[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 127 (Monday, September 27, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H8829]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               LAND MINES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my 
colleagues to support increased investment in assistance to persons 
affected by land mines.
  As many of my colleagues are aware, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan 
will be making her first official visit to Capitol Hill tomorrow in her 
capacity as International Patron of the Land Mine Survivors Network to 
bring awareness to the devastation caused by land mines around the 
world.
  More than 60 countries are infested with land mines and have the 
potential of killing or maiming innocent civilians, male and female, 
adult and child. Every 20 minutes, another life is devastated by a 
anti-personnel Land Mine.
  Designed to maximize suffering and terrorize populations, land mines 
are truly indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction in slow motion. 
They cannot tell the difference between the footfall of a soldier or a 
child at play.
  Although the cost of producing a Land Mine is as little as $3, the 
injuries suffered by innocent civilians cannot be cured with a price 
tag. More than 80 percent of Land Mine victims are civilians who must 
deal with the physical, psychological, and social ramifications of 
being prey to the damage of a Land Mine.
  The proliferation of mines is a global and man-made epidemic. It is 
also an American problem, having affected more than 100,000 Americans. 
One such American is Jerry White, co-founder of the Land Mine Survivors 
Network. While traveling as a college student in Israel, Jerry stepped 
on a Land Mine, lost his leg, and joined the ranks of the more than 
300,000 and growing Land Mine survivors.
  Unlike Jerry, however, fewer than 10 percent of Land Mine victims 
have access to proper medical treatment and rehabilitation. Even fewer 
have the necessary support to effectively return to the social and 
economic mainstream.
  I urge my colleagues to support the efforts of Queen Noor, Jerry 
White, and the Land Mine Survivors Network to bring awareness to this 
important issue and to provide a voice to those survivors who do not 
have the opportunity or ability to speak for themselves.
  Let us walk into the next century, Mr. Speaker, with honor and hope 
for a Land Mine-free world. Let us work together to ensure that all 
countries offer the support and tools needed for persons injured by 
antipersonnel mines to reclaim their lives and become productive and 
contributing members of our society.

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