Recognizing the plight of people with albinism in East Africa and condemning their murder and mutilation.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1146 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I also ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 1146.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1146 provides for the consideration of H. Con. Res. 248, directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan. The rule provides 3 hours of general debate in the House, with 90 minutes controlled by Representative Kucinich and 90 minutes controlled by the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the concurrent resolution and provides that the concurrent resolution shall be considered as read.

Mr. Speaker, this is an important day, and an important debate, in the House of representatives. Last summer, I had the privilege of traveling to Afghanistan and meeting with our brave troops. They are an incredible group of people, proud of their accomplishments, thoughtful and candid about the challenges that confront them. They deserve to know that we are thinking about them and do not take their lives or their fate for granted. It has been far too long since Congress had a full and open debate on the issue of U.S. policy in Afghanistan.

In 2001, I voted, along with the vast majority of my colleagues, to go after the terrorists who attacked us on September 11th. I believe we must have a comprehensive strategy to counter the global threat posed by al Qaeda and its affiliates, no matter where they are in the world-- Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, North Africa, and elsewhere. But I also believe that we have serious challenges right here at home. Millions of Americans are out of work. Our economy is just now beginning to emerge from the worst recession in decades. Our schools, our health care, our tax code, our infrastructure--all must be updated for the 21st century if we are to create a better America.

Mr. Speaker, the war in Afghanistan has cost U.S. taxpayers well over $200 billion--none of it paid for. None of it paid for. All of that money has been added on to our debt. And those costs will continue to rise as we fund increasing troop levels and provide the necessary care to our veterans when they return home. Our policy has drastically changed in those 8 years. We are no longer just going after the bad guys. We are engaged in a massive ``nation-building'' effort in Afghanistan.

Now, I certainly don't believe we should abandon the Afghan people. But instead of nation-building in Afghanistan, I'd like to do some more nation-building here at home.

Our allies in Afghanistan, the Karzai government, do not inspire confidence.

The recent election there was characterized by widespread fraud and corruption. Just 10 days ago, Mr. Karzai unilaterally rewrote the election law to ensure that he can handpick the members of the election monitoring commission that oversees voting irregularities. Talk about the fox guarding the chicken coop.

Over 1,000 U.S. servicemen and women have sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan. Over 670 more lives have been lost by our NATO military allies. Thousands more have been wounded, many severely, in ways that will affect the rest of their lives. Suicide and post-traumatic stress among our troops and veterans continue to increase at alarming rates.

Mr. Speaker, last summer I authored an amendment to require the administration to develop an exit strategy for our military involvement in Afghanistan. While my amendment did not carry the day, I believe it demonstrated to the administration that an open-ended commitment was not sustainable. As we know, President Obama outlined such a strategy in his speech at West Point. And I believe it is essential that we in the Congress work to keep the administration to its word. We must fulfill our constitutional responsibilities by making sure that taxpayer funds are spent wisely and with complete accountability and transparency for every dime and every dollar. No more Halliburton and Blackwater scandals. No more projects where fat-cat middlemen walk off with all the money while the Afghan people go without hospitals, schools, roads, or food.

Mr. Speaker, I hope that this is just the first--not the last--debate that we have on the House floor this year over our policy in Afghanistan. The issue is simply too important. The future at stake is too grave. We have sacrificed too much--in the lives and well-being of our soldiers, in the cost to our economy--to wait another year or 2 or 3 for Congress to do its job. We must continue to ask the hard questions and demand straight answers.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I appreciated the gentleman from Florida's comments. He spent a great deal of time trying to compare Iraq to Afghanistan. I would remind my colleagues that Iraq and Afghanistan are very, very different countries, different cultures, different levels of education and a different history of centralized government. In Afghanistan, there is no tradition, there is no history of a centralized government. Comparing Iraq to Afghanistan is not comparing apples to oranges. It's like comparing apples to Volkswagens. There is no comparison. And we could have a debate about Iraq, but that should be on a separate day, and we could talk about whether there were any weapons of mass destruction; but today we're here talking about Afghanistan.

