On the recordApril 4, 2011
Mr. President, a few minutes ago, I talked at some length about a very significant amendment that is going to be coming up, and that is to take jurisdiction away from the Environmental Protection Agency having to do with cap and trade, something they were unable to do legislatively and they are going to try to do through regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency. I already talked about that issue. There is something that has not been mentioned on the floor of the Senate that I think is significant. Surprisingly enough, hardly anyone is even aware that it is going on. We are all concerned. We hear every day about the atrocities that are committed in Libya and about the people who are being mowed down. What they do not realize is that is not the only place that is going on. I have to share, as much as I hate to do it because I am disagreeing with our State Department when I say this, but I have to say it because somebody has to say it. Right now, the potential of having large numbers of people tortured and murdered in Cote d'Ivoire is taking place. Let me set the stage so people will be aware of it. I have had occasion to be in Cote d'Ivoire--some people call it the Ivory Coast--in west Africa. It is an area where a lot of the slave trade came from to this country. It is a place that has been led by a President named Laurent Gbagbo for the last 10 years. I first became acquainted with the country before he was President of Cote d'Ivoire.…





