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Africa Policy E-Journalgiven the difficulty in maintaining up-to-date links in old files. However, we hope they may still provide leads for your research. Africa: Congressional Letter on Africa Aid Date Distributed (ymd): 950517 May 17, 1995 Four members of the House of Representatives have taken the initiative to ask their colleagues to sign a letter in support of aid to Africa, to be sent to the chairpersons of the relevant committees that are considering the budget this month and in June. The four are Amo Houghton (R-NY), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Doug Bereuter (R-NE), and Donald Payne (D-NJ). Other members of Congress have recently received an invitation to become co- signers. In communicating with your member of Congress concerning aid to Africa, one concrete measure you can urge on them is to sign on to this letter by contacting the offices of Rep. Houghton or Rep. Ackerman. The draft text of the letter as sent out by the four members is as follows. "Dear Chairman: In this time of diminishing resources, the American people are demanding improved fiscal responsibility and sound spending choices that are consistent with American principles. We are, therefore, concerned that current proposals to cut foreign aid, especially development assistance to Africa, misrepresent the will of the American people. One sound spending choice would be to maintain the Development Fund for Africa as a separate account at a funding level sufficient to foster sustainable development. Disproportionate or severe cuts will undermine this purpose. As you know, Africa is a continent in crisis -- conflict, famine, environmental degradation and debt burdens beset many nations. These crises too often overshadow the nations on the continent where progress toward democracy and economic growth have greatly improved the context for and impact of U.S. assistance. But Africa is also facing opportunity. Now is not the time to pull back. Now is the time to shift emphasis, promote self-help development, peaceful resolution of conflicts and debt reduction. The Development Fund for Africa and the African Development Foundation have contributed to Africa's gains in health care, educational opportunities and small business development. As a result, in our minds, it is in the U.S. national interest to assist African nations. Africa is the last great development frontier, a potentially significant partner in world trade. Investments in Africa's people -- to help them meet their basic needs, increase their incomes, develop their infrastructure, participate in decisions and resolve conflicts -- are essential to creating an environment for the fair trade and investment opportunities that will lead to sustained economic and social progress. U.S. assistance can also help address war and debt, two major obstacles to development in Africa. By providing resources to African organizations engaged in mediating conflicts, the U.S. can support African solutions to African problems. And by forgiving some of the debt owed to the U.S., we can help African nations devote more resources to education and health care and create a better environment for economic growth. Maintaining effective aid programs for Africa with a level adequate to meet both the needs and the opportunities is in our national interest. We therefore asks that these programs not be signaled out to carry a severe or disproportionate share of the program cutbacks needed to meet the commitment to reducing the federal budget. Sincerely, In order to reach your Member of Congress to urge that he or she sign this letter, you may call the Capitol Switchboard at: (202) 224-3121.
Documents previously distributed in the e-journal are
available on the Africa Action website: To be added to or dropped from the e-journal subscription list, write to e-journal@africaaction.org. For more information about reposted material, please contact directly the source mentioned in the posting.
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Africa Policy E-Journal
