USA: Lone African – American Senator Ends mandate in disappointment. Says his departure “is a solemn reminder of how far we have to go."

Roland Burris, the lone African – American senator at the end of the 111th Congress of the U.S senate, is back home in Chicago, , Illinois, after serving nearly two years in Washington. Though short, the former junior senator from Obama’s political base commended his time spent in the Senate describing it "a remarkable testament to our nation's ability to correct the wrongs of generations past," intimating however that his departure is a "solemn reminder of how far we have to go."

By Yemti Harry Ndienla,

Burris was appointed by Rod Blagojevic, former governor of Illinois, after Senator Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. But his appointment was challenged based on the fact that Blagojevic who had the right to select Obama's replacement was arrested by federal agents and charged amongst others with trying to peddle the said appointment to the highest bidder. After the controversal announcement, Burris marched on the Capitol demanding the Senate accept his appointment from the disgraced governor. And was sworn in as the junior senator from Illinois less than two weeks later

The Senator later became the centre of negative attraction after making implicating and controversial statement to the Press concerning relations with the disgraced governor. Burris who prior to his appointment told the world he'd had no contact with the governor about the Senate seat, later admitted there had been some contact. Consequently Burris was reprimanded by Senate Ethics Committee, amid calls for his resignation from prominent Democrats, including Illinois governor Patrick Quinn (who at the time was acting after the impeachment of Rod Blagojevic ) Yet Burris withstood the calls while maintaining his appointment was legitimate, and that his explanations had been misconstrued by the press.

"When the 112th Congress is sworn in this coming January, there will not be a single black American who takes the oath of office in this chamber," Burris told senators in his farewell speech last month. "This is simply unacceptable. We can, and we will, and we must do better. In this regard, and in any other, our political progress has proven less accessible -- and less representative -- than it ought to be, and although I have never allowed my race to define me, in a sense, it has meant that my constituency as a United States senator has stretched far beyond the boundaries of Illinois," he said further. Yes, his departure leaves the upper chamber of Congress without any African-American lawmakers for at least two years, a fact Burris is hard to consume The former senator took on government, criticizing what many would describe as racial discrimination. Hear him, “our government hardly resembles the diverse country it was elected to represent,”.

In course of his tenure Burris boosts of more than 60 bills he sponsored and 300 others he co-sponsored including his work on President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul and increasing funding for Pell Grant which he mentioned with self-importance. "Together we have achieved passage of the most ambitious legislative agenda since the Great Depression," said Burris who called his time in the Senate "the honor of my lifetime."

A Democrat, and attorney with a background in banking Burris has been replaced by newly-elected Republican Rep. Mark Kirk, who trashed Democratic nominee Alexi Giannoulias – Obama’s political son, during last mid-term elections of 11/2, to fill the remainder of Burris' term and a full six-year term leaving a debt of $630.000 to lawyers who helped him in his battle to get seated and fight ethics charges