[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 5941]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     THE CASE OF JAMIE LEIGH JONES

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Jamie Leigh Jones was a 20-year-old 
and went to Iraq as a civilian contractor. Here is her story: after 
being in Iraq just a few days, she said she was drugged and gang raped 
by fellow employees. She was held hostage in a cargo container for 24 
hours without food or water. She was assaulted so badly that later she 
had to have reconstructive surgery.
  She convinced one of the people guarding her to let her borrow a cell 
phone. She called her dad. Her dad called my office in Texas. With the 
help of the State Department, we helped immediately to rescue her, and 
she was quickly brought back to America.
  But no one has been held accountable for these crimes. The rape kit 
and the forensic evidence apparently were compromised by somebody in 
Iraq. During this Victims' Rights Week, we need to realize that when 
citizens go to a war zone and serve their country and a crime is 
committed against them, they should have justice.
  People like Jamie Leigh Jones deserve the protection of our law. The 
long arm of the law should reach in lands far away to hold perpetrators 
accountable for assaulting fellow Americans in time of war because 
justice is what we do in this country.
  And that's just the way it is.

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