[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 132 (Thursday, October 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING ABDUL CONTEH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TONY P. HALL

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 18, 2000

  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday Major League Soccer honored 
Abdul Conteh, a star of the San Jose Earthquakes, by presenting the 
inaugural New York Life Humanitarian of the Year Award to him.
  I want to add my voice to those honoring Mr. Conteh, and I want to 
commend Major League Soccer and New York Life for drawing attention to 
the world's humanitarian crises and to those working to do something to 
ease suffering.
  Abdul Conteh was born in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. His 
family moved to the United States when he was a teenager, but he has 
not forgotten his people and his country and he is using his hard-won 
fame to champion their needs. In conjunction with the Santa Clara 
Valley chapter of the American Red Cross, Mr. Conteh recently launched 
an initiative to raise funds to alleviate the suffering of a people who 
have experienced gruesome atrocities, death, and destruction during 
nine years of war.
  His hope is to fund a school and other projects that can help his 
people reclaim their lives. As he works toward this goal he is doing 
something else too: he is raising the awareness of soccer fans and 
others who otherwise wouldn't think about Sierra Leone--Americans who 
can do something to help the people of a nation founded by former 
slaves, people who have been trapped by fighting over the lucrative 
diamond trade for nine long years.
  Rebel forces--funded by stealing Sierra Leone's diamonds and assisted 
by Liberia's president, Charles Taylor--have brutalized innocent men, 
women and children throughout Sierra Leone. They have driven hundreds 
of thousands from their homes and killed tens of thousands more. Some 
20,000 of these suffered forced amputations of their hands, ears, or 
legs by machete; most of these victims died. Untold numbers of girls 
and women have been raped, many of them left infected with AIDS as a 
result. The country, which should be one of the richest in Africa, 
consistently ranks as the poorest in the world and the most miserable 
by every measure.
  I have been to Sierra Leone and I have seen first-hand the results of 
these rebels. Last December, Congressman Frank Wolf and I visited camps 
for the survivors of the rebels' attacks. We met thousands of people 
who are lucky to be alive, who did not bleed to death as they struggled 
to flee the rebels who had just cut off their arms, legs, or ears. Few 
were spared rebels' grotesque and evil acts. Infants' arms and legs 
were cut off. Young men in the prime of their life suddenly had half of 
a leg, or no hands. Women were raped by rebels and then had their arms 
amputated--only to give birth several months later as a result of the 
rape they suffered.
  Mr. Conteh knows first-hand what I have just described; more than 20 
of his family members have been killed in the bloodshed. The horrible 
images we all have seen and the stories we have heard about the 
atrocities in Sierra Leone touch Mr. Conteh and others personally. It 
is the survivors who are left with the empty beds, the missing 
generations, and the questions from the children as to why their 
friends, uncles, cousins, siblings, or parents are no longer here.
  Through his initiative, Mr. Conteh will make a difference in people's 
lives in Sierra Leone. I commend Mr. Conteh for his efforts on behalf 
of the people of Sierra Leone, I congratulate him for receiving this 
prestigious humanitarian award, and I wish him and others doing 
lifesaving work in Sierra Leone all the best.

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