[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 15, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E373-E374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF KUR KUR AND SIMON GARANG

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 15, 2006

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and 
honor the achievements of two young men for whom I have the utmost 
respect and admiration. Mr. Kur Kur and Mr. Simon Garang, currently of 
Boulder, Colorado, will graduate with degrees from the University of 
Colorado at Boulder in May, 2006, closing one remarkable chapter in 
their lives and beginning another. For these two men, obtaining their 
degrees was more than a matter of attending classes and passing tests; 
it was a stunning journey from the impoverished and war-torn deserts of 
East Africa to the mountains of Colorado and the classrooms of CU-
Boulder.
  Mr. Kur and Mr. Garang were born in different parts of southern Sudan 
and were forced to flee to Ethiopia at the age of eight to evade 
Islamic militants that were driving men, women, and children from their 
homes. Separated from their families, the boys walked the long journey 
to Ethiopia seeking refuge.

[[Page E374]]

They remained there until war broke out in 1991, and made another 
improbable and difficult journey to a refugee camp in Kenya, where they 
would complete their high school educations in spite of severe hunger 
and poverty. There Mr. Kur and Mr. Garang became aware of the 
possibility that they could come to the United States and work toward 
better lives via a special refugee program. They had lived the full 
experience of a group of young people that are now called ``The Lost 
Boys of Sudan,'' and would now open a new and hopeful chapter in their 
already difficult lives.
  After arriving in Colorado, Mr. Kur and Mr. Garang would meet 
Professor Bruce Bassoff, who saw that they were extraordinarily bright 
and offered to help them enroll at the University of Colorado. In the 
fall of 2002 they did just that, studying and working hard to obtain 
their degrees while enjoying a rich college experience. Their upcoming 
graduation is the culmination not only of those efforts, but of years 
of a type of struggle unimaginable to most Americans.
  I have every confidence that Mr. Kur and Mr. Garang will put their 
degrees and worldviews to great use, and I look forward to seeing what 
they--as well as the other five Sudanese students enrolled at CU--
accomplish in the years to come. Theirs is a story of inspiration as 
well as a reminder of our good fortune and the struggles of those in 
Sudan and other parts of the underdeveloped world. I ask my colleagues 
to join me in congratulating Mr. Kur Kur and Mr. Simon Garang on their 
upcoming graduations and to wish them well in their future endeavors.

                          ____________________