Premier to meet Rice in new DC trip

The Premier and Deputy Premier will meet US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later this week during a whistle-stop trip to Washington, DC.

Ewart Brown and Paula Cox will head a Government delegation to the American capital for two days of talks on Thursday and Friday with a host of Capitol Hill politicians, including the woman twice ranked the most powerful in the world by Forbes magazine. The pair will be escorted by US Consul General Gregory Slayton on a trip being hailed as the “second historic bilateral visit” to the US seat of power.

Dr. Brown’s predecessor Alex Scott led the first Progressive Labour Party Government delegation there last May - but a hoped-for meeting with Dr. Rice did not materialise for him. Mr. Slayton announced at a press conference yesterday that “my boss, the Secretary of State” had made time in her busy schedule to meet Dr. Brown and Finance Minister Ms Cox.

“I know she’s excited about it,” he said. “I know she’s looking at Bermuda as a model for other nations, especially other island nations. Bermuda has done so well. I think Bermuda does merit a leadership position.”

The Premier would not comment on what he hoped to discuss with Dr. Rice, who is the first African American woman, second African American and second woman to serve as Secretary of State. “We are just going to have a friendly chat about Bermuda,” he said.

He told the media that one topic likely to be raised with Senators and Congressmen - including Republican presidential hopeful Sam Brownback - was Bermuda’s “pristine” financial reputation and the types of business conducted here.

“The Minister of Finance and I will be on roller skates during our 48-hour blitz, criss-crossing Capitol Hill,” he said. “But it will be a worthwhile exercise because this is important work. The Bermuda economy is very sensitive to political decisions made in Washington, DC, and the people of Bermuda need to know their elected leaders are looking out for the country’s best interests in that regard.”

Ms Cox said the trip to the “corridors of power” underscored the enduring relationship between the two countries and the need for continued economic diplomacy.

“There are a number of issues currently on the burner,” she said. “I think clearly by continuing to oil the wheels of friendship we have an opportunity to seek a better position for Bermuda.”

Mr. Slayton pointed out that 90 percent of the Island’s visitors and about 80 percent of imports are from the States and 85 percent of capital investment here is American.

He added that Bermudian insurers and re-insurers had paid out more than $23 billion to American claimants since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“Regular meetings between our two governments reinforce our already cordial relationship and lay the foundation for continuing rapport. We have been allies for more than two centuries and it is in the best interests of both our nations to build on this positive alliance.”

Last year, Mr. Scott and Ms Cox met with a raft of high-profile Republicans, including then-Senate leader Bill Frist and presidential contender Senator John McCain, thanks to Mr. Slayton’s close links to the party.

This year meetings with a host of Democratic Congressmen and Senators and just two Republican Senators have been arranged. Mr. Slayton said that was inevitable now the Democrats held the majority of seats in the upper house.

He told The Royal Gazette there had been progress on a number of topics discussed in 2006, including the stop list banning Bermudians with convictions from entering America and the prospect of a US Coastguard base on the Island.

“I’m sure that will come up again,” he said of the latter subject. “The topics to be discussed are fairly closely guarded. They are topics of significant material interest to both governments.”

The delegation - which includes finance secretary Donald Scott, cabinet secretary Marc Telemaque and the Premier’s press secretary Glenn Jones - sets out for Washington this afternoon (Wed).

Dr. Brown, who was a student at Howard University in DC in the 1960s, told the press conference the exact cost of the trip was not yet known.

He said: “This trip is included in our travel budget for the year. We are trying to keep the cost as tight as we can, as reasonable as we can. We are not even staying overnight on Friday.”

Courtesy of Royal Gazette reporter Sam Strangeways