ALBRIGHT URGES PASSAGE OF NEW AFRICA TRADE LEGISLATION
USIA
USIS Washington File
13 January 1998
ALBRIGHT URGES PASSAGE OF NEW AFRICA TRADE LEGISLATION
(Secretary addresses Center for National Policy) (450)
By Robert Fullerton
USIA Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright January 13 urged
Congress to approve the African Growth and Opportunity Act -- an
initiative supported by the Clinton administration which aims "to
frame a new American [trade] approach to Africa."
The secretary made the suggestion in a speech to the Center for
National Policy (CNP), a think tank she once headed, while assessing
Clinton administration foreign policy gains over the past year and
outlining policy goals for 1998.
During her visit to seven African nations last month, Albright
recalled in her prepared remarks that she "was impressed by the
opportunities that have arisen to integrate Africa into the global
economy; build democracy; move beyond the terrible conflicts that have
plagued the region; and cooperate in responding to global threats."
"We believe that the African countries that most deserve our help are
those that are doing the most to help themselves. And that the most
useful help we can provide is the kind that will enable economies to
stand on their own feet through open markets, greater investment,
increased trade, and the development among their peoples of 21st
century skills," she added.
Asked if it was wrong for the United States to call for free elections
and for democracy in developing nations -- or if, first, more liberal
constitutional policies or economic development should be pursued, as
suggested recently in a key foreign policy journal and a national
magazine -- Albright acknowledged that a more "multifaceted approach"
may be needed in the future.
"I believe that we must never forget that human rights and democracy
are central to our foreign policy, and that is something we want in
countries so that people have an ability to select governments of
their own choosing, and that they can do so without fear of
retribution," Albright said.
"At the same time -- and I came across this very vividly in my trip
just now to Africa and the Great Lakes region -- I think it's
important for us to think about a number of other aspects that
countries need," she said. "They need to be able to have institutional
structures which can support democracy. They need to have a rule of
law. They need to have judicial judges in a judiciary system that
functions, and police that function fairly. They need to have the
ability to supply an economic life for their people.
"So I think that what we need to do is be more broad-based as we go
into the countries in terms of asking about what needs to be done,"
she said.