[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24858]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           BRINGING JUSTICE TO THE FAMILIES IN CIUDAD JUAREZ

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today before you to tell you about a 
very moving experience I had this weekend. I traveled to the city of 
Ciudad Juarez in Mexico on a fact-finding mission with three other 
Members of Congress.
  Over 300 young women between the ages of 15 and 20 years of age were 
either sexually assaulted, raped, tortured and brutally murdered in the 
Ciudad Juarez in the past 10 years.
  I met with heartbroken families who were suffering from their losses. 
The families I met with wore pink hats and T-shirts with pictures of 
their loved ones that were missing, asking for justice, for 
``Justicia.''
  They are rightfully looking for justice and closure to these awful 
murders. Many of these women and girls were abducted on their way to 
work or returning home from work or school.
  I wish all Members could see where some of these women live, in great 
miserable conditions where neighborhoods have no paved roads, no 
electricity, and no street lighting.
  So women have to travel by walking several blocks in the evening. 
Once they come home from work, many of them work there along the 
border.
  On Tuesday, the day that I returned from our trip from Ciudad Juarez, 
the body of a woman was found battered to death and then wrapped in a 
plastic bag. The fact is that this continues to happen, does not make 
it acceptable or tolerable.
  In August, the Mexican Government established a commission that we 
hope will work and collaborate with our government, the FBI, and also 
other entities and the State Department to come to some conclusion.

                          ____________________