I think this is important, and it's an important discussion because this Congress, with the exception of a few amendments that got very little time, has not had a debate or a discussion in this Chamber on Afghanistan since after September 11, 2001. And our policy has changed in a number of different ways over those years, and we still have not had a debate or a discussion on Afghanistan.

So today, hopefully, we will. And my hope is that in this Chamber, where lots of Members talk all the time and very few Members listen, that this may be a day for Members to listen. It is important that we get this right, especially for the men and women who we have deployed over there.

At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Maine (Ms. Pingree), a member of the Rules Committee.

At this point, Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), a member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich), the author of the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing wrong with demanding our troops come home, including forcing that debate by using the privileges of the war powers resolution. There is nothing unpatriotic in demanding that our troops and their families, their neighbors and their communities be told when they are coming home. And Mr. Speaker, there is every reason to debate how we go after al Qaeda and how we create a flexible, mobile, global strategy able to track, find, counter, and strike al Qaeda cells wherever they might be. And there is no reason to run away from a debate over whether 100,000 boots on the ground in Afghanistan is the best strategy to eliminating al Qaeda once and for all.

I do not doubt that our brave military men and women can and will achieve military successes in battle after battle after battle. But are Afghanistan's tribal disputes going to be solved on the battlefield or at the political negotiating table? And if it is going to take a political solution to resolve centuries of grievances, then who is willing to stand at the front of this Chamber and declare how many American lives that is worth?

Mr. Speaker, President Obama has said he will begin to bring our troops home next July, but he didn't say when the job will be complete. Representative Kucinich says let's bring them home by New Year's Eve, this year. We must continue to debate this issue, debate it today, debate it on the supplemental, debate it on defense bills.

Let's debate it when we are begging for resources so our kids can go to quality schools, when we are trying to find the money so every American has a decent job and affordable health care, so we can maintain our roads and our bridges and our waterways, so we can guard our ports and our borders, so we can keep our cops on the beat and our seniors safe in their homes. Let's debate the war in Afghanistan, how we will pay for it, how it will end, when it will end, and when our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors will be able to come home.

Let us continue to ask the hard questions and demand straight answers until we get it right and all our troops are safely home.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and on the previous question.

I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1088) recognizing the plight of people with albinism in East Africa and condemning their murder and mutilation, as amended.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

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

House Resolution 1088 shines a light on the untold horrors men and women with albinism have faced and continue to face in East Africa where human beings with albinism are butchered and their body parts sold for profit. These acts of brutal murder are best told through the story of a brave Tanzanian mother, one of the few survivors of the attacks. I had the honor of meeting a survivor of one of these attacks, a young woman from Tanzania named Mariamu Stanford, who epitomizes the essence of bravery.

These horrific acts, like the crime committed against Mariamu, are perpetrated by shamans who believe that the body parts of people with albinism have magical powers and can be mixed in potions to bring the buyer good luck. Rural villages have strong incentive to harvest the limbs of their neighbors with albinism because a single limb can sell for as much as $2,000, a king's ransom in Tanzania's countryside.

Mariamu, who has albinism, is one of the few survivors of these attacks. Her story is one of fear, horror, and unbelievable courage. She told me her story through an interpreter the last day of the first session of this Congress in December.

One night in October of 2008, when Mariamu was sleep with her toddler son, a group of machete-wielding men from her own village broke into her home and attacked her. They cut off both of her arms while she struggled, screamed and shielded her 2-year-old from the blows. It was 6 long hours after the attack before Mariamu, who was 5 months pregnant, was able to receive any medical treatment. In the end, she lost her unborn baby, but she survived; and she is now relaying her story in the hopes that these brutal crimes against people with albinism will come to an end.

Mariamu came to the United States for a visit thanks to the generosity of many, including some of my constituents from northern Virginia with albinism and some who are parents of children with albinism, several of whom are here today in the gallery. While she

was here for nearly 2 weeks in December, Mariamu was fitted with prosthetic arms donated by the Orthotic Prosthetic Center in Fairfax County, Virginia; and she underwent intensive physical therapy.

