[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2385]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


  CONGRATULATING THE HON. MP VIAN DAKHIL ON RECEIVING THE 2016 LANTOS 
                           HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 9, 2017

  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Honorable MP 
Vian Dakhil on receiving the 2016 Lantos Human Rights Prize. I was very 
appreciative of the Lantos Foundation for inviting me to participate in 
today's ceremony conferring the award. For decades, Congressman Tom 
Lantos championed human rights in the U.S. House of Representatives, 
and I was very privileged to have served alongside him. Today, the 
Commission and the Foundation that bear his name continue his vital 
work, fighting for human dignity for all people.
  MP Dakhil first captured the world's attention in August 2014 as she 
pleaded with the Iraqi parliament to help her people, the Yazidi, 
besieged on Mount Sinjar. Since then, she has spent the last two and a 
half years rescuing girls and young women enslaved by the Islamic 
State, coordinating rescue missions into ISIS territory to bring girls 
and women out of bondage. Even as she continues to represent her people 
in the Iraqi parliament, she works tirelessly to support survivors and 
children orphaned by the genocide. In taking a stand for the Yazidi 
people, MP Dakhil has embodied the very definition of heroism. Her 
bravery and moral clarity make her as fitting a recipient of the 2016 
Lantos Human Rights Prize as any I can think of.
  The Yazidi people have suffered a grave injustice at the hands of the 
Islamic State. ISIS has kidnapped and indoctrinated young boys into 
child soldiers. Thousands of men and women have been killed. Among the 
most savage of their crimes, the Islamic State has kidnapped thousands 
of Yazidi girls and women to sell on the market, creating a structured 
system of organized kidnapping, rape, and sexual slavery. The horrific 
nature of these crimes is beyond condemnation. Today, between 3,000-
4,000 Yazidi women and girls are still held captive by ISIS, the 
``bleeding wound of Iraq,'' as MP Dakhil describes.
  As we gather here, we must recognize that the international 
community, the United States included, has in large part failed to act. 
We continue to fail to exercise our moral leadership to bring aid to 
those in need, even as crimes against humanity occur on a daily basis.
  Just two weeks ago, the world observed International Holocaust 
Remembrance Day. Many of us have heard the affirmation of ``never 
again'' in relation to the Holocaust. When I think of the Yazidi 
people, and the Shabak, the Turkmen, Shias, Sunnis, Christians, the 
Rohinga, and the Darfuri, I ask myself if the true meaning of this 
proclamation is, in fact, losing its meaning. Each of us has a 
responsibility to fight against injustice no matter where we find it in 
the world.
  In Congress, I have introduced H.R. 379, the Justice for Yazidis Act, 
a proposal that would establish and fund vital programming for the 
Yazidi people and other religious minorities. My bill establishes a 
healthcare and psychosocial support program that places an emphasis on 
providing trauma therapy for children and survivors of sexual slavery, 
as well as a psychologist, physical therapist, and social worker 
training program to provide training to psychologists and social 
workers who speak Kurmanji or the Shengali dialect of Kurmanji. MP 
Dakhil already works tirelessly to support these types of programs. The 
United States can, and should, do more to assist in these noble and 
just efforts.
  Congressman Lantos used to say that; ``the veneer of civilization is 
paper thin. We are its guardians. We can never rest.'' I am proud to 
honor MP Dakhil as one of the world's guardians.