Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, as Co-Chairman of the Bipartisan Alzheimer's Disease Congressional Task Force, I rise today to introduce multi-faceted legislation to boost the federal commitment to Alzheimer's research and help patients and family members currently struggling with the disease.

This wide-ranging legislation attacks the problem of Alzheimer's disease on every front, and includes proposals to double our nation's biomedical research on Alzheimer's, improve clinical practice and training for promising gerontologists, enhance patient education, expand innovative state Alzheimer's caregiver support programs, and increase training for law enforcement officials who interact with dementia-afflicted patients.

As some of my colleagues know, I was first elected to Congress in 1980, when President Ronald Reagan was elected to his first term as President. The legislation is named for our former President who died last year after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

I believe that it is fitting and appropriate that this important legislation be dedicated to the most famous Alzheimer's patient and one of our greatest Presidents. Throughout his remarkable life, President Reagan endured many hardships including an assassination attempt and a bout with cancer. His terminal struggle with Alzheimer's disease has greatly increased awareness of the disease, and the importance of developing breakthrough therapies to help patients and families affected by it.

I am joined in introducing the legislation today by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), who serves as my Co-Chairman of the Alzheimer's Disease Congressional Task Force that the two of us founded in June 1999. The Task Force includes approximately 190 members. Also joining the effort is physician and Congressman Mike Burgess (R-TX), Chairman of the Republican House Policy Committee's Subcommittee on Health, and who serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee, where the legislation will be referred. In the Senate, a companion measure was introduced today by Senator Bond (R-MO) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD).

The Alzheimer's Association, which is the largest worldwide research, advocacy, and research support organization devoted to helping Alzheimer's patients, has strongly endorsed the ``Ronald Reagan Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act'' and worked closely with both House and Senate sponsors when drafting it.

The centerpiece of the bill seeks to double funding for ethical biomedical research on Alzheimer's disease at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from $700 million to $1.4 billion. We believe that funding is needed to meet the demand of numerous unfunded studies that could lead to a breakthrough.

Recent increases in Congressional funding for Alzheimer's research has put us at the cusp of some amazing breakthroughs. The level of scientific interest in dementia research

has grown significantly as understanding of the disease process improves. But the main NIH institute doing the research has reported that only 15 percent of scientifically merit-worthy grant applications are being funded. This means that 85 percent of qualified grant proposals--studies that could hold the key to delaying the symptoms or curing the disease--are not being systematically explored. A few years ago, we were funding 25 percent of the worthwhile grants. This is a completely unacceptable state of affairs, and our legislation seeks to remedy this problem.

I want to emphasize to my colleagues that an up-front investment in research will not only help improve the quality of life for millions of Americans, but will also help save the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid spending over the next half-century.

In addition to doubling our investment in Alzheimer's research at the NIH, the Smith-Markey-Burgess legislation also supports a number of other important Alzheimer's-related initiatives. These include:

Establishing an Alzheimer's disease prevention initiative.

Expanding and improving clinical research on Alzheimer's disease.

Systematic research on Alzheimer's disease care.

National summit on Alzheimer's disease.

Education and assistance for caregivers and their families.

Grants to expand needed respite care programs.

A public education campaign.

Improving Project Safe Return to help locate Alzheimer's patients who become disoriented and wander from their home.

In conclusion, the Ronald Reagan Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act offers a comprehensive approach for treating current Alzheimer's patients and researching potential cures to reduce the number of those who will struggle with this disease in the future. We will be working overtime to secure passage of this critical legislation. I urge my colleagues to join with me in cosponsoring it.

