MONROVIA — Upon his historic election as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Representatives, U.S. Congress, Monrovia City Major Jefferson T. Koijee has sent out a message of congratulations to Representative Gregory Meeks, his friend of many years.
Ethnically, Meeks is of African-American heritage, and according to a DNA analysis, he descended, mainly, from people of Sierra Leone. His great-grandparents were living in South Carolina when slavery was abolished.
As Meeks is now the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as a whole, he serves as an ex-officio member on all subcommittees.
Koijee hailed Meeks for being the first African-American to ascend to this noble height of congressional undertakings in the United States of America (USA).
The Monrovia City Mayor sees Meeks’ victory as an advancement for color people, particularly the blacks. Koijee added that this is a documented step rise against discrimination in all forms as it signals a boost for democracy worldwide.
“My first encounter and very brief interaction with you at the 2020 National #Black Leadership Summit, an emergency convening held February 2- 4, 2020 in Washington DC, was very revealing and instinctive of what has manifested in your accomplishment today so I am not surprised!”
In recognition and appreciation of the historic and enduring US-Liberia relationship, Koijee indicates that he looks forward to future interactions with Representative Meeks as they together champion more democratic undertakings for both Liberia and the US.
Meanwhile, Meeks has been serving as the US Representative from New York since 1998. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
His district formerly included, in the last Congress, most of southeastern Queens, including Jamaica, Laurelton, Rosedale, Cambria Heights, Saint Albans, Springfield Gardens, The Rockaways, and the John F. Kennedy International Airport.
His district is made up largely of working, middle, and upper-middle-class African-American and West Indian American communities, but also includes a small part of Ozone Park and part of Howard Beach known as Old Howard Beach, both of which are predominantly middle-class Italian-American communities.
In addition, Meeks represented much of Kew Gardens and northern Richmond Hill, as well as the largely Irish American western portion of the Rockaway Peninsula.