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Congressional Delegation Returns From Africa

March 5, 2019 Press Release WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, and Representatives Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) returned from a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) to

March 5, 2019
Press Release
WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, and Representatives Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) returned from a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) to Ethiopia and Eritrea. The goal of the visit was to support regional peace and security in the Horn of Africa and to encourage countries to place human rights at the center of the reforms.

“It was important our first Congressional Delegation trip of this Congress be to the Horn of Africa because of the change the region is going through following the historic peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea that ended 20 years of conflict,” said Representative Bass. “Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came into office with a serious reform agenda aimed at ending political repression. Since coming into office, the Prime Minister has freed thousands of political prisoners, opened the media, and appointed women to half of the cabinet posts. I was in Ethiopia shortly after the Prime Minister took office and looked forward to an update on his progress. Our delegation was fortunate to meet with the President of Ethiopia and several of the new female cabinet members.

“In addition to wanting to send the signal that we support Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s reform agenda, our delegation was also meant to encourage the new peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The last U.S. Congressional Delegation to visit the country was in 2005, when my predecessor on the Subcommittee, the late Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey, traveled to Eritrea. Our delegation had a number of productive conversations with Eritrean government officials. We discussed the need for transformation and urged officials to be vigilant about human rights abuses in Eritrea and to implement respect for civil liberties. We also discussed Eritrea’s unlimited national service requirement, which is one of the main reasons why thousands have fled the country. The government officials we met with informed us that the policy is under review now that the security situation in Eritrea has improved. We also met with young Eritreans and were able to hear about their daily lives and their hope for the future.

“This Congressional Delegation to the Horn of Africa was critical because it signals to the region as a whole that we are supportive of positive reforms.”

“I echo Chairwoman Bass’ statement, and appreciated the opportunity to join her on this diplomatic CODEL trip to Ethiopia and Eritrea,” said Representative Neguse. “I look forward to further discussions with my colleagues and the State Department on how to further promote peace, security, human rights, and democratic reforms in the region.”

“I was impressed with the regional thaw in East Africa after Eritrea and Ethiopia made peace,” said Representative Omar. “As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, my focus has been on peace and human rights and shifting our focus on humanitarian aid to developmental aid. It was a great honor to join Chairwoman Bass for the first official CODEL to the Horn of Africa. America has been supportive of Prime Minister Abiy’s reform agenda, and I believe we must use this opportunity to foster prosperity in the region and make investments that will fundamentally transform our relationship with the region.”

Bass.house.gov: US Congressional Delegation Returns From Africa

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6 COMMENTS
  • k.tewolde March 7, 2019

    No mention of the other character,did they venture out of the city limits? did they visit and interview those political and religious prisoners of conscience?did they even say hello to their fellow American citizens and other foreign entities holed up there? did they….? diplomatic optics!!!!

  • ወዲ ህዝቢ March 7, 2019

    ኣቱም ሰባት , ኣሜሪካን ራሻን ቻይናን ኤውሮጳን ቀንዲ ሃገራት ኣዕራብን መተዓዛዘቢ እየን ጌረን; ኩለን ምድማር ናይ ኣቢይን ኢሳያስን ተቐቢለን ከሳስያ ይርኣያ ኣለዋ; ንኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ዘራኽብ ..ገሊኤን ሻምብቆ በንዚና ,ገሊኤን ጽርግያታት ገሊኤን መገዲ ባቡር እናሰርሓ ሓባራዊ ምዕበላን ዕብየትን የምጽኣ ኣለዋ; ንሕና ኤርትራውያን በዚ ንጥበር ኣይኮንናን ; ዋላ ከምዛ ዘለናያ ንምዓልቲ ሓንሳእ እናበላዕና ,ናውቲ ህንጻ ዘይብልና ወልፊ ቡን ሃዊኹና ስገም ኣሕሪርና እናሰተና ኣብ ክንዲ ሽኮር ጨው እናተጠቐምና ሓይሊ ኤሌትሪክ ከም ሩባ ኣባይ ስለዘይብልና ብሽምዓ እናተጠቐምና ኩርዓትናን ድኽነትናን ሒዝና ክንነብር ኢና ; ንሕና ኤርትራውያን እኮ ንነጻነት ተቓለስና እምበር ትምህርትን ምዕባለን ቴክኖሎጂን ሰላምን ቅሳነትን ኣይተቓለስናን ; ንሱ እውን እንተተረፈ ኻልኣዊ እዩ; ምናልባሽዶ ኢራን ጸረ ምድማር ትኸውን ; ካብኣ እዩ ተስፋና ; ንኽንድመር ኣይተቓለስናን
    ምድማር ኣይደሊ ምዕማር
    ኤረይ ሃቡኒ ኣይትበሉኒ ቑማር ;

    • k.tewolde March 7, 2019

      You sound like a used car salesman Wedi hizbi,you selling a lemon and the consumer ain’t buying it.

    • Gezae March 9, 2019

      Every thing we had lost are now found [coming back]. Thank to the Eritrean government. Thank to the USA, Russia, China, EU, and the Arab countries for initiating or promising to help build and rebuild the wounded country Eritrea.

  • Berhane Haile March 9, 2019

    Change comes from within even if outside influence can be of some diplomatic pressure. So, it is much better to focus on our struggle to remove the brutal dictator.

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