Mr. Speaker, RU-486 is baby poison, and now we know it is also fatal to women. RU-486 is a powerful pesticide that was developed to kill human beings, not cure them. It targets unborn children for elimination as if they were cancers or viruses and hurts the women who take it. The fact that pro-abortion groups led the charge to water down the FDA's safety measures on RU-486 and now have been silent in the death of Holly Patterson is an indictment against them. They care more about abortion than they do women. These groups have actually chosen to subjugate women's lives and health to the insatiable desire for legal abortion at any time and for any reason. They have chosen abortion over women, but our current FDA should not continue

to side with these extreme organizations such as Planned Parenthood. The FDA should be concerned more about health than they are with the bottom line of what the abortion industry is making.

That is why I so strongly support Holly's Law, a bill authored by the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. DeMint) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Bartlett). I was very glad to join the gentleman from Maryland today at a press conference promoting this important legislation. As a father, my heart goes out to the Pattersons in their grief over the loss of their daughter. RU-486 killed Holly Patterson, and the approval of this terrible drug during the Clinton administration was done in the name of political expediency instead of patient health.

Let me just say briefly, Mr. Speaker, that the FDA violated Federal law and their own standards in approving RU-486. They approved it without the submission of data from adequate and well-controlled clinical trials. They created a final approval regimen for the use of RU-486 that does not reflect safeguards employed in the clinical trials on which FDA relied. They approved RU-486 using the expedited subpart H process which is only supposed to be used to approve drugs to treat serious or life-threatening illnesses. Unless you construe the killing of an unborn child, boy or girl, to be a disease or an illness, subpart H should have never been used.

In violation of their own pediatric rule, they never tested the drug on adolescents, even though it is being used by adolescents. They have failed to impose and enforce restrictions on the use of RU-486 commensurate with the risk that it poses to women, and women are dying. They failed to require the Population Council to honor in full its postapproval safety study commitments, and let us not forget that this drug is being manufactured in the People's Republic of China.

It is important to keep in mind that with RU-486, we are talking about calibrating a poison designed to kill one person without causing harm or without killing another. The purpose of RU-486 is to chemically poison, this is the purpose of it, another human being. That it is dangerous physically and mentally and should never be sold to young people as a solution to their problems ought to be self-evident. Abortion, Mr. Speaker, is violence against children. We can do better for women. It is not in their interest that their children be killed with these powerful poisons.

I would just say finally, Mr. Speaker, that the longer this poison is on the market, administered to young people by groups like Planned Parenthood, the more unborn boys and girls and women who take it will be at risk of death and injury.

Let us not forget, as well, that Planned Parenthood is an organization that annually performs about 240,000 abortions. They make an enormous amount of money from the abortions that they provide, either surgically or chemically; and this is now another tool in their arsenal against unborn children. They ought to be known as Child Abuse, Incorporated for the large number of children that they have killed and continue to kill with U.S. subsidies both at the Federal and the State level.

Mr. Speaker, again we call on the FDA. It is time to take this drug, this chemical poisoning of unborn children that is so dangerous to women, off the market.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak regarding U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking.

The U.S. Government now estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 women, children and men are bought and sold across international borders each year and exploited through forced labor or commercial sex exploitation, and potentially millions more are trafficked internally within the borders of countries. Eighty percent of the victims are women and girls. An estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign citizens are trafficked into the United States each year.

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights in the late 1990s, I led an effort to end the scourge of trafficking by sponsoring the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), P.L. 106-386, which was signed into law in December 2000. In 2003, I sponsored a reauthorization of that Act which also became law.

These two pieces of legislation created a comprehensive framework for combating trafficking in persons abroad, as well as the trafficking of foreign nationals into the United States. As a result, our government has been a leader in addressing this human rights violation and encouraging other governments to do the same. When I held the first hearing on trafficking, back in 1999, only a handful of countries had laws explicitly prohibiting the practice of human trafficking. Individuals who engaged in this exploitation did so without fear of legal repercussions. Victims of trafficking were treated as criminals and illegal immigrants--governments did not offer them assistance to escape the slavery-like conditions in which they were trapped, and few NGOs were equipped to offer survivors of trafficking the restorative care needed to heal physically, mentally and spiritually from the trauma they experienced. Little was being done to prevent others from being exploited in the same way.

