US Department of State Online
Susan Rice Appears for Confirmation to Top Africa Post
September 12, 1997
Washington - Following is the prepared testimony of Susan Rice, President
Clinton's nominee to be assistant secretary of state for African affairs, at
a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on
September 11, 1997.
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, I am
deeply honored to appear before you today as President Clinton's nominee to
be Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. I am grateful to the
President and to Secretary Albright for the confidence they have placed in
me. If confirmed, I look forward to working closely and constructively with
members of this committee and others in Congress to forge stronger and more
productive ties between the United States and the countries of Sub-Saharan
Africa.
If I may, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce and to thank the
members of my family here today. As a native Washingtonian, I am fortunate
to have nearby both my parents, Dr. Emmett J. Rice and Ms. Lois Rice Fitt.
My husband, Ian Cameron, and my young son John David are also here with me.
My family has been the greatest source of support and motivation to me.
Their love and collective wisdom have strengthened me at each stage of my life.
This newest challenge before me is an opportunity I enthusiastically
welcome. Since early 1993 when I joined the National Security Council staff,
I have been working directly and indirectly on African issues.
First, as Director for International Organization Affairs and Peacekeeping,
I participated in U.S. efforts to support the peace processes in Mozambique,
Liberia and Angola as well as to lend assistance to the historic transition
in South Africa. I also played an integral role in formulating President
Clinton's policy on reforming multilateral peace operations, PDD-25, which
-- in the wake of the international community's experience in Somalia and
Rwanda -- has brought greater rigor, discipline and accountability to U.S.
decisions on support for and participation in such operations.
For the past two and a half years, I have been privileged to serve as
Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs.
In this position, I have played a significant role in formulating,
coordinating and implementing U.S. policy towards Africa.
I have worked energetically to help raise the profile of African issues
among U.S. foreign policy priorities, culminating most recently in the
President's commitment to work closely with leaders in Congress to institute
a new Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa as well as
his decision to travel to Africa during his second term. In addition, with
strong bipartisan support in Congress, my colleagues in the Administration
and I have pursued innovative initiatives to enhance African peacekeeping
capacity, labored to bring greater stability to Central Africa and actively
supported efforts to cement the fragile peace process in Angola and Liberia.
We have built a strong and maturing partnership with the new South Africa.
In concert with concerned members of Congress, we have also recast our
policy towards Sudan to apply additional pressure aimed at isolating the
Khartoum regime in order to contain the threat it poses to U.S. interests
and to compel it to halt its support for terrorism and its grave human
rights abuses. We have also provided for the first time defensive military
assistance to Sudan's neighbors, which face a direct threat from
Sudanese-sponsored insurgencies.
Mr. Chairman, the end of the Cold War has brought great change to Africa and
necessitated a new paradigm for U.S. policy-makers. To succeed, we must
maintain focus and resist the temptation to dissipate our energies in
responding solely to the crises of the day. Our horizon must be longer term.
U.S. policy in Africa must remain focused on two overarching policy goals.
First, we must defend the United States from the real threats to our
national security that emanate from Africa, as they do from the rest of the
world. These threats include: state-sponsored terrorism, narcotics flows,
the growing influence in Africa of such pariah states as Libya and Iran,
weapons proliferation, environmental degradation and disease.
Second, we seek to accelerate Africa's full integration into the global
economy. Fulfillment of this second objective entails simultaneous pursuit
of several core activities: promoting economic reform, trade and investment
in Africa; maintaining bilateral and multilateral development assistance to
Africa; sustaining democracy; promoting respect for human rights; and
continuing our efforts to resolve conflicts in order to bring lasting
stability to the continent.
These are massive challenges, but by no means unattainable. Success --
primarily the Africans' but our own as well -- will help make Americans AND
Africans safer and more prosperous. Stable, growing, democratic African
countries that respect human rights will prove more capable, effective
partners for the U.S. as we seek to work together to combat such threats as
terrorism and narcotics trafficking.
These same countries can provide vibrant new markets for U.S. exports.
Today, the U.S. provides for a mere 7 percent of African imports; yet,
already 100,000 U.S. jobs depend on exports to Africa. As Africa grows and
as our market share increases, so too will the number of jobs for U.S.
workers. At the same time, the U.S. is increasingly reliant on imports from
Africa. For instance, more than 15 percent of our imported oil comes from
Sub-Saharan Africa, a proportion that is expected to grow in coming years.
While Americans will benefit from intensified U.S. engagement in Africa, so
too, of course, will the people of Africa. Forging meaningful economic and
political partnerships with African states will help enhance living
standards and security for the people of Africa with whom all Africans have
important historical, cultural and humanitarian ties.
Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, if confirmed, I am personally
committed to working with you to build on the progress the Administration
and Congress have made in promoting U.S. interests in Africa. I can think of
no more exciting time than now to take on the responsibility of Assistant
Secretary of State for African Affairs.
There is more reason for optimism about Africa's future today than at any
time since many African countries achieved independence over thirty years
ago. While conflict and corruption persist in some quarters, the larger
story is that of a wave of change rolling across Africa. Since 1990, the
number of democracies in Africa has grown five-fold. Annual GDP growth in
Africa last year averaged almost 5 percent.
The era of African dependency is ending. A new generation of African leaders
seeks to shape their own future and to work with the United States as full
partners in the 21st century. This African "renaissance" is spurred by
leaders who are committed to self-reliance, poverty eradication through
market reforms and private investment, good governance, building sustainable
democracy and finding African solutions to African problems.
This new era affords great opportunities for the U.S. and, at the same time,
poses significant challenges. Africa's gains are nascent and fragile.
Success is by no means assured. How the United States responds in the coming
years can substantially affect the extent to which we are able to defend
U.S. interests as well as to assist Africa to seize the promise of the
present moment.
If, as Africa stands at this crossroads, the United States fails to act with
clarity of purpose and to employ adequate resources, we do so at our own
peril. If, on the other hand, we engage actively and, yes, even take a few
risks, the American people stand to reap substantial and lasting benefits.
President Clinton and Secretary Albright are committed to intensifying our
involvement in Africa and to seizing these opportunities. If confirmed, I
will do my utmost -- with your support -- to translate that commitment into
concrete, positive results.
Thank you.
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