[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 50 (Tuesday, May 2, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H1944-H1948]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONVEYING SYMPATHY OF CONGRESS TO FAMILIES OF YOUNG WOMEN MURDERED IN
CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree
to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 90) conveying the sympathy
of Congress to the families of the young women murdered in the State of
Chihuahua, Mexico, and encouraging increased United States involvement
in bringing an end to these crimes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Con. Res. 90
Whereas the Mexican cities of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua
have been plagued with the abduction, sexual assault, and
brutal murders of over 400 young women since 1993;
Whereas there have been at least 56 murders of women in
Ciudad Juarez and the city of Chihuahua since 2004;
Whereas at least 152 of the victims were sexually assaulted
prior to their murders;
Whereas more than half of the victims are women and girls
between the ages of 13 and 22, and many were abducted in
broad daylight in well-populated areas;
Whereas these murders have brought pain to the families and
friends of the victims on both sides of the border as they
struggle to cope with the loss of their loved ones;
Whereas many of the victims have yet to be positively
identified;
Whereas the perpetrators of most of these heinous acts
remain unknown;
Whereas the Mexican Federal Government has taken steps to
prevent these abductions and murders in Ciudad Juarez,
including setting up a commission to coordinate Federal and
State efforts, establishing a 40-point plan, appointing a
special commissioner, and appointing a special prosecutor;
Whereas the Mexican Federal special prosecutor's review of
the Ciudad Juarez murder investigations found evidence that
over 100 police, prosecutors, forensics experts, and other
State of Chihuahua justice officials failed to properly
investigate the crimes, and recommended that they be held
accountable for their acts of negligence, abuse of authority,
and omission;
Whereas the Government of Mexico has recognized the
importance of the work of the Mexican Federal special
prosecutor and has shifted the mission of the prosecutor's
office to assist local authorities in investigating and
prosecuting crimes of violence against women throughout the
country;
Whereas in 2003 the El Paso Field Office of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and the El Paso Police Department
began providing Mexican Federal, State, and municipal law
enforcement authorities with training in investigation
techniques and methods;
Whereas the United States Agency for International
Development has begun providing assistance to the State of
Chihuahua for judicial reform;
Whereas the government of the State of Chihuahua has
jurisdiction over these crimes;
Whereas the Governor and Attorney General of the State of
Chihuahua have expressed willingness to collaborate with the
Mexican Federal Government and United States officials in
addressing these crimes;
Whereas the Department of State has provided consular
services on behalf of the American citizen and her husband
who were tortured into confessing to one of the murders;
Whereas Mexico is a party to the following international
treaties and declarations that relate to abductions and
murders: the Charter of the Organization of American States,
the American Convention on Human Rights, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the
Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the
United Nations Declaration on Violence Against Women, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention of
Belem do Para, the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and
Punish Torture, the Inter-American Convention on Forced
Disappearance, and the United Nations Declaration on the
Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance; and
Whereas continuing impunity for these crimes is a threat to
the rule of law in Mexico: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress--
(1) condemns the ongoing abductions and murders of young
women in Ciudad Juarez and the city of Chihuahua in the State
of Chihuahua, Mexico, since 1993;
(2) expresses its sincerest condolences and deepest
sympathy to the families of the victims of these murders;
(3) recognizes the courageous struggle of the victims'
families in seeking justice for the victims;
(4) urges the President and Secretary of State to
incorporate the investigative and preventative efforts of the
Mexican Government in the bilateral agenda between the
Governments of Mexico and the United States and to continue
to express concern over these abductions and murders to the
Government of Mexico;
(5) urges the President and Secretary of State to continue
to express support for the efforts of the victims' families
to seek justice for the victims, to express concern relating
to the continued harassment of these families and the human
rights defenders with whom they work, and to express concern
with respect to impediments in the ability of the families to
receive prompt and accurate information in their cases;
(6) supports ongoing efforts to identify unknown victims
through forensic analysis, including DNA testing, conducted
by independent, impartial experts who are sensitive to the
special needs and concerns of the victims' families, as well
as efforts to make these services available to any families