The situation today is remarkably improved. Since taking office, the Bush Administration has devoted more than $295 million to combat trafficking in more than 120 countries. Across the globe, governments are taking action to prevent trafficking, to prosecute the exploiters, and to give hope and restoration to those victimized by trafficking. As Ambassador Miller testified to Congress last summer, between 2003 and 2004, twenty-four countries enacted new laws to combat trafficking. Dozens more were in the process of drafting or passing such laws. Moreover, nearly 8,000 traffickers were prosecuted worldwide and 2,800 were convicted. Shelters have been set up for victims. NGOs and faith communities have reached out to help heal survivors of trafficking.

In order to support the ongoing efforts that have made these gains possible, on February 17, I introduced, along with this Subcommittee's Ranking Member, Rep. Donald Payne, and eight other original co- sponsors, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, H.R. 972. This bill would reauthorize appropriations for anti- trafficking programs here and abroad. The bill also offers solutions

to a number of specific scenarios in which trafficking is a problem, but which our experience has shown could benefit from additional initiatives. Our witnesses at today's hearing will focus on some of these issues and I will mention just a few here.

For example, drawing lessons from the aftermath of war in the Balkans a decade ago, and the devastating tsunami in South Asia a mere few months ago, foreign policy and humanitarian aid professionals increasingly recognize the heightened vulnerability of indigenous populations in crisis situations to many forms of violence, including trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation. Traffickers also recognize this vulnerability. This bill would focus governmental efforts, particularly by the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Defense, to develop trafficking prevention strategies for post-conflict and humanitarian emergency situations--strategies which do not currently exist in sufficient form.

The bill would also take further steps to ensure that U.S. Government personnel and contractors are held accountable for involvement with acts of trafficking in persons while abroad on behalf of the U.S. Government. Although few would dispute that the involvement of U.S. personnel, including members of the U.S. Armed Forces, with trafficking in persons in any form is inconsistent with U.S. laws and policies and undermines the credibility and mission of U.S. Government programs in foreign countries, there remain loopholes in U.S. laws which allow such acts to go unpunished. This bill closes those loopholes by expanding U.S. criminal jurisdiction for serious offenses to all U.S. Government contractors abroad--jurisdiction which already exists with respect to contractors supporting Department of Defense missions abroad--and by making federal criminal laws against sex and labor trafficking applicable to members of the Armed Forces. The bill would also direct the Secretary of Defense to designate a director of anti-trafficking policies to guide DOD's efforts to faithfully implement policies against trafficking.

The bill would take on the outrageous situation of peacekeepers, humanitarian aid workers, and international organizations' personnel, being complicit in trafficking and sexual exploitation. On March 2nd, I chaired a hearing in this Subcommittee that examined the evidence of gross sexual misconduct and exploitation of refugees and vulnerable people by U.N. peacekeepers and civilian personnel assigned to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Human rights groups and the U.N.'s own internal investigations have U.N. covered over 150 allegations against Mission personnel involving sexual contact with Congolese women and girls, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money, as well as allegations of rape, forced prostitution, and demands of sex for jobs. However, to date, there has not been one successful prosecution of U.N. civilian or military personnel, either in the Congo or elsewhere.

The scandal with the U.N. Mission in the Congo is but the latest in a long list of allegations against international peacekeeping personnel involving sex trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation that extends back at least a decade. The involvement of peacekeepers in trafficking or sexual exploitation is not just a private matter involving only personal moral choices. Hundreds of vulnerable women and children are being re-victimized; the reputation of the United Nations is being badly damaged; and lack of internal discipline is compromising security and effectiveness of the peacekeeping operations.

