Speech #1050171275

Mr. President. I rise to commend my colleagues for including an extension of Temporary Protected Status for Liberians until September 30. 1999 In the Fiscal Year 1999 Commerce. Justice. State Appropriations bill. The histories of Liberia and the United States have been intertwined since 1847 when our nations founding fathers helped freed American slaves found the sovereign state of Liberia. The first Liberians adopted the U.S. Constitution as a model and named the capital of the new country Monrovia. after President James Madison. Diplomatic. military and trade relations flourished between the two countries until the late 1980s. Then. in December 1989.