding very quickly to Greece, I think hopefully could set the framework. Sometimes out of tragedy comes positive things, and perhaps this may well may be a welcoming situation so that leaders of both countries can see they have so much in common. They are both supporters of NATO; they both are against extremist elements in the region. They both are supportive of a strong European Union, so people not only in Western Europe but Eastern Europe and throughout that region will be able to prosper. I think both countries have a lot in common because they both have been so prominent in the growth and development of the world. The great Greek Empire that gave us philosophers like Aristide and Socrates, and the whole foundation of democracy which was started by the Greek society, and then another great empire, taken, of course, by force, but also showed great leadership with the Ottoman Empire that lasted for many, many years. So two great nations, two nations that have had so much to do with the growth and development of the world as we know it today should not be at each other's throats. We know of the unfortunate situation, and there was enough blame to go around in the 1970s when the problem in Cyprus occurred, and neither side's hands were totally clean. But 25 years later we should come to some resolution to that problem. We should admit that perhaps there were problems created by both sides; but we should no longer, as we move into a new millennium, talk about an issue that happened 25 years ago. Cypriots, whether they are Greek or Turkish, are basically the same. They really do not even see differences in one another. So if we could get the original Cyprus people together and they talk together as Cypriots, not as Greeks or Turkish, I think we would see perhaps a resolution of this problem. So I am in strong support and commend those who are active in the Helenic Caucus, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), and my good friend, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), and also once again say that I think that it is possible for us to come up with a resolution.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution, H. Con. Res. 20. Let me once again thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman); the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), chairman of the subcommittee; and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Gejdenson) for bringing this resolution to the floor. I would also like to thank the primary sponsor, the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell), who traveled on CODEL Campbell to Somaliland last year, where we had the opportunity to meet with President Egal. This resolution expresses several points: Support for humanitarian and targeted development assistance for Somaliland. It encourages efforts at democratization and transparency. It recognizes the level of stability in the region. It encourages freedom of the press. It encourages dialogue with other regions in Somalia, and it also calls on the U.S. to provide funding for health and education. When Somalia gained independence from Britain and Italy, Somalia was left with two distinct systems of governing by virtue of the fact that they were controlled by different colonial powers. The governing body of Northern Somalia was colonized by the British. In the south it was colonized by the Italians. As we know, Djibouti, an independent country before their independence, was colonized by the French. The various systems have something to do we believe with the relative stability and instability of these regions. Northern Somalia, which was colonized by the British, was sort of left intact by the colonial hierarchy. They continued to allow traditional leaders to function. They allowed local leaders to be able to project themselves, therefore creating a more stable environment when independence came. Whereas, their Italian counterparts replaced the indigenous structures and they had their own Italian model for Southern Somalia around Mogadishu. And so, the lack of local leaders being recognized in the south by the form of colonization that the Italians had as contrasted with that of the north is one of the reasons to explain the differences in those two regions. ``The Great Conference of the Northern Peoples'' convened a meeting in May of 1991 and established the part of Somalia which the people in the north call Somaliland. It also promulgated a new Constitution for that region. President Egal was reelected to office in 1997 for another 5-year term by winning 223 votes in their 315-member national communities conference. Egal's relationship with other clans in Somalia has improved over the past years due to his efforts of reaching out to other clan leaders and once again having had visibility before independence. Somalia is one example of a collapsed system of government by the north, as we can see in the past. And so, the opportunity for us to visit there with CODEL Campbell to see the schools, the hospitals, the civil servants functioning and our recent visit by President Egal encourages us to continue to support the efforts that are happening there. Also, as the war continues between Ethiopia and Eritrea, we see that sides in Somalia are being taken by leaders between Isaias and Meles. And so, to have the stability in the north is very important. Mr. Speaker, we urge support of this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by saying I agree with the chairman of the subcommittee that this should not be construed as recognition. But I must certainly associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell) that this is a unique situation and, in the future, perhaps it is something that we need to look at. But I agree that this does not connote any type of recognition. I do, though, in conclusion urge all independent national organizations, foreign countries, and agencies of the United States Government to engage in economic development and humanitarian and other forms of foreign assistance to evaluate the ability of such assistance to achieve the amelioration of human suffering in each region of Somalia, including the northern part of Somalia known as Somaliland. We urge our President not to delay, diminish, or cancel the amount of assistance otherwise necessary to the people of certain regions of Somalia because the conditions in the other parts, as has been mentioned, are not stable and peaceful; and we encourage the President not to delay or diminish aid to certain areas of Somalia that are awaiting a peaceful resolution of the conflict. We also call on all Somalia parties to continue to work towards a permanent end to the civil strife there and to adopt the permanent government structure conducive to the well-being and the basic human rights of all Somalis. This resolution is just presented as a catalyst to deliver humanitarian assistance to Somalia and to create a dialogue that will end the suffering and confusion within Somalia.