Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2007

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Lantos for his very strong support for the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2007. His long-standing concern about torture victims is legendary, and I want to thank him for that. And I want to thank Mr. Ackerman for his leadership as well, and for presenting the bill before the House today.

Madam Speaker, an estimated 400,000 foreign torture survivors reside in the United States today. Worldwide it is virtually impossible to count the numbers, although we know it is very high. As witnesses have repeatedly testified before Congress, the paralyzing scars from the physical and psychological wounds of torture can and do remain for years. Torture impacts not only on individual victims, especially as it relates to post-traumatic stress disorder, but their families and society as well.

I would note parenthetically, Madam Speaker, that we don't have to look very far to know there are torture victims in our own Congress. Sam Johnson, a very brave and dedicated soldier of the Vietnam war, suffered terrible hardship and torture when he was incarcerated in Hanoi. Because of his faith and courage, Sam overcame unspeakable torture and abuse and is today an inspiration to us all. The same goes for Senator John McCain, who also suffered horrible torture, survived and overcame. But they are really the exception. They are not the norm. So many people who do suffer never recover--unless they get significant help. They suffer irreparable psychological damage and live a life of real misery, pain and flashback, unless they get help.

My own involvement in torture victims relief began in 1981 when I read a book titled ``Tortured for Christ,'' written by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand in Nicolae Ceausescu's Romania. That book detailed despicable tortures that were routinely imposed upon Pastor Wurmbrand and other religious prisoners in Romania by the securatate. Pastor Wurmbrand appealed to all to help the persecuted.

I also read Solzhenitsyn's book, ``The Gulag Archipelago,'' and another book called ``Against All Hope'' by Armando Valladares in which he chronicled what Castro does routinely to people in his gulags--it is sickening and pathetic.

I would encourage Members and the listening public to pick up one of those books or others like them and read what really happens in dictatorships--and Castro's abuses continue to this day--where torture is used as a weapon against dissidents. Sadly, torture is used with impunity in China and North Korea.

Armando Valladares tells us in his book in one particular chapter how the political prisoners were marched into a huge vat of human excrement, and submerged. Many of the men got permanent disabilities and infection from it. The beatings were unceasing.

Torture is horrible. It is degrading and inhumane. It also constitutes grave violations of U.N. treaties and U.S. law and must be stopped wherever it rears its ugly head.

In the 1990s, Frank Wolf and I visited the infamous Perm Camp 35 in the Ural Mountains--1,000 miles outside of Moscow--the place where Natan Sharansky spent years of his life, and met with many torture victims while they were still incarcerated and saw the mix of anger and hopelessness in their eyes and in their faces.

In 1998, Madam Speaker, Congress took a historic step towards repairing the broken lives of torture victims with the passage of the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998. I sponsored that legislation and three reauthorizations that followed. As important as these congressional measures have been, there continues to be an enormous unmet need for us to try to reach out and robustly address, and that is what this legislation at least attempts to do. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this. This helps us to help those who have been hurt.

The domestic provision of H.R. 1678 is designed to ensure that particular attention is given to torture victims in regions with significant immigrant and refugee populations. The measure authorizes $25 million for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 to the Department of Health and Human Services to assist domestic treatment centers. This maintains the current $25 million authorization level for those centers.

Currently, 20 torture treatment centers in 15 States are assisted by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement. These programs include treatment for the physical and psychological effects of torture as well as social and legal services for torture victims. In addition to direct assistance, many of these centers also provide training in the specialized treatment of torture victims to mainstream providers in the health care, education and social service fields.

H.R. 1678 also authorizes $12 million for both fiscal year 2008 and 2009 for foreign treatment centers and programs administered by the USAID Victims of Torture Fund. In fiscal year 2006, the Victims of Torture Fund supported treatment programs in 28 countries throughout the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the Near East and Europe and Eurasia.

Treatment centers often provide services beyond rehab, to include forensic documentation, written and verbal testimony to courts and legislatures, and advocacy for the rights of brutalized religious, ethnic and minority groups. This is the expertise Congress sought to foster when we first adopted the TVRA back in 1998.

Lastly, the measure increases current authorization levels of $7 million for fiscal year 2007 to the U.N. Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture to $12 million for both 2008 and 2009. Through this U.N. mechanism, the voluntary fund supports 175 projects in 64 countries in 2006, including within the United States. The type of humanitarian assistance provided by organizations which receive those grants from the fund consists mainly of psychological, medical, social, legal and economic assistance.

Madam Speaker, this is a bipartisan bill, and I urge its passage.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, due to an event at the White House on malaria, I ask unanimous consent to yield the remainder of our time to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) and that he be able to control the balance of our time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1678) to amend the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations to provide assistance for domestic and foreign programs and centers for the treatment of victims of torture, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation, and yield myself such time as I may consume.

Let me first thank the distinguished ranking member of the Africa and Global Health Subcommittee, my very good friend, Chris Smith, for his long-standing leadership in the fight against torture. I am very proud to be a cosponsor of this very important piece of legislation before us today.

The Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 is a landmark piece of legislation that enshrines the fundamental commitment of this Nation to assist all survivors of torture, wherever and whoever they might be.

The programs supported by the TVRA combat the effects of the most despicable of all human rights violations: The increasing use of torture around the world.

Although exact figures are difficult to ascertain, according to Amnesty International, a well-respected defender of human rights, more than 150 countries worldwide still engage in torture.

An estimated 400,000 to 500,000 foreign torture victims reside in the United States, and over 100 million may exist worldwide. More than 250 treatment centers operate internationally with the sole purpose of providing medical, psychological and social services to torture survivors. These crucial facilities provide a distinctive type of treatment to those victims.

In the U.S., the Center for Victims of Torture, located in Minnesota, was the first of its kind in the United States and the third torture victims treatment center in the world.

The personal ramifications of torture are beyond the comprehension of those who have not gone through it. Torture leaves no victim unscarred. It shapes the remainder of their lives. While physical wounds may ultimately heal, torture survivors need ongoing psychological services and therapy to cope with post-traumatic stress that afflicts them daily. Recovering from torture is a long-term process. It can take years before torture survivors can once again feel emotionally stable and comfortable in society.

The bill before the House today funds our very important fight against torture, both nationally and internationally. For international programs, this legislation authorizes $12 million per

year for centers and programs administered through USAID's Victims of Torture Fund. It also authorizes an additional $12 million a year for centers and programs administered through the U.N. Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture.

Domestically, our legislation authorizes $25 million annually for the Department of Health and Human Services so that HHS can assist domestic treatment centers fully and sufficiently.

The sad truth is that torture is not waning; if anything, it is on the rise. As a moral force and a Nation that exhibits empathy to those in most need, it is our firm responsibility to help the victims of torture with these comprehensive programs. The funds authorized are urgently needed to achieve this goal. I strongly support this legislation, and encourage every Member of the House to do so as well.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, to the gentlewoman from the 18th District of Texas, the chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection, and also a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Sheila Jackson-Lee, I yield 3 minutes.

(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

I thank the gentleman. I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey), the chairwoman of the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

If the gentleman will yield back the balance of his time, we are prepared to do so as well.

I yield back the balance of our time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, last week I was pleased to have the opportunity to vote to extend the Torture Victims Relief Act (TVRA). I have been a cosponsor of this legislation since 2003. In the last Congress, the bill became law, but it authorized appropriations only through the end of fiscal year 2007. So it's important that Congress act to renew it before the current authorization expires. H.R. 1678 authorizes for two years additional appropriations for domestic centers and programs for the treatment of victims of torture, for foreign centers for the treatment of victims of torture, and for the U.N. Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.

There is no question about the need for this funding. Two-thirds of the world's countries still practice torture. An estimated 500,000 torture survivors live in the United States, and about 1,100 refugees and 400 asylum seekers enter my state of Colorado alone each year. Repressive governments use torture to target the very leaders who share our principles of freedom and democracy. Without their voices, communities are fearful. But torture treatment can undo the legacy of torture and reclaim the leaders who stand with us in promoting human rights and the rule of law.

I am proud that one of the most effective domestic torture treatment centers is located in Colorado. This year is the tenth anniversary of the Rocky Mountain Survivors Center (RMSC), which has served over 1,000 survivors of torture from over 53 different countries and regions around the world, in 35 languages. The RMSC is working hard to ensure that torture survivors in Colorado become functioning members of the citizenry through its in-house Legal Services, physical and mental healthcare, psychosocial services, and interpreter services. Most recently, RMSC introduced a community development effort to bring the topic of torture and its impact to newcomer communities in Colorado and hear from those newcomers what that impact has been on the larger community, the families of survivors and the survivors themselves.

The Rocky Mountain Survivor Center also educates providers, healthcare systems, and community members about torture and how to work to heal the wounds of torture, as well as

how to work to ameliorate and eradicate torture itself. The RMSC stands firmly as a voice for the voiceless in Colorado and as a beacon of hope for those whose hope has been stolen by torture. Domestic centers like RMSC receive funding from the Office of Refugee Settlement in the Health and Human Services Department and other private sources to assist survivors of torture and war trauma and their families. But levels of funding for the domestic and international parts of this program don't begin to match authorization levels. Domestic torture treatment programs were funded at almost $10 million in FY 2007 (and have been funded at this same level since 2000), fully $15 million short of authorized levels. International torture treatment centers were funded at $8.5 million in FY07, $4.5 million short of authorized levels. And the U.S. contribution to the U.N. Fund for Victims of Torture was funded at $6.5 million in FY07, $1.5 million short of authorized levels.

