[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 111 (Wednesday, July 22, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H8552-H8554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TORTURE VICTIMS RELIEF REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009

  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 1511) to amend the Torture Victims Relief Act of 
1998 to authorize appropriations to provide assistance for domestic and 
foreign programs and centers for the treatment of victims of torture, 
and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1511

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Torture Victims Relief 
     Reauthorization Act of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR DOMESTIC 
                   TREATMENT CENTERS FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE.

       Section 5(b)(1) of the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 
     (22 U.S.C. 2152 note) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--Of the amounts 
     authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Health 
     and Human Services for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, there are 
     authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection (a) 
     $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 and 2011.''.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FOREIGN TREATMENT 
                   CENTERS FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE.

       Section 4(b)(1) of the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 
     (22 U.S.C. 2152 note) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--Of the amounts 
     authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 
     pursuant to chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act 
     of 1961, there are authorized to be appropriated to the 
     President to carry out section 130 of such Act $12,000,000 
     for each of the fiscal years 2010 and 2011.''.

     SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES 
                   CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTARY 
                   FUND FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE.

       Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 
     years 2010 and 2011 pursuant to chapter 3 of part I of the 
     Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, there are authorized to be 
     appropriated to the President for a voluntary contribution to 
     the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture 
     $12,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Klein) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. 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 bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
legislation and yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  I'd like to thank the distinguished ranking Member of the Africa and 
Global Health Subcommittee, my friend Chris Smith, for his longstanding 
leadership in the fight against torture; and I am proud to stand with 
him unequivocally in this crucial human rights fight. I would also like 
to thank the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, Chairman Waxman from California, and the distinguished 
ranking Member on the committee, Mr. Barton from Texas, for their 
excellent collaboration in bringing this important piece of legislation 
expeditiously to the House floor.
  Mr. Speaker, the underlying legislation which we are reauthorizing 
today, the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998, is the practical 
expression of our deeply held values. Americans abhor and condemn the 
use of torture wherever it may occur, including at the hands of our own 
citizens. This bill demonstrates the commitment of the United States to 
stand squarely with the victims of this barbaric and illegal practice, 
not only fighting against the use of torture but also providing hope 
and relief to those who survive it, wherever and whoever they may be. 
Mr. Speaker, according to Amnesty International, over 117 countries 
around the world still engage in torture. Amidst allegations of our own 
government's possible involvement in torture, President Obama and the 
American people have reaffirmed our policy that the United States will 
not torture. An estimated 500,000 foreign torture survivors reside in 
the United States and over 100 million may exist worldwide. The 
personal ramifications of torture are beyond the realm of our 
comprehension. Torture leaves no victim unscarred. It shapes the 
remainder of lives. While physical wounds may ultimately heal, torture 
survivors need ongoing psychosocial services and therapy to cope with 
the post-traumatic stress that afflicts them daily. Recovering from 
torture is a long-term process. It can take years before torture 
survivors can once again feel emotionally comfortable in society. More 
than 200 treatment programs operate internationally to provide crucial 
medical, psychological and social services to torture survivors. The 
legislation before us supports international programs through grants 
which are administered by the United States Agency For International 
Development, USAID, through its Victims of Torture Fund, otherwise 
known as VTF. H.R. 1511 authorizes $12 million for each of fiscal years 
2010 and 2011 for this important purpose. In the United States, the 
Center For Victims of Torture in Minnesota was the first 
multidiscipline treatment center of its kind in the United States and 
the third torture victims treatment program in the world. Currently 
there are 25 programs for the treatment of survivors of torture 
operating in the United States, most of them financially assisted 
through the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health 
and Human Services. H.R. 1511 makes a critical investment in this 
crucial work. In addition, this legislation authorizes critical funds 
for the United States' contribution to the multilateral U.N. Voluntary 
Fund for Victims of Torture. Through the United Nations' mechanism, the 
UNVF supports torture treatment centers all over the world, including 
within the United States. Mr. Speaker, the funds authorized in the 
legislation before the House are urgently needed. I strongly support 
this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same.

