[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 172 (Wednesday, December 12, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H9325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      BREATHING LIFE INTO HUMANITARIAN LEGISLATION FOR AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today the President of the 
United States signed legislation to assist the starving Afghan women 
and children. Not only was this legislation to address these terrible 
physical needs, but also to address the need to include Afghan women in 
the political and governmental structure of a new Afghan.
  I would simply say that the signing of the legislation and the work 
that was done by the women of this House and the Senate, many women in 
the Democratic Caucus who began many, many months ago speaking about 
the plight of the women in Afghanistan, is something that we all can be 
proud of. I salute the signing of this legislation.
  Right now, there are 1 million people from the Afghanistan nation on 
the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. These individuals are suffering 
because of the inclement weather and the very cold season. In refugee 
camps, 175 people have already died, and most of those are children.
  It is important as we sign legislation, Mr. Speaker, that we utilize 
part of the $40 billion to act on the legislation. The people in 
Afghanistan need food, they need clothing, they need the ability to be 
resettled, they need housing that will be warm. In order to make this 
legislation a living, breathing document, I call upon the President of 
the United States to expend some of those dollars to utilize them 
immediately to help the starving children and the plight of those 
families on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is 
enormously important that as we fight to rid ourselves and the world of 
terrorism, that America emphasizes and reemphasizes its humanitarian 
approach and its view that there is a need to protect families, women, 
and children.
  Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago I passed a resolution, H. Con. Res. 
228, and that resolution was to emphasize that those children who lost 
parents or a guardian on September 11 should receive Federal benefits 
or any benefits with the highest priority. We know of the horrific 
tragedy of September 11, the divide that it caused in families and the 
loss of loved ones here in the United States, and I believe it is 
extremely important to emphasize the need to provide resources for 
those children. But equally so, as we have made a commitment to helping 
restructure the nation of Afghanistan, meaning to provide the 
opportunity for that government to build itself in a peaceful manner, 
we have also committed to making sure that women will be included in 
the rebuilding of that nation and in the governmental structure. We 
realize that the imprisonment of the burqas was the imprisonment of the 
spirit and of people's freedoms.
  Now women are able to take off those uniforms. Now we need them to be 
fully involved in the structuring of government so that women's 
interests and children's interests can be emphasized.
  Next week I intend to hold a briefing on the plight of children in 
Afghanistan and the hunger that they face, the devastation that they 
face, the fact that children have to go to work at 7 and 8 years old to 
provide for their families making bricks. We must find a way to involve 
ourselves in the aspects of giving Afghanistan and the people of 
Afghanistan a future and a sense of hope. Particularly, we must find a 
way to involve ourselves in the lives of those children so that they 
will become freedom-lovers, lovers of stability and government, and 
appreciating their own faith and recognizing that their faith, the 
Muslim faith, the Islamic faith, is one of love and peace.
  We must do that now, Mr. Speaker. We must ensure that the resources 
are there. We must breath life into legislation that was signed today. 
We must address the question of 1 million refugees. We must find a way 
to stop children from dying in refugee camps. We must find a way as 
well to help rebuild this nation in a way that it stands alongside of 
the rest of the world family as a freedom-loving place, a place of 
peace, and a place where all can raise their children in harmony and 
with opportunity.

                          ____________________