[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19707]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 19707]]

                          EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS

       ``SUPPORT FOR U.S. FROM AFGHAN COMMUNITY OF NEW ENGLAND''

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 11, 2001

  Mr. FRANK. Mr. Speaker, as are all of us, I have been meeting 
regularly with people in my district about the terrible mass murders 
which were inflicted on us and how we should respond. One of the groups 
with which I was most interested in meeting consists of Afghans who are 
living in the U.S., and who are strongly supportive of our efforts not 
simply to repel terrorism against us, but to help their native country 
free itself from the tyranny now oppressing them under the rule of the 
Taliban. On Monday, October 8, I had a very useful informative meeting 
with a number of people from the Afghan community in New England. Given 
that these are people who believe in freedom, and also practice it, 
they were not all in complete agreement with everything the U.S. 
government has done since September 11, nor were they in complete 
agreement with each other on every point. But they were united on the 
basic points, embodied in the statement which they presented to me.
  We should remember that the major victims of the alliance between the 
Taliban and Osama bin Laden on a continuing basis are the people of 
Afghanistan, women especially, but all in Afghanistan who are being 
subject to a brutal, terroristic regime. To remind us all of this, and 
to share with my colleagues the insights presented to me by Afghans who 
are committed to helping us resolve this issue, I ask that their very 
thoughtful statement be printed here.

                                                  October 8, 2001.
     Congressman Barney Frank,
     Newton, Massachusetts.
       Congressman Barney Frank: Thank you for the time and for 
     the opportunity you have given us to meet with you in your 
     office. We represent the few Afghan families who live in 
     Massachusetts. There are roughly 100 Afghan families in 
     Massachusetts. Most of us have come to United States in the 
     1980s when the Russians invaded Afghanistan. Around 20 
     families have come to United States in the past two years. 
     Those who come in the 1980s are mostly US citizens now.
       After the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York and 
     in Washington we, the Afghan Community of New England in 
     Massachusetts, issued a Statement and a Press Release the day 
     after the attack. We strongly condemned these terrorist acts 
     and expressed our solidarity and unity with our President and 
     our Government. We also expressed our sadness, sorrow and 
     condolences with those families who lost their loved ones.
       Long before the September 11th attacks, all Afghans in the 
     United States and abroad and the Afghans inside Afghanistan 
     raised their voices loudly and warned the world about the 
     existence and threats of these non-Afghan terrorist groups 
     inside Afghanistan. It is unfortunate to say that the 
     government of Pakistan, its military forces, and the ISI 
     helped, funded, and created these terrorist groups along with 
     Taliban who rules Afghanistan right now. Taliban do not 
     represent the Afghan society. We would like to see a broad 
     based government, which includes all the people of 
     Afghanistan regardless of their ethnic, linguistic, and 
     religious differences. We wished this goal had been 
     accomplished through a peaceful mean.
       Today, we are deeply concerned about the fate of the 
     civilians inside Afghanistan. We appreciate the aid package 
     for the refugees inside and outside Afghanistan and the food 
     dropping efforts. We would like to see this humanitarian 
     assistance to continue throughout the wintertime. We would 
     like to see that the United States and the free world not to 
     abandon Afghanistan and to plan for the future of 
     Afghanistan. We need to re-build and re-construct 
     Afghanistan.
           Sincerely yours,

             Afghan Community of New England in Massachusetts.

     

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