who have doubts about the results of prior forensic testing;
(7) condemns the use of torture as a means of investigation
into these crimes;
(8) encourages the Secretary of State to continue to
include in the annual Country Report on Human Rights of the
Department of State all instances of improper investigatory
methods, threats against human rights activists, and the use
of torture with respect to cases involving the murder and
abduction of young women in the State of Chihuahua;
(9) encourages the Secretary of State to urge the
Government of Mexico and the State of Chihuahua to review the
cases of murdered women in which those accused or convicted
of murder have credibly alleged they were tortured or forced
by a state agent to confess to the crime;
(10) strongly recommends that the United States Ambassador
to Mexico visit Ciudad Juarez and the city of Chihuahua for
the purpose of meeting with the families of the victims,
womena=TMs rights organizations, and Mexican
Federal and State officials responsible for investigating
these crimes and preventing future such crimes;
(11) encourages the Secretary of State to urge the
Government of Mexico to ensure fair and proper judicial
proceedings for the individuals who are accused of these
abductions and murders and to impose appropriate punishment
for those individuals subsequently determined to be guilty of
such crimes;
(12) encourages the Secretary of State to urge the State of
Chihuahua to hold accountable those law enforcement officials
whose failure to adequately investigate the murders, whether
through negligence, omission, or abuse, has led to impunity
for these crimes;
(13) encourages the Secretary of State to urge the
Government of Mexico to ensure that the Mexican Federal
special prosecutor's office, responsible for assisting local
authorities in investigating and prosecuting crimes of
violence against women throughout the country, gives
particular attention to the murders of women in Ciudad Juarez
and Chihuahua City;
(14) strongly supports the work of the special commissioner
to prevent violence against women in Ciudad Juarez and
Chihuahua City;
(15) condemns all senseless acts of violence in all parts
of the world and, in particular, violence against women; and
(16) expresses the solidarity of the people of the United
States with the people of Mexico in the face of these tragic
and senseless acts.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from California (Mr.
Lantos) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.
General Leave
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution
90, introduced by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis).
The resolution before us respectfully conveys to the families of more
than 400 young women who have been murdered in the State of Chihuahua,
Mexico, the deepest sympathy of the
[[Page H1945]]
United States Congress. It also encourages law enforcement in the
United States to seek closer cooperation with Mexican law enforcement
authorities to solve these crimes and bring the perpetrators to
justice.
{time} 1545
Mr. Speaker, the border with Mexico can be a violent place. With drug
traffickers, migrant smugglers, and other violent malefactors operating
along the border, young women who live and work in the many border
communities often fall prey to these violent criminals.
Over the past 12 years, more than 400 murders and disappearances of
women have been committed in the cities of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua
City. Fifty-five women have been killed in Juarez and Chihuahua City
since 2004 alone. Unfortunately, very few of these cases have been
resolved and even fewer perpetrators of this violence have been caught
and prosecuted. As a result, the violence continues.
Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 90 will hopefully bring
much-needed attention to the brutal torture, rapes, and murders
committed against women along the U.S.-Mexican border, especially in
the State of Chihuahua, and will underscore the need for more
cooperative law enforcement in both the United States and Mexico.
Before this resolution was introduced and brought to the floor, too
little attention was paid to this important issue. Today, Congress is
taking a stand and urging both the United States and Mexico to ensure
its people, wherever they may live and work, that they will be secure
within their homes and workplaces and that they can live without the
fear of violence which is now sweeping our border communities.
Mr. Speaker, it is important that we in Congress continue to
encourage our governments to work with Mexico not only to protect the
women in Juarez but also to thoroughly investigate these crimes and
bring an end to these murders. House Concurrent Resolution 90 would
serve as a call to action along the border and would be a constant
reminder to both the United States and Mexico that we must do more to
protect our citizens against criminal elements and cooperate more on
bringing criminals to justice. I urge my colleagues to support this
important resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution
and yield myself such time as I might consume.
Mr. Speaker, the resolution before the House introduced by my
distinguished California colleague and good friend, Congresswoman Hilda
Solis, shines the spotlight on the murders of impoverished young women
in Mexico. I applaud my friend and colleague, Chairman Hyde, for
recognizing the importance of this resolution and facilitating its
consideration both by our committee and the full House.
