The United States is a country where people see the future as better and see themselves as making a better future for themselves.

Our people come to the United States looking for a better future. It would be hard being afraid to go to work because you think you are going to get jail time just for trying to make a living.

We are a member club of the United States Fencing Association, which governs fencing throughout the country. That means we can hold tournaments and our members can go to tournaments. Many clubs throughout the country host tournaments on a fairly regular basis. Most tournaments are in Pittsburgh or State College, a few in Cleveland and Harrisburg or anywhere that's got fencing. We also go down to West Virginia frequently.

It's a hard case to make that the United States and others should be investing resources into a country that is squandering its own resources.

Right now, there is a mad rush for the spoils of the country. The United States, European and South African companies are rushing in to get first in line for those very lucrative mining contracts.

When APEC was created, the United States was certainly the leading country in the mix,