[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 70 (Friday, May 9, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CONDEMNING THE KIDNAPPING OF NIGERIAN SCHOOLGIRLS BY BOKO HARAM

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 9, 2014

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my outrage over 
the brutal assaults on human dignity and freedom committed by the Boko 
Haram, a militant group that has no respect for the rights of women and 
girls.
  Since 2013, more than 4,400 men, women, and children have been 
slaughtered by Boko Haram.
  The victims include Christians, Muslims, journalists, health care 
providers, relief workers. And schoolchildren.
  I rise today to urge our government, the United States of America, to 
assist the Government of Nigeria, working through the African Union, to 
rescue the more than 200 schoolgirls who were kidnapped from the Chibok 
School for Girls in Borno State on April 15, and the 11 schoolgirls 
kidnapped last night in the Warabe community of Borno, and reunited 
with their families and loved ones.
  Boko Haram's reign of terror must be brought to an end.
  I call upon the international community to work in concert to detect, 
disrupt, and dismantle Boko Haram's funding sources derived from other 
Islamist groups, including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and 
to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Al Muntada Trust Fund, 
and the Islamic World Society.
  I commend President Obama on his decision to deploy American security 
experts and equipment in Nigeria to help locate and rescue the abducted 
schoolgirls and we applaud Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan for 
accepting that assistance.
  The leader of Boko Haram has threatened to ransom or sell the 
abducted schoolgirls into the human trafficking market for about twelve 
dollars each ($12.00 USD).
  I say to him: ``Don't you dare.' ''
  Boko Haram's outrageous conduct will be tolerated or overlooked for 
not only is it a violation of the girls' human rights, it is also 
contrary to United States policy which supports and promotes equal 
access to education and economic opportunity for women and girls.
  As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, injustice anywhere is a 
threat to justice everywhere.
  So we will not stand idly by.
  But we do stand in solidarity with the good people of Nigeria and 
especially those beautiful and courageous schoolgirls who wanted 
nothing more than to get an education to make life better for 
themselves and their beloved country.
  We will not forget or forsake you.
  This is what I think we should do.
  Since we know that terrorist groups cannot operate effectively 
without reliable and steady funding to support their criminal acts, the 
United States should work with the international community to detect, 
disrupt, and dismantle the funding networks financing Boko Haram, which 
published reports indicate has received as much as $70 million from 
other Islamist groups, including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) 
and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Al Muntada Trust 
Fund, and the Islamic World Society.
  Additionally, the United States should work with the Government of 
Nigeria to develop its own capacity to deploy specialized police and 
army units rapidly to prevent and combat sectarian violence in cities 
and around the country where there has been a history of sectarian 
violence.
  The creation and deployment of an elite highly-trained rapid response 
unit was used to successful effect by the Indonesia Government in 2004 
to neutralize the Laskar Jihad terrorist organization.
  The United States should also take appropriate action to help the 
Government of Nigeria establish a Victim's Fund to provide humanitarian 
relief and economic assistance to the victims of attacks by Boko Haram 
so that they can rebuild their lives and communities.
  ``People are the great issue of the 20th century,'' declared, then-
Senator Hubert Humphrey in 1948.
  Mr. Speaker, the well-being of people remains the great issue of the 
21st century.
  And there is no better measure of any society than the way it treats 
its women and girls.
  Boko Haram understands that when Nigerian girls are educated, 
Nigerian women can succeed; and when Nigerian women succeed, Nigeria 
succeeds.
  And that is why it is so important that the United States help 
Nigeria ensure that Boko Haram fails.

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