Clarke Urges Fair Treatment of Guyanese

Rep. Yvette Clark, a Democrat of Brooklyn, yesterday commended the law enforcement efforts that thwarted the JFK terror plot, and cautioned against using the incident to stigmatize Caribbean Americans.

"These actions of these four individuals were just that — the actions of individuals," she said at a press conference, "It is vital that our government agencies and all of us as Americans do not use this event as an excuse to discriminate against or profile people of Guyanese ancestry or Trinidadian ancestry."

Ms. Clark said that the plot demonstrated the insufficiency of homeland security funding for New York. "It is clearer today than ever before that New York City is the number one target in this nation," she said. "All security funding must be risk-based."

Characterizing American policy as one of "benign neglect," she called on the Bush administration to strengthen ties with Caribbean nations, saying that their governments were eager to collaborate on security.