Senator James Inhofe
1900 NW Expressway, Suite 1210
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
Dear Senator Inhofe,
I was sorry to learn of your opposition to H.R.2003, the “Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007.” I know you have a strong personal tie to Ethiopia and that you have been charmed by the personable Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (as have I). I believe, however, that H.R.2003 is sound legislation in holding the feet of the ruling TPLF to the fire to live up to its rhetoric about what you refer to as a positive democratization process. The record of the Meles-led government is too rife with democratic deficits and the abuse of human rights to make it worthy of your praise. The Government in Addis Ababa has gotten by for too long in not providing the people of Ethiopia with democratic processes and in stomping out any folk bold enough to dare oppose the government in the political arena. H.R.2003 provides a gentle corrective to a government that has received massive foreign and military aid from the United States but has thumbed its nose at the valid criticism of the U.S. State Department and human rights organizations. There simply are too many documented shortcomings of the TPLF Government to make H.R.2003 an inappropriate statement of the expectations of the United States for its ally in the Horn of Africa.
I hope you will reconsider your position on H.R.2003 and join your colleagues in the House of Representatives in striving to promote democracy and human rights in Ethiopia. By not standing in the way of Senate concurrence in this significant foreign policy initiative, you will be serving your constituents well. Please let me know if I can provide you with any additional information about the current situation in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.
Sincerely yours,
Theodore M. Vestal
Professor of Political Science, Oklahoma State University
Theodore M. Vestal, Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science
Oklahoma State University
534 Math Sciences
Stillwater, OK 74078-1060
(405) 744-7586, Fax (405) 744-6534
ted.vestal@okstate.edu
http://fp.okstate.edu/vestal/