[[Page H8553]]

         Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, 
           Committee on Energy and Commerce,
                                    Washington, DC, June 19, 2009.
     Hon. Howard L. Berman,
     Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Berman: I am writing to confirm our 
     understanding regarding the ``Torture Victims Relief 
     Reauthorization Act of 2009,'' H.R. 1511. The Committee on 
     Energy and Commerce has jurisdictional interest in provisions 
     of the bill relating to torture victim relief
       In light of the interest in moving this bill forward 
     promptly, I do not intend to exercise the jurisdiction of the 
     Committee on Energy and Commerce on H.R. 1511. I do this, 
     however, only with the understanding that forgoing further 
     consideration of H.R. 1511 at this time will not be construed 
     as prejudicing this Committee's jurisdictional interests and 
     prerogatives on the subject matter contained in this or 
     similar legislation. In addition, we reserve the right to 
     seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees to any 
     House-Senate conference involving this legislation.
       I would appreciate your including this letter in the 
     Congressional Record during consideration of the bill on the 
     House floor. Thank you for your cooperation on this matter.
           Sincerely,
     Henry A. Waxman.
                                  ____

         Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, 
           Committee on Foreign Affairs,
                                    Washington, DC, June 23, 2009.
     Hon. Henry A. Waxman,
     Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for your letter of June 19, 
     2009, regarding H.R. 1511, the ``Torture Victims Relief 
     Reauthorization Act of 2009.''
       I appreciate your willingness to work cooperatively on this 
     legislation. I recognize that the bill contains provisions 
     that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Energy 
     and Commerce. I acknowledge that the Committee will not seek 
     a sequential referral of the bill and agree that the inaction 
     of your Committee with respect to the bill does not waive any 
     future jurisdictional claim over the matters contained in the 
     bill which fall within your Committee's Rule X jurisdiction.
       Further, as to any House-Senate conference on the bill, I 
     understand that your Committee reserves the right to seek the 
     appointment of conferees for consideration of portions of the 
     bill that are within your Committee's jurisdiction, and I 
     agree to support a request by your Committee with respect to 
     serving as conferees on the bill, consistent with the 
     Speaker's practice in this regard.
       I will ensure that our exchange of letters is introduced in 
     the Congressional Record during consideration of the bill on 
     the House floor. I look forward to working with you on this 
     important legislation.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Howard L. Berman,
                                                         Chairman.

