[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 151 (Thursday, December 11, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H9048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRAGEDIES IN BANGLADESH

  (Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, on April 24, 2013, the 
world witnessed the deadliest disaster in the history of the garment 
industry. That morning Rana Plaza, an eight-story building housing five 
garment factories just outside Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka, 
collapsed. 1,138 people were killed and over 2,500 more were injured.
  Just 5 months earlier, at least 112 people were killed, and scores 
more were injured when they leapt from a burning building at the 
Tazreen Fashions factory.
  These tragedies laid bare the broken system, ineffective government 
oversight, and failed corporate responsibility and the powerlessness of 
the garment workers.
  They also left nearly 4,000 survivors, families of the victims in 
need of long-term compensation. Many of the survivors are unable to 
find work, struggling with physical disabilities and mental trauma that 
could last for a lifetime. The injured workers and their families who 
lost loved ones--for many of them, their only income earner--are now 
trying to survive economic impoverishment in addition to the painful 
memories.
  In the wake of these disasters, the International Labor Organization 
helped set up compensation funds for victims and families. Labor 
groups, the Bangladeshi Government, and several prominent retailers and 
brands who sourced from Bangladesh have committed funds to the 
survivors of Rana Plaza. Two years after the Tazreen fire, an agreement 
has also been reached on compensation for these survivors.
  The Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund needs an estimated $40 million to 
provide for Rana Plaza survivors and victims' families, but as of last 
month the fund only had collected $22 million, barely half the amount.
  Injured workers and victims' families are being shortchanged. Nearly 
40 global garment brands had recent or current orders in the five 
garment factories in Rana Plaza when it collapsed. They owe better 
compensation to the victims of their carelessness.

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