27 – 0; Alabama Senate votes to support boycott of Aruba

The Alabama Senate voted 27-0 for a resolution supporting a boycott of Aruba. Previously, Governor Bob Riley’s call for a tourism boycott of Aruba and has picked up support from the Alabama Senate.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Gov. Bob Riley’s call for a tourism boycott of Aruba has picked up support from the Alabama Senate, which says the investigation into the disappearance of an Alabama teenager has suffered from too many missteps.

On Thursday, the Senate voted 27-0 for a resolution supporting a boycott of the Dutch Caribbean island. Sen. Steve French, R-Birmingham, said he proposed the resolution at the request of the family of Mountain Brook teenager Natalee Holloway.

Holloway disappeared May 30 while on a graduation trip with classmates. She was last seen leaving a bar with a young Dutch national and two Surinamese brothers.

Sen. Steve French, R-Birmingham, said he proposed the resolution in the Senate to boycott Aruba in hopes that this will cause the Aruban people to “be more demanding that their officials conduct a thorough investigation”.

The Senate-passed resolution said a boycott is needed because the investigation into Holloway’s disappearance “has been plagued with an unacceptable amount of missteps, miscommunications and inconsistencies.”

“It’s my hope this will cause the Aruban people to be more demanding that their officials conduct a thorough investigation,” French said.

During a special session in July, the Alabama House passed a resolution calling for a boycott of Aruba.
(Birmingham News)