Tunisia, Libya, Syria, and Yemen

Floor Speech

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, the changes in the Arabic-speaking countries over the last year have been astonishing. This region, which is home to over 300 million people, has been making unmistakable drives toward democracy, but those drives have not always been linear and smooth. There have been setbacks in advances. But as this region changes, the United States must also adjust to those changes as well.

First, I want to congratulate the people of Tunisia on their historic election on Sunday. It was Tunisia's first free and fair election since gaining independence in 1956. Tunisians created a new paradigm for governance in the Middle East, and I hope this is replicated throughout the region. Tunisia, by the way, was the first country to begin its dramatic social change against a historic dictator.

Last December, Tunisians said, ``Enough.'' They took to the streets to demand their rights, and they ousted a dictator and went to the polls just a few days ago to elect new leaders. More than 90 percent of registered voters turned out to vote--that's 90 percent. Long lines snaked down sidewalks and around street corners. People waited for hours to exercise their right to vote that had been denied to them for more than 50 years.

It was also a well-deserved victory for a country that gave birth to the Arab Spring. Tunisians started a democratic movement that is slowly transforming dictatorships into democracies. The changes that are taking place in Libya are also irreversible. I don't celebrate the death of anyone, even a person as bad as Qadhafi, but Libya is certainly better off without Muammar Qadhafi. I am glad that the Transitional National Council will investigate the circumstances of his death, but the fact that he is off the scene gives Libya a new chance and a new lease on life.

For 42 years, Qadhafi ruled Libya with brutal force and criminal neglect. The country cannot afford more conflict. It should embark on a national reconciliation process similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-apartheid South Africa.

That's not easy for a country that has endured so much bloodshed. But Libyans now have the opportunity to lay down arms and come together. Libyans will decide for themselves what kind of country they want to build. The Libyan people must decide what kind of example they will set for other countries in the region.

I'd also like to turn attention to Iraq. I offer my congratulations to President Obama for keeping his promise to exit Iraq. No yellowcake uranium, no link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, and no weapons of mass destruction, and yet literally thousands of Americans' lives were lost, thousands of Iraqis' lives were lost, and perhaps $1 trillion was lost. It's time to go. I congratulate President Obama in his decision to leave.

Syria's path toward change is also irreversible, but the outcomes are less certain. Bashar al-Assad's government has now killed over 3,000 people. Countless others have been raped and tortured. This is not the model that will characterize the region's future.

People like Tawakel Karman of Yemen are setting a new standard. Referred to as the ``Mother of the Revolution'' in Yemen, she recently won the Nobel Prize for her nonviolent activism, and I congratulate her.

As people across the Middle East and North Africa struggle for democracy, the United States should do all that it can to help them reach that democratic condition that we take for granted. As Americans, we will remember our own long struggle for freedom and should be at the waiting to help others secure their democratic future.

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