Mr. Speaker, since 1993, over 400 gruesome killings have plagued
Mexico's nearly lawless northern border. In the last 2 years alone,
over 56 women in this region have had their lives brutally
extinguished.
Although these statistics are shocking at face value, the numbers
often hide due to time and distance the very human stories that bleed
from the pages of crime reports. In the Ciudad Juarez murders, the
tragic tales are about girls and young women in the prime of their
lives who, as they are walking home from one of the many sweatshops
along the border, are kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered. Their
bodies are then unceremoniously dumped at the fringes of town. Families
are left wondering what happened to their daughters or sisters or
mothers.
As a result of the combined efforts of honorable individuals like my
good friends and colleagues, Congresswoman Solis and Congressman Reyes,
as well as organizations such as the Washington Office on Latin America
and the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women, the Mexican government of President Fox finally took
action. Among President Fox's initiatives were the establishment of a
commission to coordinate federal and state efforts in Mexico, the
appointment of a special prosecutor to review and bring related cases,
and a plan to prevent future crimes.
It is not yet clear, Mr. Speaker, that these efforts have slowed the
pace by which girls and women are being murdered in Ciudad Juarez or in
Chihuahua City. Credible reports indicate that at least as many murders
have been committed each year since the Mexican federal and state
authorities began implementing their new policies.
It is also not apparent that local authorities are seriously
committed to investigating and bringing to justice the criminals who
are behind the murders. Suspects have been arrested for only about half
of the Ciudad Juarez murders. In a significant number of cases, the
defendants claimed that they were tortured into confessing their guilt.
Real, impartial, professional investigations and prosecutions are
needed to take the killers off the streets and to bring closure to the
victims' families.
Mr. Speaker, the resolution before us today takes steps to address
these remaining problems. It encourages the administration to include
the Ciudad Juarez murders as part of the bilateral agenda between our
government and the government of Mexico. It supports ongoing efforts to
identify unknown victims through forensic analysis, including DNA
testing, and it urges the Mexican authorities to invest in a new sense
of urgency and professionalism as part of their continuing work.
These killings, Mr. Speaker, must stop. I urge all of my colleagues
to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 2 minutes to my friend,
Congressman Engel of New York, the ranking member of the Western
Hemisphere Subcommittee.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from California for
yielding to me; and as both a co-sponsor of this resolution and as
ranking member of the House International Relations Subcommittee for
the Western Hemisphere, I rise in strong support of this important
resolution.
I want to thank and commend my colleague, Congresswoman Solis, for
her leadership in raising attention to the dire problem in Ciudad
Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico. I also want to thank my friend,
Congressman Reyes, for highlighting this important issue as well.
In a congressional hearing last week, Mr. Speaker, on U.S.-Mexico
relations, I directly called on senior U.S. Department of State
officials to continue to press Mexican authorities on the approximately
400 women who had been brutally murdered in the Mexican cities of
Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua since 1993 and to provide U.S. assistance;
and I remain deeply concerned over the killings of these young women.
It is time that a serious effort was made to solve these terrible
murders that are plaguing the towns in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, and
I hope that the U.S. State Department will take appropriate action to
help Mexico address these heinous crimes, not only the crimes that have
been committed but obviously we want to prevent any further crimes from
being committed.
I continue to urge the American government to work with Mexican
authorities to halt this brutal violence against Mexican women and to
investigate these horrible crimes. How can we just sit by as hundreds
of women are killed and sexually assaulted just across the Texas
border? I condemn the ongoing abductions and murders of women in Ciudad
Juarez and Chihuahua City and express my heartfelt condolences to the
victims' families. We will continue to press this issue until it is
resolved.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 5 minutes to my good
friend, the distinguished author of the resolution and co-chair of the
Congressional Women's Caucus, Ms. Hilda Solis of California.
Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I wish to extend my great thanks and honor to
Congressman Lantos and Congressman Engel and also to Congresswoman
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for her support.
Mr. Speaker, we are strongly in support of this resolution to support
the families of women who have been murdered in Ciudad Juarez and in
the city of Chihuahua in Mexico. I have always believed that attacks on
women are attacks on women everywhere.
