porter spain trinidad, at the summit of the americas -- port- of-spain, trinidad, president obama promised to take steps in that direction. he showed us a grasp of the complexity of the problem. but all i am asking here is that the american people understand that the people of central america and the people of colombia are paying a very heavy price because we refuse to reduce our demands for drugs. and this is tearing apart countries like mexico and what ramallah and other countries. host: california is next. good morning, diane. caller: good morning. long time no talking. glad to talk to you. and the morning to ambassador white. i tell you, i have to get my own red zone -- i was put on hold and then i guess my cell phone dropped. host: i am glad you made it through. go-ahead with one of your questions or comments. one of our lawyer viewers. caller: i am a supporter of hillary clinton and i am a longtime democrat and voted for bill clinton and voted for him and i am part of his library in little rock, arkansas. i heard everything that ambassador white has said. so, basically it is just a b

ally to us and that was recognized by the recent authorization of the meeting in the caribbean in trinidad where many caribbean nations came and i believe the new relationship was cemented between this new president, this congress and the caribbean leaders. so as we speak about the greatness of caribbean americans, i want to emphasize that we should also be engaged with the caribbean as our allies, as those who can participate with us in homeland security and securing the borders. as we look to caribbean americans who have made great strides here in this country, caribbean americans are educated, soldiers, politicians, athlete it's, economists, historians, activists, doctors, lawyers and everyday men and women. there are those of us who enjoy the music of the caribbean and one of our most famous poets and musicians was bob marlee, whose reggae music continues to permeate the music channels and the ears of americans. we are proud of the contributions of caribbean americans. of those like kareem abdul-jabbar, those like timothy duncan, those like sydney port yea, those like -- sydney portier

this commitment was renewed and reinvigorated at the summit of the americas held in the nation of trinidad and tobago in april of this year with the active participation and leadership of our president, barack obama, who set a new tone for our relationship with the region. but it's even predated the birth of this nation. in 1751 our very first president, george washington, reported to have had family connections in barbados travel there with his brother for a health related matter in november of 1751. they stayed two months and he is said to have been enchanted by the island and the caribbean. over the years many congressional black caucus members have worked tirelessly to raise awareness and keep us focused and invested on ongoing affairs in the caribbean. we have done this through chairman rangel's efforts with the caribbean basin legislation and other initiatives. congresswoman waters who worked so hard to save the banana industry and then chair of the congressional black caucus. she and i traveled to barbados in 1997 for that meeting. i also want to recognize a special work done by con

karacome, made up of 15 countries, including trinidad