To his credit, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has promulgated a ``zero tolerance'' policy on sexual exploitation by peacekeepers. In June 2004, NATO also adopted an anti-trafficking policy. But words alone do not protect women and children from abuse. H.R. 972 would require that the Secretary of State certify prior to endorsing an international peacekeeping mission that the international organization has taken measures to prevent and, as necessary, hold accountable peacekeepers in the mission who are involved with trafficking or sexual exploitation. The bill would also require that the annual Trafficking in Persons Report include information on steps taken by international organizations to eliminate involvement of the organizations' personnel in trafficking.

The bill also continues to improve upon the provision of assistance to foreign victims in the United States by improving trafficking victims' access to information about federally funded victim services programs and facilitating access to counsel for victims. The bill would also establish a guardian ad litem program for child trafficking victims of trafficking.

H.R. 972 also recognizes that trafficking in persons occurs within the borders of single countries, including the United States. According to the State Department, if the number of people trafficked internally within countries is added to the estimate, the total number of trafficking victims annually would be in the range of 2,000,000 to 4,000,000. Although outside the jurisdiction of this subcommittee, I would just mention that the bill addresses the trafficking of American citizens and nationals within the United States--which the bill defines as ``domestic trafficking.'' Although there are no precise statistics on the numbers of United States citizens or nationals who have been victimized through trafficking, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have estimated that 100,000 to 300,000 children in the United States are at risk for commercial sexual exploitation, including trafficking, at any given time.

Despite the willingness of most governments today to address international trafficking, few have recognized the existence of internal trafficking within their own borders. By addressing internal trafficking in a bill that also addresses international trafficking, the United States will again lead by example in showing that internal trafficking victims must not be dismissed by the law enforcement community as prostitutes or juvenile delinquents. This bill would begin to shift the paradigm--much as we have done so successfully in the international arena--to view these exploited souls for what they really are--victims of crime and sexually exploited children.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of democratic reformers in Cuba, on the second anniversary of Castro's brutal crackdown of pro-democracy advocates.

Two years ago, with the world's attention riveted on Iraq, Fidel Castro ordered his feared State Security apparatus to round up at least 75 of Cuba's bravest and brightest, prominent and lesser-known dissidents. Among these are 28 independent journalists and 40 Varela project workers. With sickening speed, these men and women were paraded before kangaroo courts and given prison sentences ranging from 6 to 28 years. 61 remain in jail.

When the Committee on International Relations met April 16, 2003 to decry this vile abrogation of justice, I stated at that time: ``Even some of the most outspoken leftists, who once saw in Fidel Castro something to admire, now admit that Castro's unbridled cruelty, thirst for blood and extreme paranoia are indefensible.''

I regret to report that Castro has given me no cause to reassess that statement.

What were the so-called crimes of these brave men and women? Advocating democracy . . . writing as independent journalists . . . being men and women of faith . . .

Their real offense was to dare to question the authority of a single man, Mr. Castro. The Cuban Revolution is really about Castro's vanity and pursuit of personal power. From the beginning, Castro has shot and jailed anyone--even his close friends--who has dared get in the way of his personal ambition.

Dictatorships, reflecting the whims of a despot, always subject their people to deprivations and absurdities. The Castro regime recently let a handful of its political prisoners out

on ``parole,'' citing health reasons. The regime's callousness towards ailing political prisoners is well documented.

Now, independent Cuban journalists are reporting that Cuba's prisons have been virtually emptied of medical personnel. Why? Mr. Castro decided to send them to Venezuela and other places to advance his personal expansionist agenda.

Writing in the Spanish newspaper, El Pais, Nobel prize winner Jose Sarampo, a Portuguese communist and close friend of Castro commented, ``Cuba has won no heroic victory by executing these three men, but it has lost my confidence, damaged my hopes and robbed me of illusions.''

Without anything that resembles due process, three alleged ferry hijackers were killed by firing squad in Cuba, while others got long jail terms.

Illusions, as Castro lover Jose Sarampo has only now begun to acknowledge, often persist despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Nowhere has this been more evident than in the case of Castro's Cuba.

