[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18163]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           WITHOUT ``HONOR''

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, there has been another tragic misapplication of 
the word ``honor.'' In Pakistan a 17-year-old girl was killed by her 
parents last week because she wanted an annulment from an arranged 
marriage, a marriage that she was forced into when she was 9 years old. 
That's right, 9 years of age, the age when most girls still play on the 
playground, enjoy cartoons, stickers, and still play with dolls, the 
age when little girls are still just little girls. Instead, at 9, Saira 
Bibi was robbed of her childhood and compelled to become the bride of a 
45-year-old male.
  After turning 17, Saira wanted out of her shotgun wedding and 
marriage; so she filed a legal suit, and eventually a judge granted an 
annulment. Unfortunately, Saira was only able to enjoy her newfound 
freedom for moments because the very same parents who stripped her of 
her youth stripped her of her life. These parents hired killers who 
gunned down their daughter Saira as she was walking out of the 
courthouse in Pakistan.
  This is only one example of many so-called ``honor killings'' in 
Pakistan recently.
  Mr. Speaker, there is no honor in killing your children or murdering 
women in the name of religion.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________