She is a rare survivor of a horrific and inhumane crime that is of growing concern in East Africa. More than 54 people with albinism have been butchered in the region, most of them women and children. In November of 2008, a 6-year-old girl was shot dead in Burundi's eastern province of Ruyigi, close to the border of Tanzania. Her attackers removed her head and limbs, leaving only her dismembered torso. In January of 2009, three men armed with machetes killed an 8-year-old boy in Burundi and smuggled his limbs into Tanzania. Every one of these stories borders on the unbelievable and, quite frankly, must turn every stomach of those of us who have to hear them.

Not only do people with albinism face violence in parts of the world, but they are also at high risk for medical complications such as skin cancer and poor vision due to the lower melanin levels in their skin. In East Africa's harsh sun, this is a lethal combination, but oftentimes people with albinism have no choice but to expose themselves to the sun with little protection as they must be outside to work, go to school, and attend everyday business.

Unfortunately, the medical issues that people with albinism face are the least of their worries. The threat of brutal violence looms over them at all times. Tanzania Prime Minister Mizengo Peter Pinda has condemned, correctly, this violent crime against people with albinism, but judicial and enforcement barriers remain.

My meeting with Mariamu and local families concerned about her plight, and albinism in general, has moved me to take action. I am contacting President Obama and the State Department to urge them to place diplomatic pressure on Tanzania's federal and local governments to end these crimes now, these crimes against humanity, and to provide education to dispel the myth that body parts of those with albinism have any special properties.

I also believe we must look at providing humanitarian and medical assistance to people with albinism in East Africa, with a focus in Tanzania where most of these crimes have occurred. To this end, I introduced House Resolution 1088, a resolution recognizing the plight of people with albinism in East Africa, condemning these murders and mutilations, and advocating remedies to bring an end to this heinous and misguided behavior.

Specifically, the resolution urges governments in East Africa, particularly the governments of Tanzania and Burundi, to take immediate action to prevent any further violence against persons with albinism and to bring to swift justice those who have engaged in such reprehensible practices. It also calls upon those governments, along with international organizations and other donors, including the United States, to actively support the education of people with albinism about the prevention of skin cancer and provide appropriate levels of assistance toward that end.

Finally, it urges the United States to work with the governments of East Africa and international organizations and other donors to eliminate violence against people with albinism.

I urge my colleagues to join Mariamu Stanford and me in bringing international attention to this horrific abuse of human beings and to bring those who have perpetrated that violence to justice by voting ``yes'' on this measure.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

I want to thank my friend and colleague from Florida for her cooperation and support and leadership on this issue.

I have to say, just on a personal note, there are many issues I thought I would face when I came here to the United States House of Representatives; this was not one of them. It is an incredible tale, but it is something that we can do something about by bringing pressure to bear on the governments in East Africa. I thank my friend from Florida in helping to make that happen today.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I'd like to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for the time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday the Iraqi people went to the polls to vote in their latest national parliamentary elections. Millions of Iraqis voted at thousands of voting stations throughout the country. The democratic process is succeeding in Iraq. The people there, despite extraordinarily difficult challenges, are able to express themselves in free elections.

Sunday was a good day for the future of Iraq. Those elections would not have taken place but for the decision of President Bush in 2007 to send over 20,000 surge troops to Iraq in order to establish, ``a unified democratic federal Iraq that can govern itself, defend itself, and sustain itself.'' Those elections would not have been possible but for the sacrifices of our troops and their families. Just 4 months ago, Mr. Speaker, President Obama announced a surge strategy for Afghanistan. He committed 30,000 additional forces to a counterinsurgency strategy that I believe will help to strengthen the government in Afghanistan's security forces, as the surge did in Iraq.

