Press Releases
Johnnie Carson Statement
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Designate to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on April 29, 2009
President Barack Obama’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on April 29, 2009. Here are excerpts from his opening statement to the committee:
“My professional interest and service in Africa spans nearly forty years. I was a part of that generation inspired by the now famous words of President John F. Kennedy – ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.’ I began my overseas experience in Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania, where I lived and taught in a small village for three years. I entered the Foreign Service shortly after my Peace Corps tour ended. In over three decades in the State Department, I had the privilege of serving in six different African countries and in three of those countries, as the U.S. ambassador. On various assignments and trips abroad, I have managed to travel to 40 of sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 states.
Years of service across the continent have given me a deep respect for Africa’s people, their rich history and culture and the challenges they face today in a world of rapid globalization, technological advances and climate change.
Africa is important to the United States for a number of reasons. Our history and our heritage are directly linked to Africa. Over thirteen percent of America’s population is of African origin, including our current president. But our interests and concern in Africa reach far beyond ethnicity and national origin and are based on our fundamental interests in promoting peace and stability, democratic rule and good governance and sustained economic growth across the continent.
As we near the conclusion of the first full decade of the 21st century, the greatest moments in Africa’s long history have not yet been written. Fifty years after most African states achieved their independence the continent is still striving to realize its enormous potential and to play a more significant role on the world stage. I am optimistic about Africa’s long term future and believe the continent has the capacity to overcome its past problems and meet its current challenges.
If I am confirmed, I will focus on four key areas:
(a) Strengthening Africa’s democratic institutions and encouraging good governance and the rule of law;
(b) Working with African countries to prevent conflict and build local capacity in conflict mediation and peacekeeping;
(c) Fostering sustained economic development and growth in the wake of the current global economic downturn; and
(d) Partnering with Africa to combat global threats like health pandemics, climate change, food insecurity, narcotics trafficking and maritime insecurity.
I have laid out a broad agenda, but it is an agenda that is mutually beneficial to the interests of Africa and the United States. It is an agenda for progress – progress that will strengthen U.S. –Africa relations and one that will hopefully advance every African’s goal of improved governance, sustained economic growth and a more prosperous and globally significant Africa.