The Hill News

This July 4th, as Americans congregated around their barbecue grills and fireworks displays to celebrate our nation’s independence, we sat with six of our House colleagues in the Liberian village of Kakata, listening to a particularly vocal crowd of citizens air its grievances.  More money was needed for a local school; a nearby bridge was on the verge of collapse; the government had not done enough for persons with disabilities.

This may sound like a familiar story, but there’s a twist:  their comments weren’t directed at us, but rather at the Liberian legislators who had organized this town hall meeting.  Our delegation had been invited to attend not as participants but as observers â€" as witnesses to Liberia’s fragile but maturing democracy, five years after free and fair elections brought an end to one of the bloodiest civil wars in modern history.  And like voters the world over, these constituents weren’t about to let their elected representatives escape the podium easily.

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