The Torture Victims Relief Act is vitally necessary for the work of rehabilitation in this country, but the domestic portion of the bill is woefully underfunded to accomplish this task. There are well over 500,000 survivors of torture in America today, many of whom do not get the services they need because of the shortage of funds. The U.N. Fund and international portions of the bill should also be generously funded to ensure America's leadership in the fight against torture throughout the world through partnerships and building capacity at centers devoted to healing of torture victims.

When Congress adopted the Torture Victims Relief Act last year, we made a commitment to ensure our population of victims of torture wouldn't be left behind. Now is the time to fulfill that promise and demonstrate that survivors of torture won't be forgotten on our watch.

So I am pleased that this bill passed overwhelmingly in the House, and I urge my colleagues to demonstrate the same enthusiasm when considering appropriation levels for TVRA programs in the next fiscal year.

I want to express my strong support for the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act, H.R. 1678. This important legislation funds treatment centers for torture survivors who now live in the U.S.

With help, torture survivors can recover from their trauma, rebuild successful lives, and be contributing members of our society. When these new Americans rebuild their lives, we all have much to gain.

I also want to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts of Survivors of Torture, International (SURVIVORS) in my district of San Diego, California. SURVIVORS is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for survivors of politically-motivated torture and their families living in San Diego County.

Approximately 11,000 torture survivors are living in San Diego County today. These survivors are from countries where the systematic use of torture is documented, including nations in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Since its founding in 1997, SURVIVORS has helped more than 650 torture survivors from more than 50 countries to recover from their trauma through a holistic program including medical, dental, psychiatric, psychological, legal and social services. There is also a need to continue to make services even more comprehensive.

SURVIVORS empowers torture survivors to reclaim the strength and vitality that were stolen from them by brutal dictators and governments. The specialized care SURVIVORS provides these vulnerable individuals helps them to become self-sufficient, healthy members of their own families and of our community. SURVIVORS currently serves more than 300 survivors of torture and their families living in San Diego County.

SURVIVORS works with refugees, asylees, asylum seekers, and immigrants who are survivors of torture. By working with this large population in San Diego County, SURVIVORS is strengthening the Nation: many of its clients move to other communities in the United States after receiving the care and services necessary to successfully build a new life here. As SURVIVORS continues to work in the community, it receives an increasing number of referrals and requests for services each year.

The professional backgrounds of SURVIVORS' clients include: business, religious, government, and farm leaders; university students and educators; journalists; physicians and nurses. The significant majority of SURVIVORS clients suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, or both. These are normal yet disabling reactions for ordinary people who have endured the extreme trauma of torture.

Madam Speaker, the TVRRA also authorizes a contribution to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (UNVFVT). Funding from the U.N. helps many centers feel more secure in the dangerous work of aiding those that a regime has identified as its enemies. The UNVFVT supports nearly 200 treatment programs all over the world, including nearly all U.S. centers.

H.R. 1678 is a vital piece of legislation which funds essential services for survivors of torture throughout the 53rd District of California and San Diego County, and enhances the standing and reputation by exporting America's values in the form of support for foreign treatment centers. I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill that is so important to so many.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my support for H.R. 1678, The Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2007. This legislation continues and improves a much needed and valuable safety net to help victims of torture recover from their trauma and rebuild successful lives.

Every member of this body knows that torture is a tool used to enforce a level of terror among preyed upon people. Not only can the physical scars of torture last forever, the emotional pain experienced by victims can last a lifetime. Frequently, the aim of brutal torture is not to kill the victim, but to break their will. Victims are humiliated, crippled, traumatized and then returned to their communities as a brutal message of intimidation to others. In many instances, doctors and medical personnel participate during torture sessions to ensure the victim will not die. Groups that sanction, sponsor and commit torture focus on inflicting terror, intimidation and fear on entire communities.

But through appropriate help, services and intervention, victims of torture can heal. The Torture Victims Relief Act provides critical funds to improve access to the health, legal and social services critical to victims and their families through domestic treatment centers for rehabilitation and research and training for health care providers. H.R. 1678 also makes grants available to foreign countries to carry out projects that work to treat the psychological and physical effects of torture.

Treatment is critical, but there is more that can be done. This legislation also creates a partnership by increasing funding for foreign treatment centers and strengthening our commitment to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. This bill sends a strong message to the international community that treating victims of torture is a priority for Congress, and that we welcome the support of our like-minded friends around the globe.

This issue is important in my district. Minnesota is a new home for a growing number of immigrants and refugees and the late Senator Wellstone was a true champion for victims of torture. In addition, Minnesota is proud to be home to the Center for Victims of Torture--a world renowned center for the treatment and healing of torture victims.When the center opened in 1985, it became the first of its kind in the United States and only the third treatment center in the entire world. Today, with centers in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Washington, DC, Sierra Leone and Liberia, CVT is helping thousands of torture survivors from 60 countries.

Madam Speaker, torture is a crime against humanity and unacceptable at any time, by any nation. Any nation that tortures or tolerates torture is truly not free. I strongly encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation and commend the gentleman from New Jersey for his commitment to this issue and his work on this bipartisan legislation.