[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 15, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H2217-H2218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BRING BACK OUR GIRLS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I address the House to discuss a number 
of concerns that I believe we need to confront as quickly as possible.
  Yesterday and today commemorate, sadly, the snatching of over 200 
girls from northern Nigeria--the area in which the girls lost their 
innocence and their right to a good quality of life.

[[Page H2218]]

  It was in the dark of night when heinous thugs, armed with horrific 
weapons, burst into the dorm rooms of sleeping girls who were preparing 
to take exams to improve their lives. Their parents had worked hard. 
They were like any other parents here in the United States or around 
the world, loving their children; and these heinous thugs with their 
vile leader, Boko Haram, stole them--stole their innocence and, in a 
certain sense, their virginity. Now we are struggling to find them.
  For over a year, many of us pressed the Nigerian Government to find 
and bring back the girls. In the spring of 2014, I traveled to the 
northern state with my colleague Ms. Wilson and with my colleague from 
Texas, and we met with broken families and with the girls who had 
escaped. We saw the northern state. We were not welcomed by the words 
that we were saying, which was ``bring the girls back.'' We met with 
generals in our military. We saw our military's compassion under the 
Africa Command, and we saw that they were ready to be of assistance. 
Those generals, I must say, said that they were ready.
  In the course, Boko Haram has killed 15,000 people. There are 
thousands who are displaced--1.5 million, I believe the number is--and 
these girls are still missing. They are said to have been married off, 
but some girls are worth rescuing. All girls are worth rescuing. All 
children are worth saving. Today, we will stand on the steps of the 
Capitol, begging for help from the international community.
  I must make mention that the African Union, through the auspices of 
the United Nations, has developed a strategy and a military effort, led 
by Chad, Niger, Cameroon, and Nigeria, but they are still not found--
they are still not caught--and Boko Haram continues to be the heinous, 
vile organization that should not exist in attacking the innocent 
people of Nigeria. Boko Haram has declared itself part of the family of 
ISIL. That alone stands to promote them as a heinous terrorist group, 
and they should draw the attention of the world just like ISIL has 
drawn the attention of the world.

                              {time}  1030

  Mr. Speaker, I am calling upon the United States, who I believe has a 
deep commitment to find these girls, to be able to engage in an 
intensified effort to find them and a collaborative effort with our 
expertise, continued, to be able to assure that these girls are brought 
home, but that Boko Haram does not continue to flaunt itself.
  Let me add al-Shabaab, that did the heinous killings of students in 
Kenya. We must be concerned about a continent that is our friend, a 
continent that desires to do trade and business with us, a continent 
that looks to America--Africa, who loves America. You can see the array 
of Africans who are here in the United States. I have the largest 
population of Nigerians--wonderful, good people, doctors and teachers, 
lawyers, public servants. But we must stand with them to bring these 
girls back.
  Let me show you the mutilating and destroying of Christian artifacts, 
the destruction of towns left in their midst. They don't care, and I am 
outraged that they are standing.
  Let me say this, Mr. Speaker, as I ask for them to be rescued, as I 
go to express this in an open forum to our community, our Nation. Let 
me add that part of the work of the Department of Justice deals with 
issues of human trafficking, and sometimes it takes it internationally.
  So I conclude my remarks by saying that we must--we must--confirm as 
General, Loretta Lynch, the Attorney General nominee of the United 
States of America. This is an African American woman that has been held 
without conscience. She is qualified; she is ready to serve; and I 
would ask my colleagues to show to the world what kind of country 
America is--that we follow process, and that this individual be allowed 
to serve her nation as she desires to do.

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