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CONGRESSMAN ADERHOLT TRAVELS TO AFRICA WITH CODEL

Trip Includes Visit With Alabama Troops

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) is currently travelling as part of a Congressional Delegation on a trip to Africa.  During the trip, Rep. Aderholt will visit the newly launched United States Africa Command and he will meet with African leaders about the economic and social challenges that they face. The trip will also include a visit with Alabama troops and senior U.S. military commanders for briefings at an undisclosed location.

The members traveling with Congressman Aderholt are Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Jeff Miller of Florida and Randy Neugebauer of Texas.

The United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) is a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense that is responsible for U.S. military operations in African nations.

The US State Department contends that AFRICOM plays a supportive role as Africans continue to build democratic institutions and establish good governance across the continent. Since its launch in early 2007, AFRICOM’S foremost mission has been to help Africans achieve their own security, and to support African leadership efforts.

“AFRICOM is an organization in which I have great interest, not only because of the Command’s importance to Africa, but also because of its ongoing importance to our national security,” said Congressman Aderholt. 

The delegation will visit Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia, including meetings with Ugandan President Yoweri Musevini, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and First Lady Azeb Mesfin.  Discussions will center on AFRICOM, as well as African social and healthcare issues. 

“The United States has devoted record-levels of support to AIDS education, treatment and prevention in Africa, and the US is the largest contributor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria since 2001,” said Congressman Robert Aderholt.  “I look forward to the opportunity to discuss the progress in the global fight against AIDS with leaders of the African countries we are visiting.”

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