[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 21952-21953]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   RADIO FREE AFGHANISTAN ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                    HON. JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 6, 2001

  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD of California. Madam Speaker, I rise in full 
support of H.R.

[[Page 21953]]

2998, ``The Radio Free Afghanistan Act,'' of which I am an original 
cosponsor. This legislation creates a ``Radio Free Afghanistan'' under 
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). It will revive the broadcasts 
that RFE/RL conducted when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan during the 
Cold War. Europe is very familiar with the challenges of broadcasting 
to Afghanistan, and it has the institutional knowledge necessary to 
perform these broadcasts and get them up and running quickly. This bill 
authorizes the funds necessary to allow broadcasting into Afghanistan 
for 12 hours a day. This vital legislation will provide the voice the 
US currently lacks within the region.
  At the present time there is no alternative to the hateful propaganda 
that is being aired in support of Afghani terrorism. One such example 
is a bogus story that reported that 4,000 Jews did not go to work on 
Sept. 11th at the World Trade Center. This false information insinuates 
that Israel is somewhat responsible for the attacks--unfortunately 
these lies are not being responded to. The Afghan people deserve an 
alternative to listen to--the truth.
  Prior to September 11, tragic conditions existed in Afghanistan. The 
Afghanis had endured their worst drought in 30 years, 23 years of 
military fighting, and oppressive and barbaric treatment of women and 
minorities by the Taliban regime. All of these circumstances 
contributed to massive numbers of Afghan refugees who migrated to 
Pakistan. Some 3.5 million Afghan refugees fled to Pakistan, two 
million to refugee camps and 1.5 million to the cities and villages. 
Since September 11, the number of people attempting to flee Afghanistan 
and its cities has increased dramatically, and the plight of refugees 
and displaced persons has become even more perilous. These figures are 
a prime example of why the people of Afghanistan need to know the 
truth--that America stands in support of their freedom and is not the 
cause of their strife. They need to know that humanitarian aid is just 
that and nothing more.
  Author Henry Peter Brougham once said ``Education makes people easy 
to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to 
enslave.'' The people of Afghanistan are being enslaved because they 
have no access to accurate information. We must empower the people of 
Afghanistan, counter the lies and false propaganda, and allow free 
flowing the factual information to be presented to Afghanis. ``Radio 
Free Afghanistan,'' will allow us to do just that.

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