[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 172 (Thursday, November 2, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2109-E2111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO SIMON PELMAN
______
HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
of new york
in the house of representatives
Thursday, November 2, 1995
Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, as each of us moves down the roadway of life
to our golden years, it is comforting to know that there are caregivers
and service providers who specialize in attending to the needs of the
senior population. Simon Pelman is such a person.
For over 20 years, he has devoted his time, talents and energy to
bettering the lives of the elderly. He has been instrumental in raising
the standards of care in nursing homes throughout the State of New
York. Beginning with Greenpark Care Center, a 400-bed long-term care
facility, Simon has always endeavored to care for his elderly clients
with the utmost of devotion and respect. His zeal to be efficient and
considerate is clearly evidenced by his pursuit of two master's degrees
in geriatrics. As a matter of fact, he has also received prestigious
quality of life awards for his service.
Very active politically, Simon has utilized his abilities to assist
people in the community, particularly as the district representative on
the legislative committee of the New York State Health Facilities
Association. He is also very active in promoting the needs of the
learning disabled, and has been recognized by the board of education. I
am delighted to salute Mr. Pelman for his impressive and important
work.
[[Page E 2110]]
ERITREA RAISES ITS FLAG IN WASHINGTON, DC TOMORROW
______
HON. DAN BURTON
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Thursday, November 2, 1995
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the Embassy of the State
of Eritrea will raise its flag in Washington, DC, for the first time.
This is a momentous occasion. The Eritrean people won their long
struggle for freedom in 1991, and declared independence in 1993, after
a referendum.
The people of Eritrea have earned the admiration of the entire world
for their perseverance, commitment, and dedication. They are an
inspiration to us all, and it is an honor for our country to have the
Eritrean flag flying in our Capital. I would like to salute President
Issaias Afwerki, Foreign Minister Petros Solomon, Ambassador Amdemicael
Kahsai, and the entire Eritrean nation on this happy day.
I commend to the attention of my colleagues an article in the
Washington Times based on an interview with President Issaias. In it,
he boldly calls for increasing self-sufficiency and development of
resources in Africa, and emphasizes the limited utility and
effectiveness of foreign aid. I hope that we can all pay close
attention to these wise words.
I also wish to highlight the recent cooperation in the medical field
between Eritrea and Israel as reported in Eritrea Profile. The health
minister of Israel, Dr. Ephraim Sneh, recently visited Eritrea and
signed an agreement to provide incubators for Eritrean hospitals.
Israel has an exemplary recorded of International cooperation and I
hope that this particular relationship is able to expand.
Finally, I wish to insert into the Record an article from the
Economist about the problem of Sudanese subversion in the Horn of
Africa, and Eritrea's courageous response.
[From the Washington Times, Sept. 25, 1995]
Struggling Eritrea Agrees U.S. Should Cut Foreign Aid
(By Terry Leonard)
Asmara, Eritrea.--U.S. lawmakers intent on cutting foreign
aid have unlikely allies in this small, poor nation that
receives more of it per person than any other country in
Africa.
``Aid is used and abused, so why not cut it?'' President
Isaias Afewerki said in an interview. ``We favor the new
American approach to reconsider aid.''
He said the country must not depend on aid to survive. ``If
we here have faith in foreign aid as the maker and breaker of
Eritrea, then that is the end of Eritrea.''
Eritrea, Africa's newest country, is determined to avoid
the same trap that has mired so many African nations in debt
and dependence on foreign handouts.
``We believe we need aid. But we don't believe aid can
solve our problems,'' Mr. Afewerki said.
The country desperately needs help as it emerges from 30
years of devastating war that finally brought independence
from Ethiopia in 1993. But Mr. Afewerki and other government
leaders say they would like to see aid limited to projects
that promote development and not rely on handouts.
``The effective use of aid is to free society from any
dependence on outside sources,'' the president said.
Eritrea was the most industrialized country in Africa
before war took its toll. Now the economy and the
infrastructure are in shambles. Average life expectancy is 46
years. Annual per capita income is less than $150.
Two-thirds of Eritrea's 3 million people rely on food aid.
Although most citizens make their living from agriculture,
only 25 percent of the land is arable, and only about 10
percent of that is under cultivation.
This year, the U.S. government has promised Eritrea $13.2
million in development aid and $6.2 million in direct food
aid. Under expected reductions for next year, development
assistance is to fall to $9.6 million and direct food aid to
just over $4 million.
Saleh Meky, Eritrea's U.S.-educated minister of marine
resources, said he does not believe Eritrea will suffer from
the reduction.
He said the United States is giving his ministry computers
and teaching his people how to use them to determine the
sustainable yield from Eritrea's bountiful fishing grounds in
the Red Sea. They were virtually untouched during the three
decades of war.
America provides up to 30 percent of Eritrea's food aid and
is spending $2.3 million to help analyze food security
problems and develop strategies to solve them.
Overall, American contributions amount to only about 5
percent of the total bilateral aid to Eritrea, officials
said.
U.S. aid is improving the woefully inadequate primary
health care system in an effort to make the work force
healthier and more productive. Washington proposes to spend
$3.7 million on that project next year and on support for
family planning. The birthrate here of 6.8 children per woman
threatens to double the population in 23 years.
The United States also intends to spend $1.5 million
helping the government transform the state-controlled economy
into one dominated by private business.