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a sad night tonight, because we will be talking about the loss of a great leader from the country of Tanzania, the former President, Julius Nyerere, who passed away last week in London at the age of 77 years of age. One of the reasons that we mourn this loss and that we rise today to pay tribute to this great man, a great statesman, a great man of compassion, a great educator, a person with tremendous vision, is because he was a person who believed strongly in Africa's ability to forge a prosperous future through unity and peace. At the time that Julius Nyerere moved towards his tenure as president, he was a person who had a tremendous belief in education. He was known affectionately throughout Africa as Mwalimu, which means ``teacher'' in Swahili. My first trip to Tanzania was back in 1973 when I had the opportunity to travel to that country with a YMCA statesmanship group that was a program run by the International Division of the YMCA, at that time Mr. Frank Keeny and persons like Dr. Nicholas Ganteroff and many of the leaders, the late Bob Harlan, who was the CEO of the YMCAs of the USA, a great man of vision. We had the opportunity to travel to Tanzania, and at that time President Nyerere was the leader of that country. The thing that struck me was that they had what they called education for self-reliance. Education for self-reliance was an educational system that brought the youngsters in about 8 in the morning, and then at noon they broke for 2 hours of work in the fields and they were learning how to be farmers, how to be self-reliant. Following that they would have a late lunch and then go back to class until close to 6 o'clock. I had the opportunity to visit some of the classrooms, dirt floors, thatched roofs, walls made out of mud, and youngsters in the third and fourth grade were studying algebra, looking at basic trigonometry, speaking at least three to four languages, always Swahili. Everyone spoke English. They learned their local dialect. And I was very, very impressed and started to just study this whole education for self- reliance. We had the opportunity to visit even in the more rural areas, and President Nyerere insisted that everyone must participate. He believed in the ``Ujama'' concept. That is the concept of collectivism, that everyone had to produce, everyone had to be a part of the growth and the development of their country. Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. The beautiful mountain Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania. But the educational system was almost second-to-none in that region of the world. He was a person that brought Tanzania out of the shadows of colonial rule and into independence. Many of the leaders in Africa used to visit and stay in Tanzania in Dar es Salaam where they used to talk about the Pan-Africanism and the question of independence in their countries, the leaders from Namibia to SWAPO organization, the ANC, the South African organization led by Mr. Nelson Mandela, of course, in prison at that time with Mr. Mbeki and other leaders that we grew to know, Mr. Sisulu. These were ANC leaders who were also in prison, but their colleagues found themselves in Dar es Salaam. We had leaders from Zambia, at that time Rhodesia. It was northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe. But people like Mr. Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, these great leaders used to migrate down to Dar es Salaam and talk about revolution, talk about independence, talk about freedom, talk about self-reliance. So we saw the whole area of independence led by our fallen leader who, at the age of 77, died after losing a 2-year battle with leukemia. He was a person who was the first leader to voluntarily step down. Elected in 1962, he decided that he would step down after serving 23 years as president. His people wanted him to continue on. But he said, no, he would not continue on as president, and he stepped down. Elections were held. President Benjamin Mkapa was the one who then became head of Tanzania recently. It was interesting that, in his drive for independence, the East African countries were under the British rule. They had Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. An organization called the East African Federation was created by the British. They integrated the air links, the rail links, the road links. The break-up of the East African Confederation happened when the countries became independent. It was Jomo Kenyatta who led the Maumaus who really started the whole move to independence, and Kenya was in the lead, although they were not the first. Gada received their independence in 1958, Kenya not until the early 1960s, although Sudan received their independence in 1957, 1956. So we saw, though, President Nyerere taking this country forward. There was a mean brutal dictator from the bordering country of Uganda. During my travels in Uganda in 1973 and 1974, I was in the presence of the then dictator Idi Amin. Idi Amin was a person who turned on his people. Idi Amin came to power by defeating President Milton Obote who served as the first president of Uganda but was not serving the people well. Idi Amin, at that time a popular figure with the people of Abu Gandon, took over, by military coups, and ousted Milton Obote. But then Idi Amin tended to turn on his people. Actually, then, with the incident in Entebbe where Israel came in to take out its citizens, that is when Idi Amin totally turned very barbaric on his people, murdering them and killing them and maiming