Despite decades of credible reports of widespread egregious violations of human rights, including the pervasive use of torture and vicious beatings of political prisoners by the Cuban government, some have clung to indefensibly foolish illusions of Castro's revolution.

Despite the fact that the Cuban government systematically denies its people the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association, and severely restricts workers' rights, including the right to form independent trade unions, some have, nevertheless, clung to illusion.

Despite the fact that Castro maintains an unimaginably vast network of surveillance by the thugs in his secret police and Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs)--neighbors spying on neighbors-- some continue to embrace bogus perceptions--illusions about Cuba.

In his book, ``Against All Hope, a Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulags'' Armando Valladares, a courageous and amazing man who spent 22 years in Cuban prisons wrote:

``The government of Cuba and defenders of the Cuban

Revolution denied that incidents that I recount (in the book)

ever happened. Castro sympathizers, who were more subtle,

said the incidents I described were exaggerations. And there

were others, well meaning, who simply could not bring

themselves to believe that such horrors, crimes and torture

existed in the political prisons of Cuba.''

``My response to those who still try to justify Castro's

tyranny with the excuse that he has built schools and

hospitals is this: Stalin, Hitler and Pinochet also built

schools and hospitals, and like Castro, they also tortured

and assassinated opponents. They built concentration and

extermination camps and eradicated all liberties,

committing the worst crimes against humanity.''

``Unbelievably, while many non-governmental organizations

like Amnesty International and America's Watch have denounced

the human rights situation in Cuba, there has been a

continuing love affair on the part of the media and many

intellectuals with Fidel Castro.''

That love affair--that illusion--seemed to crash and burn

with the onset of the current crackdown on dissidents. The EU

took action in June 2003 by limiting high-level EU

governmental visits and inviting Cuban dissidents to national

day celebrations. But their memories are short. In January of

this year, at the initiative of the Spanish government, the

EU temporarily suspended these measures for a six-month

period.

Let me mention a few of the ones who were summarily

sentenced and remain in prison. Omar Rodriguez Saludes, an

independent journalist known to ride his bicycle to news

conferences: 27 years. Hector Palacios, one of the key

figures promoting the Varela Project: 25 years. Oscar

Espinosa Chepe, who wrote critical articles about the Cuban

economy for the Internet: 25 years. The President of the

Independent United Confederation of Cuban Workers (CUTC),

Pedro Pablo Alvarez, 25 years. Journalist Raul Rivero and

Ricardo Gonzalez Afonso, an editor at ``De Cuba'' magazine,

each got 20 years. The list goes on and on.

It was a true honor to hear from Economist Morta Beatriz

Rogue today, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison and

released for health reasons in 2004. We salute her courage to

continue the fight on behalf of those who are still in prison

today.

For its part, the Bush Administration has made its deep and

abiding concern for the political prisoners and the

protection of elemental human rights in Cuba abundantly

clear. At the time of the crackdown, former Secretary of

State Colin Powell declared:

``In recent days the Cuban government has undertaken the

most significant act of political repression in decades. We

call on Castro to end this despicable repression and free

these prisoners of conscience. The United States and the

international community will be unrelenting in our insistence

that Cubans who seek peaceful change be permitted to do so.''

In like manner, the Congress has consistently demanded the immediate release of all the prisoners and support of the right of the Cuban people to exercise fundamental political and civil liberties. H. Res. 179, a resolution offered by Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen in April 2003, passed by a vote of 414-0, 11 present. In April of 2001, I sponsored a resolution, H. Res. 91, calling on the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva to condemn Cuba's human rights abuse and appoint a Special Rapporteur for Cuba. While it passed, there were a disturbing number of negative votes. That vote was 347-44 with 22 voting present. We have another opportunity today to move forward a resolution offered by my Colleague, Mr. Menendez, to show that these prisoners are not forgotten.