[[Page H1946]]
This came to my attention some 4 years ago, and I was very proud to
help lead a delegation for the first time, a House delegation to Ciudad
Juarez, which is 5 minutes from our border, our frontier there. And
what I found was a horrific, horrific problem, brutal murders of women,
as was already stated by our colleagues. And to hear that over the past
13 years this had been allowed to continue without any involvement on
the part of our government and Mexico, I felt compelled as a woman, as
a Latina, as someone who felt very strongly that, if we are going to
stand up for women's rights in other continents of the world and the
Middle East to defend the Afghani women who are being tortured by the
Taliban, why not then also come forward and support the women of
Ciudad, Juarez?
We know that there are well over 400 victims that have been brutally
murdered; and recently just this past year we found that a young girl,
7 years old, was kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered. Another girl
just 10 years was raped, killed, and set on fire in her home. These
children were taken away from us too soon, and the anguished families
will never be the same.
When I took a delegation to Ciudad Juarez, we had the opportunity,
along with other members of the House, to meet with the families, to
meet with the mothers of the victims, and what they asked for was
nothing more than respect and acknowledgement and hopefully the force
of our offices to get both sides, the Mexican government as well as the
U.S. government, to come to an agreement to recognize that these
atrocities must stop, to recognize the valor and respect of these
families, and help to provide some closure; and through this resolution
I hope that we can begin to do that.
This poster here illustrates an area that we actually visited very
close to a grave site where eight bodies were thrown. It was almost as
though there was a message being sent to authorities in Mexico that
this is how we treat people in Ciudad, Juarez, and very little regard
for the value of human life. As you can see in the picture, we had
several individuals that went with us to visit there. We had
Congressman Reyes, we had at that time Congressman Ciro Rodriguez,
Congressman Luis Gutierrez, and we also had a good friend of mine who
is depicted in the photograph, Dolores Huerta, who joined me.
But the value of that trip was to really meet and speak to the
families, to speak to the mothers, to speak to the fathers who had
recited their individual accounts of how they found their daughters and
in what state they found their daughters or corpses. Yet we find today
that we still have many remains that have not been identified, not
because there is not a willingness to do it but because perhaps someone
did not collect appropriate DNA information and tampered with perhaps
evidence at the time so that you could not then retrace who was
actually involved in these criminal atrocities.
That, I hope, will come to an end with the passage of this
resolution, that we can begin to work in all honesty to identify the
remains that are still left unclaimed by the families and provide some
resolution.
I am very, very pleased that I had the support of our caucuses and
outside community groups that helped to support us in this effort. It
has been a long journey, and I want to personally thank various groups
that helped us along this way. I want to thank in particular our
committee staff, Paul Oostburg, for helping us, the Washington Office
on Latin America, the Latin America Working Group, and Amnesty
International, and many others across the country who helped us to lay
out the foundation for the final passage of this legislation that I
hope we will find later this afternoon.
I would ask that the House join us in support of this resolution, and
I look forward to seeing our friends and colleagues in the Senate also
assist us with passage of their similar resolution that also outlines
the same provisions in this resolution.
Today I rise to voice my strong support for the families of women who
have been murdered in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua City, Mexico.
I have always believed that attacks of women anywhere are attacks on
women everywhere. That is why three years ago I introduced House
Concurrent Resolution 90, a resolution to raise awareness, express
concern and propose a set of actions to address the murders and
disappearances of young women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua City,
Mexico.
I was horrified by the brutal murders of women just five minutes
beyond our border. Over the past 12 years, more than 400 women have
been brutally assaulted and murdered in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua
City, and few of the perpetrators of this violence have been prosecuted
or even found.
Women and young girls from all parts of Mexico moved to Ciudad Juarez
in hopes of finding work, including jobs at American-owned
maquiladoras.
These jobs involve late hours, forcing women to travel home in the
dark, alone, leaving them vulnerable to attack.
Many of their bodies have been found in abandoned or desolate areas,
showing signs of rape, torture and mutilation.
These acts are more than just crimes; they are horrific violations of
women's rights and human rights.
