[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 53-54]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                          PEOPLE WITH ALBINISM

  (Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia asked and was given permission to address

[[Page 54]]

the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to highlight an 
ongoing crime against humanity in East Africa and particularly in 
Tanzania: the butchering of people with albinism in order to sell their 
body parts for profit.
  According to rumors spread by witch doctors, the body parts of people 
with albinism can bring good luck. A single limb of a person with 
albinism can sell somewhere from $500 to $2,000, a king's ransom in 
much of the countryside of Tanzania. I recently met with a survivor of 
this horrific crime who told me her dramatic story in her own words--
Mariamu Stanford, a 28-year-old woman with albinism, from rural 
Tanzania.
  One night in October of 2008, Mariamu was attacked in her sleep by a 
group of machete-wielding men who cut off both of her arms. In the end, 
she also lost her unborn child. Despite all this, she is a survivor who 
is relaying her story in the hopes that these brutal crimes against 
people with albinism will end.
  To this extent, Madam Speaker, I will be introducing a House 
resolution recognizing the plight of people in East Africa with 
albinism, condemning their murder and mutilation, and calling for swift 
action by our country and that of Tanzania.

                          ____________________