[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 9 (Monday, January 24, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H416-H417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE RAPISTS OF BANGLADESH

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Jess Smochek joined the Peace Corps in 
2004 and went to Bangladesh to help that Third World country. Soon 
after arriving, a group of local men groped her sexually, however. She 
reported the improper conduct, but no one did anything. While in 
Bangladesh, Smochek felt unsafe and continued to report the hostile 
environment to the Peace Corps. But no one did anything.
  Later, a group of criminals kidnapped her, beat her, raped her and 
abandoned her in an alleyway. And no one did anything. In fact, for 
political reasons, the Peace Corps did everything it could to ignore 
and cover up the dastardly deed, blaming the crime on the victim.

[[Page H417]]

  Rape is not the fault of the victim. It is the fault of the criminal. 
And according to ABC News, over 1,000 rapes and assaults occurred in 
the last 10 years against American women working for the Peace Corps. 
But apparently no one is listening.
  Those days need to end, and it's time for justice for Jess Smochek, 
because justice is what we do in this country.
  And that's just the way it is.

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