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Foreign Affairs
Israel
As a member of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, I have closely followed the situation in Israel and Palestine and have been dismayed by the deterioration in recent years. On multiple occasions the members of the Palestinian community have rejected potential solutions and agreements for peace, resorting instead to violence and terror. Although I have worked to expand U.S. ties with moderate Arab states and other constructive leaders throughout the Middle East, we cannot tolerate the constant terror that the Israel people face on a daily basis. Just as the United States was justified in its effort to combat terror in Afghanistan, a country halfway around the globe, so too should Israel be able to fight the terror it faces in its own backyard.
Throughout my years in Congress, I have been among the strongest supporters of a close U.S.-Israel relationship. Israel is not only our best friend in the Middle East, it is also the only real democracy in the region. As such it deserves our strong moral, political, and economic support.
Kosovo
Kosovo is currently one of the poorest regions in Europe. During the 1990s under Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, conflict between ethnic Albanians and Serbs escalated into the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians. After attempts to end the conflict through international diplomacy failed, NATO launched air-strikes against targets in both Serbia and Kosovo in March 1999, driving Serbian forces from the province. Several months later the United Nations assumed temporary administration of Kosovo.
In February 2007 the United Nations unveiled a plan for Kosovo independence, supported by Kosovo Albanians but rejected by Serbia. In the months following the plan's announcement, President Bush declared his approval of Kosovan independence. On April 17, 2007 I introduced H.Res. 309 expressing US support of independence for Kosovo. Russia, however, has threatened to veto any UN resolution that comes before the UN Security Council endorsing Kosovan independence.
I firmly believe that to promote economic and political stability in the region, it is important that Kosovo become an independent nation. Kosovo, despite international aid, remains a region troubled both politically and economically. The current interim UN government was intended for short-term governance only, and eventually another government must form. Through continued diplomatic relations with its neighbors and friends in NATO, the European Union, and the United Nations, as well as Serbia, Kosovo can move towards a prosperous, stable independent government and put its bloody past behind it.
Slavery
Although the 13th Amendment officially abolished slavery in the United States over a century ago, slavery still exists worldwide. The practice of slavery continues today in both developed and developing nations; between 14,500 and 17,500 slaves are trafficked into the United States every year. This is unacceptable. Through education and empowerment we can reduce the practice of slavery, but the United States must also pursue an aggressive anti-slavery program in conjunction with foreign governments.
Child slave labor in particular is an extremely troubling practice. Millions of child laborers are denied the opportunity for education, and through education the opportunity to escape from poverty. The work itself is often dangerous. Children working in the agriculture industry, for example, are exposed to numerous toxins and pesticides that limit growth and result in cancer and other diseases later in life. Children as young as four years of age use dangerous tools such as machetes or shears.
Several years ago Senator Tom Harkin and I, together with the chocolate industry developed the Harkin-Engel Protocol, a six-point problem solving approach towards eliminating child slavery in the cocoa production industry in West Africa. Unfortunately the chocolate industry has since then backed away from many aspects of the protocol in favor of increased company profits. I believe that we must do more to eliminate child slavery in the cocoa industry and other industries throughout the world. It is vital that the U.S. government recognize the need to end the practice of slavery wherever it is found.
Latin America and the Caribbean
As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, I firmly believe that we must focus more intensively on positive relations with Latin America and the Caribbean. The President's March 2007 trip to Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay was a good step towards greater cooperation with our neighbors in the hemisphere, and we must follow up with concrete actions. Positive engagement with our friends in the Americas can play a pivotal role in promoting a shared and cooperative hemispheric agenda.
Poverty and inequality remain the biggest unaddressed problems in Latin America and the Caribbean, and are at the core of many political developments in the region. Almost 209 million people, some 40% of the region's people, live in poverty. In order to curb anti-Americanism and have a real impact in reducing poverty and inequality, we must take concrete actions, including increasing U.S. assistance to the region. Such actions demonstrate to our friends to the south that the United States sees them as important partners.
It is important to note that poverty is also driving both legal and illegal immigration to the United States. Most immigrants to the United States seek greater economic opportunity. Through increased cooperation and U.S. assistance, we can help promote economic development throughout the Western Hemisphere, creating more jobs in the region and reducing the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States.
The Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere is ready to work closely with the Administration and the countries in the region in finding innovative ways to reduce poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. Substantive action on this issue will aid all governments and peoples in the region, including the United States. And as we deal with our neighbors to the south, we must remember to treat all nations with the dignity they deserve.
Darfur / Sudan
Despite the efforts of the African Union and the international community to restore peace in the Darfur region of Sudan, violence towards unarmed citizens and refugees continues there. The Sudanese government and the militias it supports have destroyed crucial food and water resources and engaged in despicable acts of violence, abduction, and rape. They have also obstructed the international community's efforts to provide basic humanitarian aid to the people currently living in Darfur.
I strongly concur with the official position of the U.S. government that these actions should be considered genocide and crimes against humanity. As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, I believe that the government of Sudan must be held responsible for its actions against the people of Darfur. In 2006 I cosponsored the Darfur Accountability Act of 2006, which strengthened economic and diplomatic sanctions against the Sudanese government, and offered NATO assistance to African Union peacekeepers in Sudan. I am currently a cosponsor of HR 180, which calls for divestment from companies which do business in Sudan.
Yet these actions alone are not enough to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. The U.S. government and the international community must increase their efforts to bring peace to the region.