Meeks attends inauguration of Jamaican Prime Minister

Congressman Gregory Meeks, a member of the House International Relations Committee and its Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, last week took part in an official United States congressional delegation to Jamaica for the inauguration of newly elected Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller.
Along with the people of Jamaica, Congressman Meeks and other international leaders celebrated the first female prime minister of this Caribbean nation.
“There is a paradigm shift taking place in the world with the election of Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and now Portia Simpson Miller as the Prime Minister of Jamaica,” said Meeks. “I can see this trend drawing closer and closer to home and I look forward to the United States some day soon electing its first woman president,” he continued.
In her inaugural address, Prime Minister Simpson Miller pledged to implement an “integrated community-based crime reduction strategy” which will include a Jamaican version of the COMSTAT system pioneered by the New York Police Department. The Prime Minister focused on economic development, saying her government would undertake a development program for large and small businesses, and workforce training, especially for youth. Simpson Miller also appealed to the international community to aid her country’s development.