Since President Obama's announcement, we've seen considerable results. For example, last month, our troops began what is known as the Marjah offensive. The joint offensive with the Afghan National Army and coalition partners has pushed the Taliban out of Marjah and has allowed the Afghan government to take control of significant areas that were previously controlled by the Taliban. This offensive is what General David Petraeus, the commander of the United States Central Command, has described as the ``initial salvo'' in a 12- to 18-month campaign to defeat the Taliban.

Now I have had and I continue to have, Mr. Speaker, disagreements with policies of President Obama, but I have said privately, I have said publicly, and I reiterate here today, that in the case of Afghanistan, President Obama has demonstrated great responsibility and a sense of the national security interest of the United States. He deserves our support.

Just as our military is making tangible progress, like the Marjah offensive demonstrates, just as this is occurring, many of our colleagues in the majority party now feel that it is time to withdraw from Afghanistan. The resolution that we are set to debate today would require the President to withdraw our troops in 30 days. I believe that that would be precipitous. I believe that precipitously withdrawing our troops would be reckless. I believe it would allow the Taliban to regain control of Afghanistan and thereby provide criminal groups such as al Qaeda with carte blanche to run terrorist training camps and plan terrorist attacks against the United States and our allies. I would remind my colleagues that it was the safe harbor and support that the Taliban gave bin Laden which allowed him to plan the September 11, 2001, attacks from Afghanistan against this country. A reconstituted Taliban will undoubtedly do the same and will pose a significant and grave risk to the national security of the United States.

I believe, Mr. Speaker, that we must never allow Afghanistan to once again fall into the hands of terrorists whose sole purpose is to destroy the United States and to kill innocent civilians. Precipitous withdrawal would not only be dangerous, I believe, to our national security, but would constitute a mortal blow to the Afghan people, who are relying on our support.

Although they have far to go, Afghanistan has made demonstrable progress. But if this resolution were to become U.S. policy, all the improvements made by the Afghan people would disappear. Afghans would no longer be given the chance to vote in elections. The Taliban would rule by the edict of terror. It would mean the return of a nightmarish tyranny to Afghanistan. Women would see the rights they have gained disappear as the Taliban once again made women noncitizens and banned young girls, who for the first time are learning to read, from schools.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that now is not the time to turn our backs on the Afghan people. It is not the time to counter the mission of our troops, especially when they are engaged in the first major offensive of President Obama's reaffirmed counterinsurgency strategy. Let us send a message to the terrorists that the United States is committed to our mission to prevent the return to power of the Taliban. Let us soundly defeat this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I think this has been a good discussion today. And I think it is appropriate to have it. I certainly hope that the result is clear, and that this Congress today strongly and in a bipartisan way rejects the resolution that is being brought forth. It would be a grave mistake for us to allow the Taliban to regain power in Afghanistan.

Sometimes the lessons of history may be a little bit more difficult to explain. In this case, when the Taliban was in power they opened the country up to training camps for terrorists to attack the United States. That was in 2001. It is not ancient history. So I hope we don't forget the lessons of history.

In addition, as I said before, Mr. Speaker, our Armed Forces with our coalition allies and the Afghan armed forces are in the midst of the first major offensive in President Obama's new strategy. So I think it would be a grave mistake if this Congress does not clearly and emphatically reject the resolution today.

Having said that, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 1088, ``Recognizing the plight of people with albinism in East Africa and condemning their murder and mutilation.''

Let me begin by thanking my colleague Representative Gerry Connolly for introducing this resolution, as it is important that we recognize the plight of albinos in East Africa.

In recent years, the belief that albino body parts, particularly limbs, have magical powers has driven thousands of Africa's albinos into hiding. According to a report released in November of last year by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the killings of albino people in Burundi and Tanzania, based on occult practices, have triggered a crisis involving almost the entire albino population of the two countries.

The stories of these victims are heart wrenching. I recall an article in the New York Times in 2008 that vividly describes the horror and fear that many Albinos live with on a daily basis.