Today, these crimes are not decreasing in frequency or brutality.
As an example, in 2005, a 7 year-old girl was kidnapped, raped and
brutally murdered. Another girl, just 10 years old, was raped, killed
and set on fire in her own home. These children were taken from us too
soon, and their anguished families will never be the same.
While the men who murdered these particular children were caught,
most of the victim's killers remain free and investigations of their
cases have been minimal.
In 2001, the so-called ``cotton field'' murder victims were
discovered in a Ciudad Juarez cotton field. Eight women were found
raped, mutilated, and killed.
This case exemplifies the brutality of violence in Ciudad Juarez.
Mexican officials tortured two men into confessing to the cotton
field murders. Their convictions were later overturned. One of the men
who was wrongly accused died in prison and the lawyers in the case were
gunned down. And this horrific case remains unsolved.
This pattern of torturing innocent men into confessing has touched
the community I represent.
In 2003, Neyra Cervantes disappeared near Chihuahua City, Mexico, and
her cousin, David Mesa, lived in the Congressional District I
represent.
Mesa traveled to Juarez to help investigate his cousin's
disappearance. He was incarcerated for criticizing the efforts of local
authorities and allegedly tortured into confessing to the murder of his
cousin. David is still in prison for the murder of his cousin--a murder
he did not commit.
We must end the violence against women in Ciudad Juarez and catch the
real criminals who are murdering women, not make more victims by
torturing innocent people into confessing. The women and families in
Ciudad Juarez are living their daily lives in fear. We must bring more
attention to these crimes and help end the violence.
House Concurrent Resolution 90, the resolution we will vote on today,
expresses concern about the continuing injustices that are killing
young women and affecting American families in our border cities.
This resolution urges the U.S. government to take action and commit
to working with the Mexican government to end these tragedies.
It is important that we, in Congress, continue to push the United
States to work with Mexico to not only protect women in Juarez, but
also to thoroughly investigate these crimes and bring an end to the
murders. These atrocities have real affects on victims' families.
In 2003 and 2004 I organized Congressional Delegation trips to Ciudad
Juarez to meet with families of victims, Mexican government officials,
and human rights groups.
The mothers of victims and their families are suffering at the loss
of their family members and continue to suffer because of inaction of
the Mexican government. It was on these trips that my dedication to
helping the women of Juarez was solidified. I would like to thank the
Members of Congress and activists who have traveled to Ciudad Juarez
with me, including Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Congressman Silvestre
Reyes, our former colleague, Congressman Ciro Rodriguez, Congresswoman
Jan Schakowsky, and my friend, Dolores Huerta, cofounder of VFW.
I have hosted briefings to educate others about this issue, sent
letters to the State Department and President Bush and even to Mexico's
President Vicente Fox urging action to end the murders of women and
give peace to their families.
Last year I was joined by Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, in
securing $200,000 from the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) to help fund a team of independent forensic experts
from Argentina to work in Juarez identifying the unknown victims'
remains and provide closure to their families.
These murders have caused incredible pain for the families of
victims, compounded by the
[[Page H1947]]
lack of response from their police and local government.
For the first time, families of the missing will receive dependable,
legitimate identifications of their daughters.
While changes have been made in local and state government and some
answers are coming to light, we must continue to pressure Mexican
authorities to investigate crimes and do more to end the violence.
As we move forward, we must push for thorough investigations, so the
families have closure and so the streets are safer for all women and
children.
We also need to ensure safer conditions for the women of Juarez, in
their homes, communities and workplaces.
We must remember that no matter where it takes place, on either side
of our border, a murder of any woman is a terrible tragedy.
As one, unified voice against violence and one, unified voice for
justice, our strength is in our solidarity to find peace for the
families of Juarez.
Ni una mas! means ``Not one more!''
I would like to thank the 143 bipartisan cosponsors of House
Concurrent Resolution 90.
1 would like to thank Chairman Hyde, Ranking Member Lantos,
Subcommittee Chairman Burton, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Engel for
their continued support as we work to bring peace to Ciudad Juarez.
I would also like to thank Committee Staff Paul Oostburg for his
assistance and advocates from organizations such as the Washington
Office on Latin America, the Latin America Working Group and Amnesty
International for their passion.
