[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19367]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING ANITA DATAR

  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I wish to honor the life of Anita Ashok 
Datar--a loving mother, beloved daughter and sister, and dedicated 
humanitarian from Takoma Park in my home State of Maryland. She was one 
of 19 victims killed on November 20 in a terrorist attack in Mali.
  Anita's life was one of service to others, both at home and abroad. 
She was born in Massachusetts and raised in Flanders, NJ. Her friends 
and classmates remember her as kind and smart, ``one of the good 
ones.'' After she graduated from Rutgers University, she served as a 
Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal--the beginning of her career helping 
the world's most disadvantaged.
  From there, she went back to school to obtain master's degrees in 
public health and public administration and began her work improving 
the lives of the poorest as a global health professional with expertise 
in reproductive health, family planning, and HIV prevention and 
treatment. Ms. Datar spent over a decade working on critical 
development projects in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
  As my colleagues know, Mali has been in turmoil for several years. It 
is the location of the world's most dangerous peacekeeping mission. 
Despite the presence of a United Nations peacekeeping mission and a 
French-led military operation, terrorists have continued to carry out 
periodic attacks on Malians and foreigners.
  Despite these dangers, Ms. Datar, who was serving as a senior 
director for field programs at Palladium, went to Mali as a U.S. Agency 
for International Development contractor to help those in need. Her 
dedication to seeing that vulnerable populations are not forgotten, 
overlooked, or marginalized epitomizes public service, and it 
exemplifies the best of American values and ideals. For that, she will 
always be remembered.
  The attack on the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako was nothing more than 
a senseless act undertaken by people who have no compassion and clearly 
no regard for human life. We cannot and will not let actions like this 
stop us from pursuing the mission that people like Anita Datar are so 
passionate about: improving the lives of the poorest of the poor.
  There is no better way to honor her legacy than to continue to help 
the needy, the disenfranchised, and those at risk both here at home and 
around the world.
  Anita is survived by her 7-year-old son, a brother, her parents, and 
countless friends and colleagues. In addition to offering our 
condolences, we must commit to continuing her work and remembering the 
sacrifices that she and countless other development workers make each 
and every day.

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