``In May 2008, Vumilia Makoye, 17, was eating dinner with her family in their hut in western Tanzania when two men showed up with long knives, ``Vumilia was like many other Africans with albinism. She had dropped out of school because of severe near-sightedness, a common problem for albinos, whose eyes develop abnormally and who often have to hold things like books or cell phones two inches away to see them. She could not find a job because no one would hire her. She sold peanuts in the market, making $2 a week while her delicate skin was seared by the sun. When Vumilia's mother, Jeme, saw the men with knives, she tried to barricade the door of their hut. But the men overpowered her and burst in. ``They cut my daughter quickly,'' she said, making hacking motions with her hands. The men sawed off Vumilia's legs above the knee and ran away with the stumps. Vumilia died. Yusuph Malogo, who lives nearby, fears he may be next. He is also an albino and works by himself on a rice farm. He now carries a loud, silver whistle to blow for help. ``I'm on the run,'' he said.''

According to the Red Cross, thousands more albinos across a huge swathe of countryside, are unable to move freely to trade, study or cultivate fields for fear of albino hunters. These albinos fear losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers who can make up to $75,000 selling a complete dismembered set.

In his New Year's address to the nation, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania said the nation that the government would step up efforts to stamp out the albino killings. I commend the government of Tanzania for acknowledging the danger posed to albinos in their country, but I hope that Tanzania and Burundi will do more to educate their nations about albinos. The Albino Association of Tanzania says that although just 4,000 albinos are officially registered in the country, they believe

the actual number could be as high as 173,000. A census is now under way to try to verify the figures.

In addition, in 2008, President Kikwete nominated Al-Shymaa Kway-Geer to represent the albino community at the national level. Ms. Kway-Greer is the first Minister of Parliament with albinism.

Yet, despite these improvements, people with albinism still live in fear. As Samuel Mluge, a Tanzania albino remarked to the reporter, ``I feel like I am being hunted.'' No one should live in this state of fear. We must vocally denounce such killings, and do everything we can to prevent them from occurring in the future. I ask that my colleagues support this resolution. I also ask my colleagues for their continued support albinos in East Africa.

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for his courtesy in permitting me to speak on this. I continue to have profound reservations about our troop commitments, first in Iraq and more recently with President Obama's decision to escalate our presence in Afghanistan.

History suggests we will not be successful in stabilizing Afghanistan with military force. No one has. I don't think anyone ever will. Afghanistan today is perhaps the most corrupt country in the world, ranked next to last out of 180, according to Transparency International. If you have a culture of corruption, it's hard to plant seeds. It's hard to rent allies and have them remain loyal. Global economic development through roads and water are not esoteric, abstract issues. These are things that make a difference between people being thugs and, in some cases, feeding their families in any way they can, having little sympathy for infidels and drug problems.

The magnitude of spending that we're involved with here needs to be put in perspective. Each one of these additional troops that we are sending over costs $1 million a year to support. We are going to be spending as a Nation $7,000 for each of the 14.5 million Afghanis in the workforce.

Our military spending per Afghan worker is 20 times what that worker will earn in an entire year in Afghanistan. At the same time, there is a dire need for the most basic of services. In rural Afghanistan, 80 percent drink polluted water and only 10 percent have adequate sanitation.

I have profound reservations about the course we are on and the ability to generate positive long-term, fundamental changes that will persist over time. I think it is absolutely essential that we have this debate. While I don't agree with the resolution that somehow we are going to be able to pull the plug and be able to end this in 30 days or 30 weeks, I do think it is important for Congress to focus on what is here, what is possible.

What we need to be doing is redirecting our effort. We need to start reversing the course that we are on there. We need to narrow our focus. We need to make more efforts to involve the Afghans themselves with water, with sanitation, with education. And we need to make sure that Congress has a voice and is pushing back as the elements come to us.

I don't agree that we are powerless on some of the defense appropriations, for instance. We can in fact push back. We can be heard. And we can start reversing what I think is an inappropriate course.

I welcome the debate today. While I am not going to support the particular resolution, I appreciate my colleagues bringing it forward. I think it is important to engage and for us to imagine how we can do a better job in that troubled country and in that troubled region. The time to begin the discussion is long overdue. I look forward to continued progress.