Fidel Castro, his brother Raul, and numerous leaders of

Cuba's dictatorship, are directly responsible for crimes

against humanity past--and present. Someday these oppressors

will be held to account and the people of Cuba will live in

freedom.

Note on the Varela Project: Named after a 19th century

anti-slavery, pro-independence priest, Felix Varela, the

Varela Project was a petition to the National Assembly

seeking a nationwide referendum calling for basic human

rights, an amnesty for political prisoners, private

enterprise and election law reform to facilitate free and

fair elections. On May 10th of 2002, more than 11,000

signatures were initially submitted--easily exceeding the

constitutionally prescribed 10,000. Castro, however,

responded by orchestrating his own petition drive that said

Cuba's socialist system could not be changed, leading the

rubber stamp National Assembly to declare Cuba's socialist

system ``irrevocable''.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the recent U.N. Peacekeeping scandal in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We know that there have been disturbing allegations of sexual misconduct and exploitation of refugees by U.N. peacekeepers and civilian personnel assigned to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Human rights groups and the U.N.'s own internal investigations have uncovered over 150 allegations against Mission personnel. These allegations typically involve peacekeepers' sexual contact with Congolese women and girls, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money. According to the U.N., these contacts occurred with regularity, and many involved girls under the age of 18, with some as young as 11-14. Even more troubling are allegations of rape, forced prostitution, and demands of sex for jobs by U.N. civilian personnel.

Some in our audience might be thinking that apart from the more serious allegations of rape and other sexual abuse, prostitution is the world's oldest profession and that it is unrealistic to ask soldiers away from their families to abstain from sex. This attitude of ``boys

will be boys'' is indeed common. In fact, the U.N. reported that it encountered significant and widespread resistance to its investigation, and that numerous U.N. personnel were unwilling to identify perpetrators.

The reality, however, is that this state of affairs is not just a private matter involving only the personal moral choices of the peacekeepers. Hundreds of vulnerable women and children are being re- victimized; the reputation of the United Nations is being badly damaged; and lack of internal discipline is compromising security and effectiveness of the peacekeeping operations. From any perspective, this situation is deplorable.

Let me expand on a few of these points. First, United Nations forces conducting operations under United Nations command and control are tasked with upholding international humanitarian law and have a particular duty to protect women and children from sexual assault or exploitation. Peacekeepers have a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable members of Congolese society. When the peacekeepers become the exploiters, something is dreadfully wrong.

Second, the civilian population is especially vulnerable. There are frequent outbreaks of armed violence in the eastern half of the Congo, especially in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, as the country emerges from its second war in the last ten years. The civilian population in these areas has experienced systematic acts of rape, torture, murder, and other abuse. Many of the Congolese women and girls in the camps which the peacekeepers are protecting have been orphaned and/or are victims of rape which occurred during the conflicts. Investigators found that they have experienced significant trauma which continues to affect them today.

Poverty and hunger are also significant factors contributing to the abuse. Children driven by hunger approach the peacekeepers seeking food or the smallest sums of money. Many families are cut off from their farmlands because of fear of attacks from militia, and few alternate employment options exist. According to the U.N.'s own investigation, food supplies in some camps are reportedly inadequate.

Third, the continued toleration of sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. leaders is severely damaging the reputation and the effectiveness of the organization. All troop-contributing nations recognize the Code of Personal Conduct for Blue Helmets as binding. This Code explicitly bans any exchange of money, employment, goods or services for sex, and renders the perpetrators liable to disciplinary action for serious misconduct. In fact, the U.N. has promulgated at least five U.N. codes of conduct prohibiting sexual activity with children (persons under 18 years of age) in the Congo, and yet the practice continues unabated.

