[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5662]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   AMERICAN ANGELS OF MERCY IN SYRIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, last year, a National Geographic 
photographer captured 5,000 desperate people navigating their way 
through a sandstorm, then eventually breaking through a barbed wire for 
safety through the border into Turkey. They were among the roughly 11 
million Syrians who have now been displaced from their homes over the 
past 4 years.
  The rich, the poor, the elderly, and the children, Christians, 
Muslims, they all share a new identity: a war refugee. Though they may 
be alive, many of them have little hope for a better life.
  A Syrian mother and a refugee under World Vision's refugee program 
said she and her family lived in a small apartment and they were happy 
before the war; they were never envious of anyone, but after living in 
a tent with some 25 other families in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, she now 
envies even the dead in Syria.
  Unable to work because it is illegal, the more than 3.8 million 
refugees in neighboring countries wonder every day if they will be 
given aid to feed their kids. Safe places where children can go to 
learn, laugh, and play don't exist. Parents worry that their children 
might also join the ranks of ISIS, become victims of child labor or 
forced marriage.
  A 14-year-old girl who participated in Save the Children's programs 
in Jordan had been married off by her father, not because he loved her 
less, but because it was one less mouth to feed in the family. Young 
girls like this one are torn within their identity. They wonder whether 
they should be playing with fellow children or must be a wife.
  For the 7 million people internally displaced in Syria--7 million, 
that is bigger than New York City--those people face a double-edged 
sword every day because they may be killed by Assad's monsters or by 
the rebels. In June 2012, government forces executed entire families in 
front of one another and their neighbors.
  Ten-year-old Fatima stood bravely before the soldiers with $2 in her 
hand, asking to spare the life of her 11-month-old baby brother, 
Mattessem. They still shot. The bullet went through Mattessem and 
killed their mother. Out of a family of 25, only Mattessem, Fatima, the 
father, and the grandfather survived those executions.
  Assad kills his people indiscriminately with barrel bombs that are 
embedded with chlorine and with shrapnel. These attacks bring scores of 
victims into the already overworked makeshift hospitals in Syria; 175 
of these hospitals have been hit by barrel bombs by Assad.
  Dr. Sahloul, a Chicago doctor and head of the Syrian American Medical 
Society, has become one of the dozens of American doctors who have 
helped the wounded in this war. He has risked being arrested, tortured, 
and even killed for aiding the opposition. He has treated victims of 
these barrel bomb attacks and has shared with my committee a young 
boy's vivid account of the attack.
  Instead of drawing a sun and animals, this child drew people with 
their legs severed--severed from their bodies--bloody, and tears in the 
eyes of the victim. These children have had the first years shrouded in 
war. They have been deprived of a childhood stolen by war.
  We are all made the same way, no matter what we look like or where we 
live, and deep down in our soul, all of us, even these Syrian refugees, 
just want to be free.
  For every day the reign of terror continues, the colossal number of 
12.2 million Syrians who are in dire need of humanitarian assistance 
continues to grow. U.S. Government-funded programming is working to 
meet this need. U.S.-based nongovernment organizations, both religious 
and secular, are doing great work inside Syria and the surrounding 
region to address the many needs of the displaced.
  American funding has provided lifesaving food and essential items for 
several hundred thousand people inside the constantly bombarded city of 
Aleppo. Dozens of medical facilities throughout Syria are providing 
trauma and primary health care, as well as much-needed psychological 
and social support. Child-friendly spaces are set up in a safe place 
for children to receive support, to learn, and to play.
  Mr. Speaker, war is hell, and the noncombatant citizens are the ones 
who suffer from this hellish violence. Until the war in Syria is over, 
the lifesaving humanitarian care done by these American angels of mercy 
give hope to millions of refugees.
  We thank these selfless people that help those affected by this war 
in Syria.
  And that is just the way it is.

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