them. The Organization of African Unity at that time had a protocol that one nation did not interfere with another nation's problems, that although they despise Idi Amin, they said that they would not become involved in another country's problem. That was one of their founding protocols. But this was wrong, said President Nyerere. In 1979, in defiance to the Organization of African Unity, President Nyerere sent troops to Uganda in response to this intense suffering of Ugandan people under the brutal dictatorship of Idi Amin. That operation, one of the first humanitarian missions of its kind in Africa, would help set up a legal precedent for peacekeeping missions all over the world as we see today as a common thing, as we see in East Timor, as we see being created for Kosovo, as we hear about the discussion in Sierra Leone, as we have seen in Cambodia in the past. So it was President Nyerere who said that the suffering has gone on too long, that the people have taken enough, that we must intervene, and, as I indicated, in defiance to the Organization of African Unity, send his troops in and ousted Idi Amin. This was a new wave, a new move, a new era for people of Africa. Dr. Nyerere I know became concerned about the educational system in Tanzania. I had the opportunity just 2 years ago to visit him at his home outside of Dar es Salaam. He talked about the fact that the educational system was not as good as it was before. He was very, very disturbed about that. He felt that the only way out for developing countries was to have a strong educational system, the type of a system that he produced when he was in charge, even though, as I have indicated, it was a very, very poor country. They put an emphasis on education. He was dismayed about the fact that the country was not progressing as much as he felt it should. But it was so, so peaceful to sit on his front porch of his home, very modest home, sitting on some chairs on the front porch and talking to this giant of a person. I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to know him and to have been in his company to discuss the problems of Africa to talk about the future of the continent. As I indicated, it was in 1985 when President Nyerere stepped down and he simply devoted his time to forming and also becoming involved in diplomatic solutions in countries. He worked tirelessly to negotiate an end to violence that plagued central and southern Africa during the past decade. Most recently, President Nyerere's efforts were directed towards mediating an end to the bloody civil war in a neighboring country of Burundi, where more than 200,000 people, mostly citizens, had been killed since 1993. As my colleagues know, in Central Africa, the Great Lake Region, we have two countries that have been very troubled, the country of Burundi, as I indicated that President Nyerere decided to have economic boycotts so that military government would see that they had to have democracy, that they had to let all people free and to be treated equally. Of course the other very troubled country was a country of Rwanda where, as we know, several years ago, we saw genocide when moderate Hutus and Tutsi ethnic people were killed. Numbers estimating between 500,000 and 1 million people were killed during the genocide. Once again, a country that has seen trouble and problems through the years. Of course, the genocide in Rwanda occurred when the world sat by and said that we would not intervene, we will not send in peace keepers, we will not use Chapter 7 of the United Nations. It was really one of the most shameful periods in the recent history of the world because the West and everyone around the world sat idly by as people were massacred by the tens of thousands. The UN that had a small contingent there, rather than ask for reinforcements, decided to leave. As a matter of fact, they left some of their employees who were of Rwandan birth there, many of them whom, of course, were massacred along with the other people who were left in that country. So it was President Nyerere, once again, who said that this sort of thing must end. Of course we saw Mr. Kagami come out of Uganda with the Rwanda patriotic front that routed the Hutu militia and drove them out of the country into the bordering then Zaire, which of course Zaire was a country that had been led for 30 years by the dictator of that country who robbed and raped the country of all of its resources. We saw the fact that Mr. Mobutu, the self-declared president, stole the diamonds and the riches and allowed his people to suffer. The Hutu X-FAR and the Interahamwe, the Interahamwe were the people who planned the genocide, decided that they would go into Zaire, now the Congo, the Democrat Republic of Congo. It was not until the Organization of African Unity and others said that enough is enough. The fact that the forces of Laurent Kabila that led a revolution to oppose President Mobutu then opened up the refugee camps to allow the people to return back from Goma, the then Zaire, back to Rwanda. So we have seen the fact that President Nyerere has had a very, very important role in the development, because, even during that time, he counseled leaders and he convened meetings to see if there could be some negotiated settlement. He also was a person who liked to read. What he did was to take eight books, books that should, he felt, be translated. He personally translated William Shakespeare's plays of Julias Caesar and the Merchant of Venice into Swahili. He would like to teach this. He was a Roman Catholic. Mr. Nyerere had eight children, was married. He just did so much to make that nation, although one of the poorest in the world, a very proud country, a very popular place to visit. It is a wonderful place. The beaches down in Dar es Salaam are among the most beautiful in the world. The United Republic of Tanzania, though, under his leadership and his consultation, amended its constitution in 1992 to become a multiparty State. In 1995, the nation conducted its first multiparty elections. At that time, it was just one political party when Mr. Nyerere was there. It was the Tanu party. In Kenya, there was only one party, the Kanu party. So we saw that Mr. Nyerere, as he left office, encouraged the country to go to multiparty elections