Representative Benjamin Swan from Springfield, Massachusetts, a Democrat has called for the granting of citizenship to all Liberians as reciprocity for automatic citizenship granted African Americans by the Republic of Liberia for over a hundred years.

	• Rep. Benjamin Swan

He recalled that 10 Liberian Presidents were African-Americans and educated in the United States.

A statement issued on March 12, 2008 by Universal Human Rights International (UHRI) said Rep. Swan was speaking on a live radio broadcast commemorating the 199th   birth anniversary of the 1st African American President of an independent Country, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a native of Norfolk. Virginia.

The transatlantic broadcast is part of UHRI's year-long activities of cultural and educational exchange to commemorate the 199th    through the 200th anniversary of President Roberts.

Citing human rights and the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution, Rep. Swan also called for the immediate granting of equal protection to all Liberian mothers of American citizen children in the United States through an addendum to President Bush's Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) that affords many Liberians the opportunity of working legally in the United States for 18 months.

DED excludes many Liberian mothers evacuated to safety in the United States in 2003, thus putting this vulnerable population and young American citizens at serious risk for nearly five years.

He praised Torli Krua of Universal Human Rights International (UHRI) as being the only one he knows, who has single-handedly contributed more to further the cause of African refugees in general and Liberian refugees in particular in the United States.

He called on all Africans and Liberians to move beyond complacency and become proactive, 'asking not what the government doing but asking how they can get involved and make their own contributions by writing letters and visiting elected officials to make them aware of the plight.'

He promised to visit Liberia after the general elections to assess conditions in Liberia as the first step in promoting sustainable development in Liberia and promoting educational and cultural exchanges between ordinary Liberians and American citizens.

Rep. Swan has promised to promote relationships between places of worship, schools, universities and colleges as a way of cementing the relationship between Liberia and the United States.

UHRI has launched a year long celebration of the life of President J. J. Roberts to create awareness of his contribution to democracy, the rule of law, human rights and education and forge closer ties between ordinary Liberians and American citizens.

UHRI setup a hotline for Liberians and Americans to call in and make one minute comments about their take on Liberian-American relationships past and present. The comments will be posted online and selected comments will be aired on a weekly radio show in Liberia.

Hotline: 617-933-9391

His call is also in support of several calls by Liberians to the United States to grant US citizenship. Former Chief of Mission at the Liberian fmbassy in Washington, D.C, Abdullah Dunbar has been vocal on the issue and on several occasions wrote US President Bush to use his good office in giving Liberians citizen status.