[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16958]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO SUPHADA ROM

 Mr. LEAHY. I want to speak briefly about a remarkable event 
that happened last Friday, June 15, 2007, in the small town of Windsor 
in my home State of Vermont. But first a bit of history.
  In January 1989, a member of my staff, Tim Rieser, traveled to the 
Thai-Cambodia border to locate a young Cambodian woman whose mother and 
two brothers, all of them survivors of the Khmer Rouge holocaust, had 
resettled in Vermont. The woman, Rhumdoul Rom, had been kidnapped and 
smuggled back into Cambodia, but she had escaped and was in a Thai 
refugee camp.
  When Rhumdoul was located she was holding her 5-day-old baby 
daughter, whose name was Suphada. A few days and several long airplane 
rides later, the two of them arrived in Vermont where they were 
reunited with the rest of their family. Sadly, Suphada's grandfather 
and other family members were among the 2 million Cambodians who were 
murdered or starved to death by the Khmer Rouge. One of Rhumdoul's 
sisters survived, and is living in Cambodia today.
  Adjusting to Vermont was not easy. Imagine traveling for the first 
time on an airplane and arriving from the tropics in a foreign land in 
the middle of winter, ice and snow everywhere, and not speaking a word 
of English.
  But the family persevered, supported by the generosity of the Windsor 
community. As the years passed, Rhumdoul learned English, graduated 
from high school and then community college, and became a skilled 
medical technician, at the same time that she was raising her daughter 
as a single mother.
  Suphada, coming to America so young, learned English easily and over 
time became an outstanding student and athlete. She won a prize for her 
writing, learned to play the flute, served meals at a local nursing 
home, and this year she was the captain of the Windsor girls' 
basketball team. She is also a very outgoing and friendly person.
  Recently, tragedy struck the family again, when Rhumdoul's mother and 
Suphada's grandmother, Prak Soy, died suddenly of meningitis. My wife 
Marcelle and I had the privilege of meeting Prak Soy, for whom living 
in the Unites States was not easy. I will always remember her as a 
selfless person who cared deeply for her children and grandchildren. 
They meant the world to her.
  This is a family that has experienced great loss, but they are also 
an example for those of us who have never known what it is to live 
through something as horrifying as genocide.
  On June 15, Suphada graduated from Windsor High School, and I 
understand that she has been accepted to several colleges, including, I 
am proud to say, my own alma mater, St. Michael's College in 
Colchester, VT. It is also the alma mater of another accomplished 
Cambodian refugee, Loung Ung, who years ago resettled in Vermont and 
has since become a world renowned author for her book ``First They 
Killed My Father,'' and a tireless campaigner against the scourge of 
landmines.
  I, Marcelle, and my staff would have liked to attend Suphada's 
graduation, but it was not possible due to the Senate's schedule and 
other commitments. But I want to congratulate her and her mother for 
her outstanding scholastic and athletic achievements, and wish her the 
best in the coming year at whichever college she chooses.

                          ____________________