This activity is prohibited under rule four of the Code of Conduct for Blue Helmets, the MONUC code of conduct, the Secretary-General's bulletin on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of 2003 (ST/SGB/2003/13), section seven of the Secretary-General's bulletin on observance by United Nations forces of international humanitarian law of 1999 (ST/SGB/1999/13), and new ``non- fraternisation'' regulations promulgated by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in a letter to the U.N. Security Council on February 9th. That the abuse continues and is characterized by internal U.N. reports as ``significant, widespread and on-going'' appears to indicate there is rather a state of ``zero-compliance with zero-tolerance'' throughout the mission.

In the words of Dr. Sarah Mendelson, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who testified in a joint issue forum before the House Armed Services Committee and the Helsinki Committee last fall, ``Military misconduct is a threat to any mission. When that misconduct involves human rights abuses, it affects the credibility and reputation of peacekeepers and can enrage local populations. When those implicated are also responsible for force protection, they can compromise their main military mission. . . . Those peacekeepers who serve with honor are being tainted by the minority who purchase sex with these women and girls and by the even smaller minority who actively engage in the grave human rights abuse of trafficking.''

The U.N. has struggled with similar allegations regarding peacekeeper misconduct and sexual exploitation in the past ten years in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, as well as on the European continent in Kosovo and Bosnia. Some of the underlying issues are complex, such as how to ensure perpetrators are held accountable when no effective U.N. mechanism exists, and Member states are unwilling to prosecute. Yet other simple fixes also exist, such as the creation of an offender database, holding commanders accountable for the conduct of their troops, and banning nations from peacekeeping missions which refuse to take disciplinary action. The seeming reluctance of the U.N. to act on some of these seemingly obvious solutions raises questions about the willingness of leadership to undertake reform, and raises questions about the ability of the U.N. to police itself.

Furthermore, the United States Congress has a fiduciary obligation to do so. The United States is the world's largest donor to the peacekeeping mission in the Congo, contributing over $200 million annually, and contributes almost over a quarter of the entire peacekeeping budget of the United Nations. The Administration has asked the Congress for an additional $780 million for peacekeeping operations in the supplemental budget request.

We hope that continual Congressional efforts will spur needed change, not only in the Congo, but in the standard operating practices of U.N. peacekeeping around the world.

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely clear that the ``Programme of Action'' produced by both the 1994 Cairo Population Conference and the 1995 Beijing Women's Conference did not create, adopt, endorse, or promote a right to abortion.

I know. I was there in an official capacity at both conferences. The outcomes of both were a remarkable victory for the pro-life movement-- those of us who recognize that all human life is sacred and that both legal and illegal abortion is violence against children and the exploitation of women. It was a victory for vulnerable unborn children who would be killed by dismemberment and chemical poisoning and for women who deserve better than the cruelty of abortion.

The outcome was a stunning defeat for the Clinton Administration, which sought to impose an international right to abortion on the entire world.

So why is the Bush Administration seeking to reaffirm that the Beijing consensus did not include a right to abortion? Because clarity, transparency and truthfulness is needed at this time to dispel a pernicious myth--the big lie--promoted by some that these U.N. documents now endorse abortion. Nothing, Mr. Speaker, could be further from the truth.

Over the past 10 years, pro-abortionists have sought to convey the impression that both Cairo and Beijing--by supporting reproductive health, for example--includes the slaughter of unborn children by abortion.

Instead of focusing on women's economic and political empowerment, an end to all forms and manifestations of discrimination, and an end to violence against women, some have sought to distort the Cairo and Beijing consensus to include the killing of girls and boys by abortion.

Yesterday I chaired a hearing on the horrific behavior of U.N. Peacekeepers in the Congo who have raped and sexually exploited girls and young women. As the prime sponsor of the ``Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000'' I take a backseat to no one in promoting women's human rights. Recent scandals, like the Congo or the oil for food scandal, begs the question of honesty and transparency at the U.N.

Despite having no mandate to promote abortion, the U.N. Compliance Committee for the Convention on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has recently scolded Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Uruguay, Portugal, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Lichtenstein, Paraguay, and Samoa for their laws and policies on abortion.

In addition, at the end of 2004, the U.N. