Benjamin Gilman: “Botswana is highly deserving of the praise contained in this resolution. Its great progress on democracy and free-market…”

“Botswana is highly deserving of the praise contained in this resolution. Its great progress on democracy and free-market economics since independence is a model for other nations in the region and elsewhere. I am pleased that President Clinton is going to be visiting Botswana later this month during his historic trip to Africa. Botswana's neighborhood is southern Africa, which today is an island of stability on the troubled continent of Africa. Peace has taken hold in Mozambique, apartheid has been vanquished in South Africa, and the senseless killing in Angola appears to be over. Even when this region was not so stable and when Botswana was surrounded by wars and oppressive regimes, Botswana managed to embrace the best of Western values and to provide its people with an increasingly higher standard of living. This is no small accomplishment in that part of the world. Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support this worthy resolution.”