[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 12, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 MARKING THE THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN SYRIA

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                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 12, 2014

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the three-year 
anniversary of the humanitarian crisis in Syria. This horrific conflict 
has left over 100,000 people dead, a population roughly the size of 
Boulder, Colorado. Of those 100,000 casualties of war, 10,000 were 
children. As I speak, 5.5 million living children are dangerously 
vulnerable, having ``lost lives and limbs, along with virtually every 
aspect of their childhood,'' according to the United Nations. And the 
displacement crisis continues to explode, with some 6.5 million Syrians 
internally displaced within their own country and 2.4 million Syrians 
living as refugees in neighboring countries.
   Mr. Speaker, it is easy to become desensitized by numbers of this 
scale. But these are not merely newspaper headlines. These statistics 
are made up of real people who had real hopes and real dreams, too many 
of which have been crushed by war and violence. The international 
community must draw on the full spectrum of diplomatic and development 
tools to bring swift, lasting stability to Syria and the surrounding 
countries. Three years is three years too long. The time for peace is 
now. We cannot wait a moment longer.

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