LEGISLATIVE REPORT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Contents: INTRODUCTION • ADMINISTRATIVE OVERVIEW FROM THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR • LEGISLATIVE OVERVIEW FROM THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR • 1988 IN REVIEW • Public Speaking • Lobbying • Namibia Grassroots Workshops • May 1-5th World Council of Churches Hearing on Namibia • June 16th Lobby Day • Angola Lobbying • Mozambique • Ongoing Lobbying Activities • OVERALL ANALYSIS • CONCLUSIONS • The report says the Washington Office on Africa (WOA) is one of this country's premier anti-apartheid organizations; this legislative annual report attempts to detail WOA's major activities of 1988; it is by no means a bible of the day-to-day workload of WOA's legislative staff; nor does it provide legislative analysis of the situation in Congress and in southern Africa which are the foci of our work and the reason WOA exists; rather it should serve as a barometer of WOA's success and how in one year, the WOA staff has sought to continue the organization's long reputation for professional excellence in the area of lobbying, education, and mobilizing on southern African issues. The report says the conclusion of this report is that WOA's role in the anti-apartheid movement cannot be diminished; now more than ever, WOA needs to exist strongly and firmly; the legislative staff believes that WOA can play a role in the future of anti-apartheid lobbying, with more planning and organization of workload; we also sincerely hope that monies for a Legislative Assistant can be found or that our church denominations can second qualified staff to work at WOA, such as Rev. Larry Gilley, who worked at WOA in 1986-87; just the maintenance of WOA's internal computer record of Congressional votes and keeping up with readings of southern African journals are staggering; without proper legislative staffing, WOA's image as an effective lobby could be irreversibly damaged. The report says in September, 1988, the Executive Director (ED) made the decision to promote the Legislative Director (LD) to Assistant Director (AD); throughout this report, reference will be made to the LD. The reader should note that the LD and the AD are the same person. The report says because of the LD's impending maternity leave, training of the Legislative Assistant, who has recent been hired in August, 1987 took paramount importance; a large portion of the LD's tine was spent guiding the LA's writing and editing skills to the WOA level of political analysis. The report says 1988 was another successful legislative year for the Washington Office on Africa; while many will focus on the loss of sanctions legislation in the Senate as a barometer of success for 1988, it is important to look beyond the surface results and focus on the hard behind-the-scenes work that occurred throughout the year to make a rounded assessment. The report says WOA's swing lists, resources, Action Alerts, Hotline, analytical pieces and general leadership is a pivotal part of the National anti-apartheid movement's lobbying efforts in support of sanctions, against UNIITA aid, and in support of a free Namibia. The report says in 1988, due to a program grant from the UN Council for Namibia, WOA. committed to organizing the Namibia portion of the Africa Peace Tour; we financed the travel of two Namibian women to speak for two weeks each on the tour; we also produced three Namibia fact sheets; these fact sheets, "SWAPO", "Trade Unions in Namibia", and "The Churches in Namibia," were researched and co-edited by WOAEF's research director, but written and co-edited by the LD. The report says another key role of the Legislative staff is to visit Congressional offices. Sometimes, face to face meetings between the WOA Executive Director and House or Senate Members are mandatory. The legislative staff prepares such meetings; during the first part of 1988, the ED, directly lobbied several Members of the House and a Senator to insist upon WOA's position on sanctions and no aid to UNITA. The report says in February, the South African government effectively banned 17 anti-apartheid organizations, and moved to drastically restrict the activities of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU); WOA was able to provide up-to-the-minute information on the crackdown to concerned members of Congress. The report says testimony by the Executive Director before the Mining Subcommittee on the issue of restricting mineral imports from South Africa into the United States was perhaps some of the roost well-researched ever presented; the testimony was on C-Span and seen by several thousand members of the United Mine Workers who were monitoring the hearings due to their particular interest in the issue. The report says in June, UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi visited the United States again. Because the tripartite peace talks had begun, Savimbi and his right wing supporters in the U.S. had become concerned that their "champion" might not receive any U.S. money for his destruction and wave of terror in Angola. The report says some of the highlights of our Senate work were a press conference in support of sanctions in California and one in D.C., featuring prominent Hollywood stars including Alfre Woodard, Danny Glover, Morgan Fairchild, Michael Warren, Ed Asner, and others. The report says Southern Africa is on the brink of one of the most dramatic changes since Rhodesia became Zimbabwe; the newly independent Namibia will need NGO assistance in Washington now more than ever to ensure that South Africa does not have U.S. support in its expected attempts to steal back the peace, WOA has been one of the only organizations in the country to actively support the struggle for self-determination in Namibia. The report discusses Janet Craswell, Jennifer Drayton, anti-apartheid lobbying, SAWG (Southern Africa Working Group), WISC (Washington Interreligious Staff Council), the Anti-Apartheid .Action Hotline, HR 1580, the Dellums bill, Congressman Robert Wise, oil company lobbyist, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the 1988 Presidential campaign, Washington Notes on Africa, the NCC (National Council of Churches), WCC/PCR (World Council of Churches Programme to Combat Racism), the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Southern Africa Project, the June 16th National Anti-apartheid Action and Lobby Day, the Free Namibia Now! campaign. SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), UCLA (University of California Los Angeles), USC (University of Southern California), student divestment networks, ACOA (American Committee on Africa), Lutheran contacts, the Namibia Concerns Network, the Second Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium on Southern Africa, TransAfrica, the United Church of Christ (UCC), the Commission for Social Justice, Cuban troops, Senator Bill Bradley, Congressman Matt McHugh, UN Resolution 435, Namibian Bishop Kauluma, WOAEF (Washington Office on Africa Educational Fund), Mozambican President Chissano, Bill Minter, Congressman John Conyers, U.S. funding for Renamo, Congressman Ron Dellums, Senator Pete Wilson, Howell Heflin, Dumba Nengue, H.Con .Res. 189, Swedish Ambassador Anne-Marie Sundbum, and interns.