[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 88 (Tuesday, July 11, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H5813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CALLING FOR EXTRADITION OF ALLEGED KILLER OF DEEPA AGARWAL, SLAIN 
                        CENTRAL FLORIDA STUDENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to speak on 
behalf of the family of Deepa Agarwal, a promising and bright young 
student at the University of Central Florida, who was brutally murdered 
in her apartment in Orlando, Florida. Her alleged killer, Kamlesh 
Agarwal, fled to his home in India where he remains today. Today is an 
important day to Deepa's family and friends because it marks the 1-year 
anniversary of her tragic death. But halfway across the globe in India, 
it is just one more day that her alleged killer remains free.
  I am here to speak today because I am concerned about the failure of 
India to pursue and arrest this suspect, let alone extradite him. As a 
result of a murder in my own congressional district and the efforts 
made to extradite the suspect from Mexico, I learned a lot about the 
international loopholes that criminals can use to escape justice in 
America. In fact, according to recent statements by the Department of 
Justice, only one in four international fugitives is returned to the 
United States.
  It is easy to point fingers at the actions of other nations when it 
comes to extradition. But I want the administration to take note of one 
important point. Deepa's family and friends held a vigil today in front 
of the White House and not in front of the Embassy of India. After more 
than 2 years of working on the issue of international extraditions and 
after talking to victims' families and local law enforcement, I have 
realized that there is a powerful and accurate perception that the 
administration is not doing enough to ensure that these suspects are 
returned. The American people are not content with being told that we 
have no influence over international law enforcement cooperation with 
countries like Mexico and India when we hand out millions of dollars in 
foreign aid and maintain a constant dialogue on a wide variety of other 
issues.
  Cases like the Agarwal case should be a priority in U.S. foreign 
policy, and families should not feel like they need a Member of 
Congress to take the offensive on their behalf to get action on their 
case. I believe that there are employees within the State Department 
and Justice Department who are committed to seeing these suspects 
return to face justice. But until that decision is made at the very top 
of the food chain to make these extraditions a top priority, we will 
continue to tread water on this issue, and tragically we will continue 
to see vigils like occurred today.
  I ask the administration to make the Agarwal case and extradition a 
priority in our dealings with India, and I wish the Agarwal family and 
Deepa's friends the best of luck in their fight for justice. I also ask 
my colleagues to join me in support of international extradition reform 
and the legislation I have introduced, which is H.R. 3212, the 
International Extradition Enforcement Act.




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