[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 3272]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      RELIGION, RIGHTS, AND REFUGE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. PETE OLSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 15, 2016

  Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to interact with some of the 
brightest students in the 22nd Congressional District who serve on my 
Congressional Youth Advisory Council. I have gained much by listening 
to the high school students who are the future of this great nation. 
They provide important insight from across the political spectrum that 
sheds a light on the concerns of our younger constituents. Giving voice 
to their priorities will hopefully instill a better sense of the 
importance of being an active participant in the political process. 
Many of the students have written short essays on a variety of topics 
and I am pleased to share them with my House colleagues.
  Bushra Hamid attends Manvel High School in Manvel, Texas. The essay 
topic is: Select an important event that has occurred in the past year 
and explain how that event has changed/shaped our country.

       Religion, rights, refuge--this past year has shaped our 
     country like no other. From Pope Francis's historic visit to 
     the United States, to the Supreme Court's new ruling on 
     marriage equality, 2015 has marked, no doubt, a memorable 
     year that has been etched in history. And yet, one of the 
     most unfortunate highlights of 2015 was the refugee crisis 
     that has taken the world by storm. The worst humanitarian 
     crisis of the year has roiled this country, causing doubt and 
     confusion for leaders across the nation.
       The failure of the President's administration to stand 
     behind its so called ``red lines'' that were imposed upon the 
     Assad regime during the years of the Syrian Civil War quickly 
     allowed the cruel Syrian dictator to gain comfort as he 
     continued carrying out his brutal atrocities against innocent 
     civilians. Our shortcomings undoubtedly contributed to the 
     refugee crisis. Although our influence in the region did not 
     lead to the instability of the nation, as the strongest and 
     leading democratic nation of the world, we needed--but 
     failed--to take required actions and stand ground by the 
     promising words that we first declared, thus unfortunately 
     giving Bashar Al-Assad a leeway.
       Eventually, conflicting messages faced our country. As 
     Russia began to heavily intervene in the troubling Arab 
     nation, our country began to scramble for a settled 
     negotiation. In the mean time, lives were still being lost, 
     homes were still being destroyed, and futures were still 
     being gambled with. Yet, there remained a big elephant 
     questioning his stance in the room: what shall be done with 
     the millions of citizens-turned-refugees who had no where 
     else to go? Thus, the issue of whether or not to accept 
     Syrian refugees swiftly took America by storm. History began 
     to repeat itself as state governors sought to ban refugees 
     from their lands, striking a similar response to that of 
     Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, when, in the time of 
     World War II, refused to let Jewish refugees in America. It 
     was evident that we needed to take measures to help the lives 
     of those who were forced to flee from Syria to foreign lands 
     with nothing left, while at the same time, to not risk 
     minimizing our national security.
       Logistics aside, it is clear that the Syrian refugee crisis 
     has been a sad burden that, as a leading nation, we needed to 
     face head-on. Failure to unite and stand strong with any 
     decisions that we as a nation decide upon unfortunately leads 
     to a disruption of tranquility. We must unite as a country 
     and come to decisive actions in our future international 
     encounters.

                          ____________________