[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 56 (Tuesday, May 3, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING MARLA RUZICKA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 3, 2005

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life 
and work of human rights activist Marla Ruzicka. Marla devoted her life 
to fighting for peace and justice, spending much of her adult life 
either abroad working to provide relief to victims of violent conflict, 
or in Washington, D.C. lobbying for the foreign aid those victims so 
desperately need. Most recently, Marla founded a non-profit 
organization called Campaign for Innocent Victims In Conflict (CIVIC), 
the objective of which is to accurately count the number of Iraqi 
civilian deaths in the war. While working to gather first-hand accounts 
of civilian casualties in Iraq, Marla was killed when a car bomb 
exploded in Baghdad on April 16, 2005.
  At the time of her death, Marla had been working to advance human 
rights and social justice for more than ten years. After hearing a talk 
given at her high school in Lakeport, California by a staff member of 
the international non-profit group Global Exchange, she went to the 
Global Exchange office to see what she could do to help. Marla's energy 
and passion for helping those in need was an inspiration to other 
activists in the group, and she learned quickly as she became more 
involved in human rights efforts. In college, Marla chose an 
institution and course of study that allowed her to travel the world, 
learning from diverse cultures and helping to facilitate relief efforts 
underway in a number of countries. In the course of her travels, Marla 
worked with people impacted by the AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe, with 
refugees in Palestine and rural farming communities in Nicaragua.
  Following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Marla traveled to 
that country with a Global Exchange delegation. She was so moved by the 
plight of the civilian victims of this conflict that she met there that 
she decided to devote her life to providing relief to people in those 
circumstances. Until the summer of 2002, Marla remained in Afghanistan, 
where she conducted a survey on the military campaign's effects on 
Afghan civilians and used that information to get assistance to the 
families that were harmed. Immediately following her return from 
Afghanistan, Marla moved to Washington, D.C. to lobby for U.S. 
assistance for civilian victims of armed conflict. Working with USAID 
and the Senate Appropriations Committee, Marla advocated the allocation 
of money to rebuild homes for families that suffered as a result of 
U.S. military actions.
  In 2003, Marla once again heeded the call of duty and went abroad, 
this time traveling to Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion. In the months 
that followed, she founded CIVIC and formed survey teams to fan out 
across the country to gather first-hand accounts of civilian 
casualties. Marla was instrumental in securing millions in aid money 
from the federal government for distribution in Iraq, and by the time 
of her death she had interviewed and routed assistance to thousands of 
Iraqis.
  Today we come together in sadness over the loss of someone who was 
such a bright light during such a dark time in our world. However, we 
are also here to celebrate the help and hope Marla devoted her life to 
giving to people who needed it. Whether pushing the federal government 
to increase aid to victims of violent conflict, traveling the world to 
provide direct relief, or inspiring those around her simply by being 
the vibrant and giving person that she was, Marla never ceased to work 
for what was right and improve the lives of those around her.
  And though the scope and impact of her work in providing aid to those 
in need is truly beyond compare, what she has given to us is greater 
than the measurable sum of her actions. Marla's passion for defending 
human rights and advocating for those who have no voice led her to 
challenge convention, and to do so without concern for herself. The 
conviction and compassion that drove Marla to do everything in her 
power to help others leaves a bright legacy from which we can all draw 
inspiration, and that we must all strive to emulate. On behalf of the 
9th Congressional District, I salute Marla Ruzicka for all that she 
gave of herself to our community, our country and our world.

                          ____________________