[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 70 (Friday, May 17, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E696]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IT'S TIME FOR RECONCILIATION IN SRI LANKA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEVE CHABOT

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 17, 2013

  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, May 18th marks the 4th anniversary of the 
end of a brutal 26 year civil war in Sri Lanka--a war which claimed 
tens of thousands of lives and cost the Sri Lankan economy billions of 
dollars.
  Four years later, many in Sri Lanka still suffer from the lingering 
effects of that war. Many have not been able to return to their homes. 
Land mines are still being cleared, and minority Tamils have yet to be 
fully integrated into local affairs.
  It is my hope, and the hope of most Sri Lankans, I believe, that 
political reconciliation can finally come to Sri Lanka and that the 
battle-scarred nation can enter a new era where former combatants live 
in harmony. But that reconciliation can only come if a legitimate 
mechanism for reconciliation and accountability is established. True 
reconciliation, Mr. Speaker, will come not from government edict but 
from the establishment of an equal justice system with full respect for 
the rule of law.

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