I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of House Concurrent Resolution
90, and demonstrate our strong support for the families of victims in
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. And I look forward to continuing to work with my
colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the fight for women's rights,
human rights and an end to the violence.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to my
good friend and distinguished colleague from Texas, Mr. Silvestre
Reyes. His El Paso district is the sister community to Ciudad Juarez.
He is Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Task Force on
International Relations, and an invaluable colleague.
Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I would like to first thank Chairman Henry
Hyde and Ranking Member Tom Lantos, my good friend, for bringing this
resolution to the floor today. Likewise, I would like to thank my
colleague from Florida for handling the time on this very important
issue.
{time} 1600
I would also like to thank Ms. Solis for introducing H. Con. Res. 90,
a resolution conveying sympathy to the families affected by the murder
of young women in Chihuahua, Mexico, and encouraging the United States
to be involved in bringing an end to these crimes.
As the representative of El Paso, Texas, the neighboring city to
Ciudad Juarez, the issue of unsolved murders is of great concern to me
and my constituents.
Since 1993, many women have been violently murdered in Chihuahua,
Mexico, and many have yet to be positively identified. This leaves
family members with more questions than answers about the fate of their
loved ones. In the past, I have urged Mexican President Vicente Fox to
launch a comprehensive investigation to help bring an end to these
murders and to bring those responsible to justice. In addition, I
hosted, as the Ms. Solis mentioned, a congressional delegation in El
Paso and Ciudad Juarez so my colleagues, including Congresswoman Solis,
could learn more about the subject and about the assistance needed in
this region of Mexico.
In July of 2005, I offered an amendment to the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act for fiscal year 2006-2007 to encourage the
administration to raise the issue of murdered women in Ciudad Juarez,
Mexico, with their counterparts in Mexico and to assist with the
identification of murdered women.
Thorough forensic analysis and DNA testing are necessary to identify
the bodies that have been found to date. An example of how this
technology can be crucial to an investigation took place in May 2005.
With the cooperation of the El Paso Police Department and the FBI, the
body of 7-year-old Airis Estrella Enriquez from Ciudad Juarez was
identified and had her killers brought to justice due to DNA analysis.
In addition, with the financial assistance of USAID, the Bode
Technology Group, a DNA laboratory located in Springfield, Virginia,
and local forensic teams have been collecting thousands of samples from
exhumed remains in order to process the samples and help identify
possible future matches. This technology will not only provide answers
and bring peace of mind to the families, enabling them to grieve, heal
and seek justice for their murdered loved ones, but it will also
contribute to the strengthening of judicial institutions in Ciudad
Juarez, Mexico.
I urge my colleagues to join me in sending our sincere condolences to
the families of murdered women, condemning the homicide against women,
and encouraging the U.S. and Mexican authorities to work together to
solve these murders and help ensure the safety of the women of Ciudad
Juarez. Please support H. Con. Res. 90.
Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 90 and
stand in solidarity with the families of 370 women who have been
abducted, brutally assaulted, raped and murdered in the Mexican cities
of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua since 1993. These families seek justice
for the atrocious acts committed against their daughters--some as young
as the age of 13--and I urge President Bush to offer whatever
assistance he can to bring these criminals to justice.
Even today, we do not know who many of the perpetrators are. Many of
the victims bodies have yet to be identified and returned to their
families. Local government and law enforcement agencies in the State of
Chihuahua have been ineffective in their investigations and require
massive reform. Spurred by public outcry, the Mexican Federal
Government launched a special investigation into the local governing
bodies, only to uncover countless instances of negligence and abuse of
power by over 100 police, prosecutors, and other government officials.
Mr. Speaker, we have an obligation as members of the international
community to condemn violence against women and offer humanitarian
assistance where we can. The President and the Secretary of State must
intervene in this matter. These vicious criminals must be prosecuted
and punished to the full extent of the law as soon as possible. We
cannot allow ineffective government officials and bureaucratic defects
to prevent justice from being served.
The families of these 370 women deserve closure and we must do all we
can to prevent any further tragedies of this nature from reoccurring.
