MANY U.S. CONGRESS PEOPLE ARE IGNORANT ABOUT THE WORLD WE LIVE IN: REP. DARRELL ISSA (R-CA) PROVES JUST HOW MISINFORMED THEY CAN BE: SOME IN GUYANA, SEEK AN APOLOGY FROM HIM FOR HIS IGNORANCE OF GEOGRAPHY. Open Letter: Caribbean Guyana Institute asks Congressman Darrell Issa for apology October 26, 2014 Hon. Darrell Issa United States Representative for the 49th District of California Chairman, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 2347 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Representative Issa: On Friday, October 24, 2014 at a hearing of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee of the United States House of Representatives, you inadvertently stated that “Beginning in March 2014 in the West African nation of Guyana, the world first learned about yet another new outbreak of the Ebola virus.” You also said “The news that a medical doctor returning from Guyana has tested positive for Ebola has raised even more questions.” The latter reference was to Dr Craig Spencer, a “Doctors without Borders” physician who was last week diagnosed with Ebola in New York City. Congressman Issa! Guyana is in South America, in the Western Hemisphere where you also live, and not West Africa. Associating Guyana with West Africa demonstrates a stunning lack of knowledge of world geography! Obviously, you were attempting to make reference to Guinea, West Africa, where Ebola is currently an epidemic. Moreover, no one in Guyana has either contracted Ebola, been exposed to any person/s with Ebola, treated any persons who have been infected with or exposed to Ebola and no Guyanese who has travelled to the US or any person who has travelled to the US from Guyana has ever had any exposure to Ebola. There are over one million Guyanese living in North America and large Guyanese-American communities in the US. Thus, there are several commercial flights from Guyana to the US daily. Your erroneous statements about Guyana have stigmatized our country, engendered misplaced fear of persons on flights from Guyana to the US as well as Guyanese arriving in the US. CGID therefore calls on you to immediately, and in person, retract your comments and render an unqualified apology to the people of Guyana and the Guyanese-American community. I am confident that given your well publicized criticisms of several US government officials for “alleged” mistakes, you as a man of principle and Chairman of a powerful committee of the United States House of Representatives would not allow such a colossal mistake to contend without correction. I look forward to your apology! Should you wish to make contact with me I may be reached at 518-882-8270. Yours sincerely, Rickford Burke, LL.M. President Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) Letter Copied from caribbeannewsnow/headline-Open-Letter%3A-Caribbean-Guyana-Institute-asks-Congressman-Darrell-Issa-for-apology-23401.html
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 05:52:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015