Donald M. Payne: “We think that Liberia has a special place in this country with African Americans who feel very close to this situation.…”

“We think that Liberia has a special place in this country with African Americans who feel very close to this situation. Our young men have fought in every war, from Crispus Attucks, the first person that died in the Revolutionary War, up to just a week ago, when they buried a young Haitian soldier from my district who was one of the two men who were kidnapped and murdered. So we have fought in all the wars. We hear people say that there should be a vote in Congress regarding sending 2,000 troops to Liberia. We have not heard that for the Colombians or for Panama. We did not hear that where the President is attempting to go into the Philippines now. Is there a different standard for Africa? Is it that 435 Members must get up and talk about 2,000 troops going into a country that we founded, that we colonized, that we have close ties with, that asked us to come so that the fighting will cease, and that other African countries will be there at our side? Is there a double standard? I hope not. We have had failures before. There was a failure in Somalia. That did not mean we should no longer then go in on humanitarian issues.”