As a father, grandfather, and husband, I could not think of any more
horrific or painful a tragedy to strike a family.
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Con. Res.
90, Conveying the Sympathy of Congress to the Families of the Young
Women Murdered in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, and Encouraging
Increased United States Involvement in Bringing an End to These Crimes.
I am a cosponsor to this important resolution and would like to thank
Representative Solis for introducing this legislation.
For over thirteen years, a stones throw from the U.S. border, almost
400 women and young teenagers have been brutally assaulted and
murdered. A disgraceful number of these murders have still not been
resolved and many perpetrators still roam free, attacking other
innocent women.
Family members of murdered women have worked tirelessly to try to
bring justice to their daughters, wives and sisters. They have often
faced great odds and opposition from local Mexican officials, yet have
continued to fight for the truth and work to try to prevent future
atrocities by bringing the rule of law to Cuidad Juarez and Chihuahua.
My heart goes out to these families for their losses, and I urge the
FBI, the U.S. State Department and all levels of the government of
Mexico to reinvigorate their efforts and work to do all that is
possible to bring justice and closure to these horrible tragedies.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res.
90, and I wish to express my respect and admiration for the gentlelady
from California, Congresswoman Solis, for her important leadership on
this tragic issue.
Since 1993, nearly 440 women have been killed in Ciudad Juarez and
the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. Most of the victims are young, poor
women. Nearly one-third worked in maquiladora factories that flourish
along the U.S.-Mexican border; another third were students; Over 100 of
these women were sexually assaulted prior to their murders, and these
cases may be related. Other murders appear to be the product of
domestic and intimate partner violence.
Regrettably, the Mexican authorities have done little to investigate
the murders: According to human rights investigations into these
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murders, at least 130 police, prosecutors, and forensic officials were
negligent or abusive in their handling of the murder investigations.
Frequently, these officers of the law blame the victim for her own
violent death. They have ignored, deceived, harassed and even attacked
the families of the victims. While a few men have been convicted for
some of the sexual murders, several of the victims' families believe
these men are scapegoats, while the real perpetrators remain free at-
large. As long as the wrong people are in prison, the killers remain
unpunished and able to kill again and again.
We know that the police have used torture to obtain confessions from
several people, even though no physical evidence connected these
individuals to the crimes. For example, days after eight women's bodies
were found in a field in downtown Juarez, two men were arrested and
tortured into confessing to their murders. No physical evidence links
them to the crime. Police killed one of their lawyers. One of the men
died in prison. The judge presiding over the case ignored the remaining
detainee's credible allegations of torture and the lack of evidence
against him, and convicted him to 50 years in prison for the murders.
The families of the murdered women do not believe he is the person
responsible for their daughters' deaths.
Mr. Speaker, the Ciudad Juarez murders are an issue that embraces
both sides of the border: U.S. citizens have been arrested for the
murders, have been victims of the murders, and have had loved ones lost
to murder. U.S. citizen Cynthia Kiecker and her husband, a Mexican
national, were arrested and tortured in June 2003, accused of the
murder of a young woman in Chihuahua. They were acquitted in December
2004. In another case, one U.S. citizen's daughter disappeared in July
2000.
I believe that the Mexican government will respond to U.S. and
international pressure to solve these murders and bring peace of mind
to the victims' families, and restore peace and security to the people
who live in the State of Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez, in particular.
Already, as a result of international pressure, the federal Mexican
government has appointed a special commissioner to prevent violence
against women in Juarez, as well as appointing a special prosecutor to
find out what went wrong with the previous murder investigations.
But Mexican federal and state authorities have made too many
promises, and still there is too little progress in any of these
investigations.
Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 90 will clearly tell the families of these
women that their voices and their pleas for justice have not gone
unheard. They have our sympathy, and they have our support. But passage
of this bill will also send a clear message to the Mexican authorities
that the United States Congress is concerned about these murders,
willing to have our government assist in their investigation, and that
we want the perpetrators of these heinous acts arrested and put behind
bars.
The lives of all these young women had meaning and promise. Let us
remember them now, and solemnly vow to their families that we will work
to bring their killers to justice.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gingrey). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the
House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con.
Res. 90, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution, as
amended, was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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