Lawmakers to join Obama on trip to Kenya

Half a dozen
lawmakers will travel with Barack Obama to Kenya and Ethiopia next week in what
is the president’s first trip to his ancestral homeland since being elected.
The White House
invited a large contingent of lawmakers, prominently members of the Congressional
Black Caucus, to join him on the Africa trip. Reps. Karen Bass (D-Calif.),
Cedric Richmond (D-La.), G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) and
Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) will attend.
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The trip marks
the first time a sitting president has traveled to Ethiopia. While in that
country, Obama will attend the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit and meet
with African Union leaders.
Butterfield said
he planned to use the trip to stress to Kenyan and Ethiopian officials
Congress’ commitment to them as trade, national security and diplomatic
partners.
“Kenya is a
strategic partner and they have some unique challenges and certainly Ethiopia
does too. They need to be reassured that America is an ally and that we care
about the continent in its entirety,” said Butterfield, who chairs the CBC.
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