and to become a multiparty State. Many people wonder why many of the African countries were only one party, but those who were involved in revolution, the freedom fighters, they were the leaders who said we will fight against the colonial powers, and they did, and others who accepted the colonial powers. So there was just one political party. There was just one group of people who fought to relieve the countries of the colonial powers, and that is why they justified a one-party system. In 1992, they had these multiparty elections, and at that time we saw the President, the election of Mr. Benjamin Mkapa, who won a four-way race with 61 percent of the vote. The island of Zanzibar and Tanzania are related and together they are the United Republic of Tanzania, although the government in Zanzibar has its own parliament, it has its own president or prime minister. And, actually, in Zanzibar, there has been questions about the elections. I visited Zanzibar several years ago and met with the prime minister there who indicated that the country is equally divided between Indian and African descent. It is about 50-50. And their dilemma is attempting to try to come up with a solution so that both parties, both groups of people, can feel that they are being represented in the government; that there needs to be a sharing of the responsibility of governing the country. We worked on some ideas about how that could happen. They need to have everyone feeling that they are included and are a part of the government. But as Tanzania now moves with the multiparty, we had the opportunity to have Mr. Mkapa here just several months ago where he addressed the Members of Congress in the Congressional Black Caucus's legislative conference. And there was a lot of pressure for Mr. Mkapa to become involved in the conflict in the Congo. As my colleagues may or may not be aware, there was a recent conflict where seven countries became participants in sort of a mini world war in Africa. Lawrence Kabila's government was under attack from Uganda and Rwanda because the leaders of Uganda and Rwanda felt that the leaders of the genocide, the X-FAR and the Interahamwe were still in Zaire, still in the Congo, and that Mr. Kabila was not doing enough to get them disarmed and returned back to face trials in Rwanda. And so there was a conflict with Uganda and Rwanda on one side, Namibia and Zimbabwe and Angola and Sudan on the other side. Just recently, we have seen the fact that finally there has been a negotiated settlement, a plan of the Lusaka Accords that have been led by President Chiluba of Zambia, where they have signed the accord. And we hope now that the Congo will end this fighting for good so that the people who have been under the brutal dictatorship of Mr. Mobutu for 30 years can finally start to have self-determination, start to have educational programs, start to be relieved of the dictators and the repressive government that they have had to endure for so long. So there is hope. We are looking towards the leaders in central Africa to come up with solutions. We can look to a place, a country like Mozambique, also one of the poorest countries in the world, where we have seen a growth in the GDP in Mozambique of about 8 or 10 percent annually. We have seen the fact that the people there are working together. The former Renamo forces now have become a political party with the MPLA and they are working together in unity to make conditions better for the people of that country. We have seen Namibia go through some problems as well as problems up close to Angola, but we now are seeing President Josh Nkomo moving to new elections so that the people once again will be able to move forward and progress as we move towards the new millennium. We look at Nigeria with its new president, President Obasanjo, who I will have the pleasure to meet with tomorrow, that has ended the military rule of its 38 years since independence, 28 years of military rule. And we now see President Obasanjo retiring the military. As my colleagues know, the brutal dictator Abacho had imprisoned President Obasanjo and imprisoned Chief MKO Abiola, who won the June 12 elections but was imprisoned because he said he was president and they said the elections were annulled. So now, the new Nigeria, with its elected parliament, with its new leaders, with its tremendous resources of oil and diamonds and timber and agricultural promise, we believe will once again move towards a direction of increase in its GDP and once again provide the outstanding education that it did for its people at its independence. Nigeria, with South Africa, with its new leader Thabo Mbeki can really be the engines of South Africa. A healthy South Africa and a strong Nigeria can pull the rest of the countries in Africa along into progress. So we are encouraged by the fact that these two giants have had positive elections, have had a transition, have had a turnover from military rule. As we saw in the apartheid South Africa to a new multiracial Democratic society, we are seeing the same situation happening in Nigeria. So there is a tremendous amount of hope and there is a tremendous amount of opportunity. We also would like to see increased trade and development between the United States and Africa. We have the technical resources to be able to assist them in this growth and development. They have the natural resources. Together we can harness tremendous energy so that both the Africans and Nigerians, South Africa, and Namibia, and all of the countries, the 50 sub-Saharan countries, 700 million people, will be able to start to benefit and enjoy the fruits of a true democracy and education and health care. The fact that everyone will be judged by their worth is something that these countries look forward to. So as I conclude, I once again would like to say that the world is better off because of Dr. Julius Nyerere; that many of us have looked to him as a leader, a person of inspiration, a person who during my young years I looked to him as someone that I would like to emulate. And so it is with a great deal of sorrow that we have seen this fallen leader come to the end of his great career, but all of us in the world are better off for what he has done.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.