[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 91 (Thursday, July 14, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
COMMENDING THE WORK OF FREEDOM HOUSE AND THOSE WHO WORK FOR THE RIGHTS 
     OF CHILDREN FORCED INTO PROSTITUTION AND SLAVERY IN SOUTH ASIA

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                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 14, 1994

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, quite often it is the children 
of the world who must suffer at the hands of those who abuse their 
positions of power and authority. Throughout the world there are 
social, economic and cultural conditions which contribute to the abuse 
and exploitation of children. Quite often those who are most vulnerable 
and are deserving of our care--yes, even our protection--are victimized 
by those who create abusive conditions. What is tragic about the abuse 
of children is that most of them have no hope of overcoming their 
situation. In fact, there are cultural structures and even laws which 
support and promote the abuses, rather than protect those who are 
abused.
  Most nations have laws which regulate child labor and seek to protect 
them from the abuses to which they are subjected. However, many of 
these nations fail to adequately enforce these laws for any number of 
reasons. In some nations, the problem is so extensive that they lack 
the resources to enforce them. In other nations, cultural and social 
structures which support and promote these abuses are so entrenched 
that it is often difficult to re-educate the population. Sadly, in some 
nations, the desire for expanding profits and economic greed completely 
override any concern for the child and entire industries give free 
reign to build on the lives of children.
  Mr. Speaker, only a few weeks ago the House of Representatives passed 
an important child protection measure when we passed--with only three 
dissenting votes--the Smith-Doolittle amendment, House Joint Resolution 
281, to the crime bill. This amendment condemned the Justice 
Department's weakening of the child pornography laws of the United 
States. On June 9, a Federal appeals court also rejected the attempt to 
weaken the law and reafirmed congressional intent behind the tough 
Federal statutes. Mr. Speaker, children need protection from forces 
which will abuse them, forces that can go unchecked if not regulated 
and enforced by law.
  Our concern for the children cannot stop at our shores. Millions of 
children, children the same age and younger than my own children, are 
victims of horrible labor conditions, sold into slavery and forced into 
prostitution. Young girls who are sold as child brides are often 
beaten, raped, and many are murdered--often over dowry disputes.
  Mr. Speaker, today I would like to commend Freedom House for its 
commitment to children by publicizing the widespread abuse of children 
and women worldwide. Freedom House's reports stand virtually alone in 
their information and power. When others might want to turn their backs 
on the children, Freedom House has continued to speak out. Whether it 
has been their reports on child slavery in Pakistan and India; warnings 
of the potential for abuse in our own country; the children victimized 
by the war in Sudan; or the kidnaping of young boys and girls who are 
forced into the sex industry of Thailand; Freedom House has shown us 
the faces of children who cry out for help. I would like to thank Mrs. 
Bette Bao Lord, the staff of Freedom House for meeting today with the 
Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
  In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, the problems of child labor 
and prostitution are great. Although all of these nations have laws 
enacted to address the problems, the numbers of children and social 
pressures are so great that it is often difficult to enforce them. In 
these countries children who are abandoned, kidnaped, or living in the 
streets are often forced into lives of prostitution or to work for low 
wages in appalling conditions. It is reported that the most abusive 
industries are agriculture, family cottage, carpet weaving.
  Each night many of us go home and enjoy the comfort and beauty of 
carpets we have bought which have been imported from these countries. 
We have paid very high prices for these carpets. But, Mr. Chairman, 
that price is nothing compared to the price paid by the children who 
have been forced to make them. They have been forced to give up their 
childhoods, their innocence, their freedom and their dignity. How can 
we walk on these carpets and not be reminded that we are walking on the 
lives of children, trampling underfoot their hopes and their dreams and 
their lives?
  Mr. Chairman, these children need to know that someone cares. The 
world needs to hear their story. Mr. Chairman, this may sound strange, 
but I did not look forward to hearing from our guests this morning for 
what they had to tell us should not have to be said. But the problem is 
real, and I am happy that they were with us to tell us about the 
children, and to challenge us to respond to their needs. Our guests 
Zohra Yusuf, the Secretary General and cofounder of the Human Rights 
Commission of Pakistan; Salma Ali, the executive director of the Legal 
Representation for Women Prisoners and the Urban Legal Aid Clinic in 
Bangladesh; and Mangala Sharma, the founder and chair of the Bhutanese 
Refugees Aiding Victims of Violence--and herself a refugee from 
Bhutan--shared with the stories of women and children who are daily 
victimized. Each day these women and others bravely risk their lives 
for the protection of women and children. They honored us with their 
presence here today. I not only wish to thank them, but to pledge my 
support for their work and for the protection of women and children 
worldwide.

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