  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as 
I may consume.
  I thank my friend and colleague for his kind remarks and for his 
strong support for this humanitarian legislation. It's deeply 
appreciated. Mr. Speaker, many Americans and perhaps a few Members of 
Congress may be shocked to learned that nationwide, there are an 
estimated 500,000 torture survivors in the United States, men and women 
who came, in most cases, to the U.S. as refugees. Worldwide, it's 
impossible to count the numbers, but the numbers are in the several 
millions. As chairmen of the Human Rights Subcommittee in prior 
Congresses, we put together a large number of hearings on the issue of 
torture. Numerous torture survivors testified at those hearings about 
the paralyzing scars from the physical as well as psychological wounds 
of torture that remain for years and usually for a lifetime.
  I'm happy to say that Chairman McGovern of the Tom Lantos 
Congressional Human Rights Commission under the able leadership of Hans 
Hognefe--thank you, Hans for having that hearing just recently, where 
we heard again about the need for this kind of approach but also the 
horror that these people had faced and the ongoing scars that they 
endure. Their painful memories make it all too clear that torture 
impacts not only the individual victims but, as we know now, the 
families themselves, the families who have to deal mostly with post-
traumatic stress disorder, which manifests itself with such agony in 
the lives of these people.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1998 Congress took an historic step towards 
attempting to repair the broken lives of torture victims with the 
passage of the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998. I was a prime 
sponsor of that legislation and subsequent reauthorizations. Despite 
all of those efforts, however, there continues to be an enormous need 
and, I would submit, an escalating need for us to reach out to the 
victims of torture who oftentimes have no other recourse for their 
suffering.
  Over the years, as I said, and now to current day with the Tom Lantos 
Commission, we've had hearings with the torture victims from the Soviet 
Bloc, Africa, Asia as well as Central and South America. One of the 
witnesses at the last hearing that I chaired on this issue was Mr. 
Sheikh Sackor, the founder of Humanist Watch Liberia and a survivor of 
torture in Liberia. Mr. Sackor testified to the brutal physical 
treatment, including the use of electrical shocks and the psychological 
abuse that he suffered at the hands of the regime of Charles Taylor.
  Mr. Sackor was finally released from prison with the help of the 
United States embassy in Liberia. He fled to the U.S. and was admitted 
to the Bellevue Hospital Program for Survivors of Torture where he 
received medical and psychiatric care, evidentiary support for his 
asylum application and eventually, assistance finding employment with 
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
  Mr. Sackor concluded his testimony at the hearing by stating, ``Mine 
is a story like so many other individuals around the country cared for 
by the torture treatment centers funded by the Torture Victims Relief 
Act. But I know from my fellow torture victims,'' he went on, ``now 
living in the United States that the need for more services is 
enormous. I urge you to do whatever you can to increase funding for the 
centers doing this important work. For survivors of torture, this is 
truly a matter of life and death.''
  It is to help people like Mr. Sackor that I and so many others, 26 
cosponsors who bring this bill today, including Jim Oberstar, who has 
been a leader for so many years on these issues. The organizations in 
Minnesota, New Jersey, Florida, all over the country doing heroic work 
in assisting refugees and asylees within our own country, such as the 
International Institute of New Jersey, need the funding that would be 
authorized under this legislation to help individuals overcome the 
scars of torture so that they can finally, at long last, integrate 
successfully into our society.
  The Institute of New Jersey, for example, provides refugee 
resettlement services in New Jersey that include medical care, English 
language training, housing, employment, vocational referrals, mental 
health counseling, and social adjustment services. The benefits of such 
programs far outweigh any cost. It's an investment in people who have 
been harmed in most cases by despotic regimes.
  H.R. 1511 has three components. The domestic aspect is designed to 
ensure that particular attention is given to torture victims in regions 
within the U.S. that have significant immigrant and refugee 
populations. The measure authorizes $25 million for each fiscal year 
2010 and 2011 to the Department of Health and Human Services to assist 
domestic treatment centers. There are over 20 programs in 15 States 
assisted by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of 
Refugee Resettlement.
  In addition to direct assistance to survivors of torture and their 
families, many of these centers are also engaged in training mainstream 
organizations and personnel in the specialized treatment that is 
required for torture victims. The Department of Health has said over 
3,200 individuals were assisted during the 6-month period in '06 to 
'07; and the primary countries of origin to grant beneficiaries 
included Cameroon, Ethiopia, Iran, DR Congo, Iraq, Sudan and Togo.
  It is important, Mr. Speaker, that the United States also express 
concrete concern for victims overseas. H.R. 1511, therefore, authorizes 
$12 million for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 for foreign treatment 
centers and programs administered through USAID's Victims of Torture 
Fund. The funding is intended to give particular emphasis to supporting 
centers and programs abroad in emerging democracies and in post-
conflict environments. I would note parenthetically that as I travel on 
human rights

[[Page H8554]]

missions abroad, Mr. Speaker, I often visit those centers to see the 
good work that's being done to help people, like in Bucharest, where--
the legacy of Nicolae Ceausescu, the brutal tyrant of Romania--people 
are being assisted tangibly who spent time suffering torture under the 
Securitate, his secret police.
  Lastly, Mr. Speaker, the measure encourages international cooperation 
and awareness of this issue by authorizing $12 million to the U.N. 
Voluntary Fund For Torture Victims. The type of humanitarian assistance 
provided by organizations that receive grants from the fund, including 
organizations in the U.S., consists mainly of, again, psychological, 
medical, social and legal assistance. I hope my colleagues can support 
this legislation.
  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 1511.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________