Elijah Cummings: “Almost exactly 6 years ago the brutal Mengistu regime in Ethiopia, notorious for having one of the bleakest human rights…”

“Almost exactly 6 years ago the brutal Mengistu regime in Ethiopia, notorious for having one of the bleakest human rights records on the continent, fell. At that time there was much hope that the country was finally entering a period of democracy and respect for human rights. Sadly, the government continues to divide the nation's peoples into ethnic-based enclaves, each purposely pitted against the other, with the goal of facilitating the dictatorial regime. This ploy has endangered the Ethiopian people with the inevitable consequence of civil war, with repercussions far worse than the tragedies that transpired in Bosnia and Rwanda. Until the current government took over, Ethiopia was one of a few stable democratic countries in the sub-Saharan Africa. Now, all the democratically hostile countries surrounding Ethiopia, such as Sudan, Somalia, Iraq and Iran, are seeking to exploit the chaotic situation in the country by exerting their negative influences, and therefore I support the gentlewoman's amendment.”