Although U.S. lawmakers are still wrangling over which
programs will be eliminated or reduced, reductions to all aid
programs are expected to average more than 30 percent.
Eritrean, officials have not said how they intend to make
up the difference except that they want to become self-
reliant.
``We get lots of offers of technical aid. Experts of all
sorts, many of which have no use,'' said Nerayo Teklemichael,
director of the Eritrean Relief and Rehabilitation Agency.
``We need projects that eventually will make us self-reliant
in food. We must have more food, and we must cultivate more
land for food.''
____
President Receives Israeli Minister
President Isaias Afwerki yesterday held talks with Israeli
Minister of Health, Dr. Ephraim Sneh, who is on a working
visit to Eritrea. During the meeting, the President and Mr.
Sneh said both sides will work towards developing Eritrean-
Israeli cooperation in the health sector.
On August 10, the Israeli Minister handed over, on behalf
of his ministry, two modern incubators donated to the
maternity section of Asmara's Mekane Hiwot Hospital. He also
visited different sections of the hospital. The director of
the Maternity Section of the hospital, Dr. Abdu Mahmoud Taha,
said the donation will facilitate the work of the section,
besides easing the shortage of equipment. An average of 15
mothers are admitted to the maternity section a day, while 25
others are examined in the clinic under its administration.
Dr. Sneh arrived in Asmara on Thursday.
____
[From the Economist, Oct. 14, 1995]
We Won't Take Any More
Eritrea has at last lost patience with the Islamist
government in Sudan. Relations between the 2\1/2\-year-old
state and its far larger neighbour have worsened rapidly this
year. Now President Issaias Afwerki has told The Economist
flatly: ``We are out to see that this government is not there
any more. We are not trying to pressure them to talk to us,
or to behave in a more constructive way. We will give weapons
to anyone committed to overthrowing them.''
Bold words, maybe rash ones, you might think, from a much
smaller country. So why, exactly? Mr. Issaias accuses the
Sudanese of trying to destabilize the whole region. They
stand widely accused of trying to murder Egypt's president,
Hosni Mubarak, while he was visiting Ethiopia in June this
year for an Organisation of African Unity meeting. Mr.
Issaias says they have kept fighting going in Somalia, by
backing certain factions. And Eritrea itself is vulnerable.
Its populations is almost evenly divided between Christians
and Muslims. In fighting to break free from Ethiopia, the
Eritreans overcame these differences. But with 450,000
Eritreans still refugees in Sudan, the government fears
infiltration of armed fundamentalists across its western
border.
Relations have not always been bad. Mr. Issaias's Eritrean
People's Liberation Front used Sudan as a rear base in its
long struggle for independence. It had a political office in
Khartoum, and used Port Sudan for bringing in supplies. It
worked closely with certain Sudanese officers; one of them,
Abdul Aziz Khalid, now in opposition to his own government,
is active these days in Sudanese opposition circles in
Eritrea. And in his early months of power the Eritrean
president thought he could handle the men in Khartoum through
diplomacy.
Now, says Mr. Issaias, he regrets the time wasted in trying
to talk to them: ``We have tried to develop some kind of
partnership. But our goodwill has been abused. We have done
enough, and it's not going to work.'' Late last year Eritrea
cut diplomatic ties, and in June it publicly hosted a meeting
of all Sudanese opposition movements under the umbrella of
the (Sudanese) National Democratic Alliance, which has been
allowed to broadcast calls for revolt from a radio station in
Eritrea.
Who will he arm and with what? Mr. Issaias isn't saying.
Possible recipients of his bounty include the northern
political parties, now banned in Sudan, as well as the Sudan
People's Liberation Army, a mainly southern movement which
has been riven by splits and defections in the past three
years. ``But we won't give weapons to factions,'' he says. In
arming these diverse groups, he is anxious that they do not
use his weaponry on each other. He is insisting on a unified
political stand. The June meeting of the Sudanese opposition
committed all groups--at least in words--to a referendum on
self-determination for the south of their country.
Until now Sudan's neighbours have tried to engage its
government in dialogue and bind it into agreements. But, they
claim, the regime seems determined to press ahead, spreading
its version of Islam throughout the region. There were
several attacks on government posts in western Eritrea last
year, which were assumed to have been instigated by Sudan.
There is also strong evidence that a rebel movement in
northern Uganda has recently been armed by the Sudanese.
President Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia recently claimed to have
evidence that Sudan's security forces had a hand in the
attempt to kill Mr. Mubarak; Ethiopia is demanding the
extradition of three men whom it believes to have been
directly involved. Of Sudan's eastern neighbours, Kenya
remains on speaking terms, but even in Nairobi there are
doubts about trying to contain Khartoum's ambitions by
talking.
[[Page E 2111]]
Could the Eritreans' open readiness to arm the Sudanese
opposition lead to war? It seems unlikely. The two countries'
border runs through remote, difficult terrain. And though
Eritrea is small, it evidently does not fear open attack. It
has an experienced fighting force and plenty of weapons left
over from its war of independence.
As to Sudan, what could worry it more is the risk that
Ethiopia might follow the Eritrean example. A cease-fire in
Sudan's south has held for six months now, but with the onset
of the dry season few expect it to last much longer. If the
southern rebels and other groups could operate across the
whole of Sudan's eastern border, the regime would be in real
trouble.