[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 76 (Monday, May 18, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H3258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF SRI LANKA'S CIVIL WAR

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the sixth anniversary 
of the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka. In a brutal war that lasted 
37 years, we saw nearly 100,000 people killed--many of them civilians--
as a result of the tensions between the country's Buddhist majority and 
Hindu minority.
  Since the war ended, however, corruption and ongoing human rights 
abuses have prevented Sri Lanka from reaching a national 
reconciliation.
  Then in January of this year, we saw President Sirisena 
democratically elected with significant support from the Sinhalese, 
Tamil, and Muslim communities.
  Mr. Speaker, on this fortuitous occasion, I call on the new 
government to release the 200 detained political prisoners, account for 
the nearly 20,000 missing civilians from the war, and end oppressive 
restrictions on the Tamil provinces.
  This sixth anniversary serves as a reminder of Sri Lanka's war-torn 
past and a chance to move it toward a future of democracy, justice, and 
equality for all its people because only then can Sri Lanka finally 
achieve the stability, peace, and prosperity that it deserves.

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