The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SOMALIA” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S6146-S6147 on June 25, 2008.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SOMALIA
Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise in support of S. Res. 541, adopted on May 21, which is a resolution designed to support humanitarian assistance in Somalia. As you know, Somalia has seen one government after another fail to deliver for the Somali people for the better part of two decades. At the same time, the situation in Somalia and the broader Horn of Africa is of great strategic importance to the United States and of deep concern to me personally, having traveled to the region on several occasions.
I do not think that we can overestimate the scale of the humanitarian challenges facing Somalia. At least a million people were uprooted during fighting between the Transitional Federal Government and Islamic insurgents last year, and their plight has become graver because of record food prices, drought, and hyperinflation. The 250,000 Somalis in a small corridor outside Mogadishu is now considered the largest camp of internally displaced persons in the world.
The goal of the international community has been to support the formation of a viable government of national unity in Somalia to help stabilize the situation on the ground, and this resolution is designed to support this goal. Nevertheless, we should recall that the country recently faced the terrible prospect of rule by Islamic extremists and that without Ethiopia's intervention, the TFG would not have had this opportunity to bring some measure of stability to the country.
For its part, Ethiopia eliminated the threat of a Taliban-like state taking root on its eastern border and scored a major victory in the war on terrorism. And for our part, this accomplishment furthered U.S. interests by helping ensure that the Somali government did not threaten or seek to destabilize its neighbors or provide protection for terrorists that threaten the United States and its allies.
While I support the broad goal of stability for Somalia and a sustainable peace, let me be clear on an important point. No Somali government should include factions with ties to al-Qaida or al-Shabaab.
Both groups seek to undermine the stability of the TFG, which is the internationally recognized government of Somalia, through violence and intimidation. While al-Qaida's status and animosity towards the United States has been clear for a long time, we should also not underestimate the threat that al-Shabaab also poses to stability in Somalia and the entire region. Indeed, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization and as a specially designated global terrorist on February 29.
In its assessment of the group's activities, the State Department explains the organization scattered leaflets on the streets of Mogadishu warning participants in last year's reconciliation conference that they intended to bomb the conference venue. Al-Shabaab promised to shoot anyone planning to attend the conference and to blow up delegates' cars and hotels. The group has claimed responsibility for shooting deputy district administrators, as well as several bombings and shootings in Mogadishu targeting Ethiopian troops and Somali government officials. In short, terrorist organizations such as al-
Qaida and al-Shabaab seek to undermine the hard-fought and tenuous peace that has been achieved and their influence in Somalia must be curbed.
In addition, while I support the resolution's call for Ethiopia to develop a timeline for the ``responsible'' withdrawal of its troops from Somalia, it is important to emphasize that this resolution does not call for either an immediate withdrawal or a rigid timeline irrespective of the availability of replacement peacekeeping forces. Any such inflexible approach would be counterproductive, undermine the TFG, and threaten the important gains that have already been achieved.
Just as the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia derives, in part, from the intra-party Somali conflict, their departure should not occur until African Union or other international troops have arrived to keep the peace secure. To date, unfortunately, only 2,500 of 8,000 pledged AU peacekeepers have arrived. While some have claimed the presence of Ethiopian troops itself is destabilizing, there is no doubt in my mind that the alternative would be far worse.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not comment on the impact that Eritrea has had in terms of making the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops more challenging. According to the United Nations, Eritrea is supporting insurgent groups to undermine the TFG. Under these circumstances, not only would it leave a vacuum for the Ethiopian troops to be withdrawn early, but such a withdrawal would be seized upon by Eritrean-backed insurgents to destabilize the situation in Somalia. This is why this resolution calls on Eritrea to play a productive--and not a destructive--role in Somalia.
The United States has a deep and profound interest in securing the peace in Somalia and the broader Horn of Africa. There is no doubt that serious challenges remain. Nevertheless, I look forward to our continuing to work with our friend and ally Ethiopia, as well as the African Union, United Nations, and other countries in the region to secure a brighter future for all those people in Somalia who yearn to live their lives in peace and with the opportunity to provide for their families.
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