[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 48 (Wednesday, April 20, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E709]]
COMMEMORATING MARLA RUZICKA FOR HER OUTSTANDING DEDICATION AND ADVOCACY 
                            OF HUMAN RIGHTS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 20, 2005

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
life of Marla Ruzicka, who was killed last Saturday, April 16, 2005, 
when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of security contractors that 
was passing next to her vehicle in Iraq. The attack occurred on the 
Baghdad Airport road as she traveled to visit an Iraqi child injured by 
a bomb, part of her daily work of identifying and supporting innocent 
victims of the war in Iraq. Marla's outstanding contributions and 
dedication to human rights around the world are truly appreciated and 
will be sorely missed.
  Although just 28, Marla lived a full life. She began a door-to-door 
survey of civilian casualties in Iraq the day after Saddam Hussein's 
statue was toppled in April 2003. She founded a non-profit 
organization, Campaign for Innocent Victims In Conflict (CIVIC) and 
formed survey teams that gathered first-hand accounts of civilian 
casualties in Iraq.
  Marla traveled repeatedly to danger zones in Afghanistan and Iraq to 
locate and document people who were killed or injured and then worked 
to secure compensation for them or their families.
  A native of Lake County, California Marla graduated from Long Island 
University. After college, she returned to California, where she worked 
for Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights organization. 
This led her to Kabul, Afghanistan, shortly after the Taliban fell, 
where she focused her attention on the plight of war victims.
  Mr. Speaker and colleagues, Marla Ruzicka earned the respect, 
friendship and admiration of all of those with whom she came in 
contact. She will be greatly missed both personally and professionally. 
Her compassion and commitment to human rights were unquestionable. For 
these reasons and countless others, it is most appropriate that we 
honor her life's work and we extend our condolences to her family.

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