[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5038]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          BRING BACK OUR GIRLS

  (Ms. PLASKETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, today, 1 day after the 1-year anniversary 
of the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in Nigeria, I rise to 
encourage my colleagues here in Congress to continue in their efforts 
to help bring back our girls. We have protested, demonstrated, tweeted, 
and spoken about this issue on a number of occasions. Now, with a new 
Nigerian leader in place, I encourage Muhammadu Buhari to do all that 
is within his power to defeat Boko Haram and bring back our girls.
  In an effort to improve the quality of life of their young daughters, 
can you imagine, as a parent, sending your child off to school and 
never seeing them again? This is the case for hundreds of families. 
This is not right. No family or child should feel threatened when it 
comes to improving their lives through education.
  Therefore, as we continue to call for the total annihilation of Boko 
Haram, we should also use this moment to emphasize the importance of 
establishing safe learning environments for all children. I commend 
USAID and other human rights organizations for the work that they have 
done to accomplish this goal.
  As a person of color, a mother, and an American, I urge you all to do 
much more to stop Boko Haram and promote safe, quality education for 
young girls and boys around the world.

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