BY BETELHEM BEDLU
ADDIS ABABA– The bad piece of legislation, H.R. 6600, would makes more difficult to get peace, to dialogue and to bring people together in Ethiopia so said U.S Representative Don Beyer.
“I think, Representative Tom Malinowski, is completely wrong on H.R. signature because, by sanctioning the Ethiopian leaders, it would make it much more difficult to get peace and we don’t want it to pass. So, I will continue to do everything I can to try to lift up that situation and make things better,” he underscored.
Emphasizing that he had disagreed with the trade policy that took Ethiopia out of the critical trade agreement, AGOA, he stressed that the decision didn’t affect the leadership or the people making decisions but mostly women workers in Ethiopia, who lose their jobs because of that. Owing to this fact, he pledged to lead the opposition on the democratic side and expressed that there is a good chance that they can stop it before it gets to the committee.
Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, Lawrence Freeman, on his part said: “The destabilization, H.R. 6600 bill is drafted to eliminate Ethiopian sovereignty by dividing the people along Ethnic-lines and return TPLF’s 30 years agenda. To support the bill is to cripple Ethiopia.”
Ethnicity is a disease that is destroying Ethiopia and other African countries. And the U.S. wants to use it to create a weakening of the Ethiopian government, as to him. “The U.S doesn’t want to eliminate ethnicity rather they want to instigate it so as to demand Ethiopia follow their dictates”, he added.
He further stressed that the bill is notorious and harmful, adding that it would take away Ethiopia’s sovereignty. For her take on the issue, Victoria Virasingh, who runs for U.S. Congress, mentioned when the U.S. sanctioned Ethiopia and pulled it out of AGOA, the decision did not stop the conflict rather affected and hurt the everyday people.
As to her, the decision was misinformed and terrible. “I’m running as a democrat but I don’t agree with everything the democrats do or agree with the administration’s decision. Just like I didn’t agree with the decision of pulling out Ethiopia from AGOA, I do not agree with how they’ve handled the conflict on Ethiopia.”
She went on saying: “I think it’s so important for us to have independent thinkers who are willing to call truth when they see it, to speak about positions alongside community members and work together because nobody wants the killing, conflict, and the economic devastation”.
The March 11/2022
