[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 21, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E860]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING WORLD REFUGEE DAY

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                         HON. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 21, 2017

  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize World Refugee 
Day and to stand in solidarity with refugees from around the world.
  June 20th is an opportunity to recognize the millions of people from 
across the globe who have been forced to uproot their lives due to 
armed conflict and persecution. We honor their sacrifice and courage 
when displaced in seeking safety for themselves and their families.
  In particular, I would like to recognize African Services Committee, 
Inc. an award-winning multiservice agency in Harlem that was founded by 
Ethiopian Refugees in 1981. Asfaha Hadera founded the agency in his 
basement in the Bronx after fleeing Ethiopia for refugee camps in Sudan 
and then emigrating to the U.S. He saw the need for refugee services 
from conflicted areas in Africa and established the organization, along 
with Kim Nichols.
  Each year, the center assists 12,500 immigrants, refugees, and asylum 
seekers from across the African Diaspora with health, housing, legal, 
educational, and social services. The staff comes from 20 countries and 
speaks over 25 languages, providing access to the ethnically diverse 
communities that live in Harlem and the Bronx. African Services 
Committee also works on HIV prevention and access to AIDS treatment in 
five HIV clinics across Ethiopia. I am proud of the work that this 
organization is doing to support refugees in New York's thirteenth 
district.
  Contrary to these services, Trump issued a travel ban from six 
Muslim-majority countries as one of his first executive orders in 
March. This action was discriminatory and opposite of our American 
values.
  On this World Refugee Day, let us remember the words on our dear 
Statue of Liberty, ``give me your tired, your poor, your huddled 
masses.'' That's who we are as Americans. We are a country that 
welcomes the poorest and most vulnerable among us, and I urge my 
colleagues to join me.

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