Barbara Lee Supports Bill to Remove Nelson Mandela & the ANC From Terrorist Watch Lists
Press Release
For Immediate Release: May 6, 2008
Contact: Cleve Mesidor, (202) 225-2661
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-9) entered the following statement into the Congressional Record in strong support of HR 5690 to remove South Africa’s African National Congress party from the list of terrorist organizations:
“I rise in strong support of HR 5690 to remove South Africa’s African National Congress party from the list of terrorist organizations.
“I want to begin by thanking Chairman Berman for yielding, and for his work in developing and introducing the bill and shepherding it along with Chairman Conyers to the floor today.
“Madam Speaker as a co-sponsor of this legislation and a longtime advocate against apartheid I am especially pleased that we are taking this important step to right this inexcusable wrong.
“It has been 18 years since Nelson Mandela was released from prison, 14 years since he was elected President of South Africa, and this year he will turn 90 years old.
“Yet to this day, despite his legacy as a hero of the anti-apartheid movement, despite the Nobel peace prize her received in 1993, despite his election as President, we still require Nelson Mandela to apply for a visa waiver in order to even visit the United States.
“That is just plain wrong.
“Last December I traveled to South Africa for World AIDS Day with our colleague Congresswoman Christensen. We heard repeatedly that ANC members were having difficulty visiting the United States because they were being forced to apply for a visa waiver.
“So I’m pleased that we are taking this step today.
“Despite any acts of violence that its members may have committed, the ANC was fundamentally involved in a war of liberation against the oppressive apartheid regime in South Africa for over four decades.
“Instead of continuing to penalize the ANC for their political struggle against apartheid, we should be commending them for their work in transforming South Africa into a beacon of democracy.
“Again I want to thank Chairman Berman and Chairman Conyers for bringing this bill to the floor today. It is the right thing to do, and I urge all my colleagues to support it.”
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-9) is Co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, First-Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Appropriations Committee.
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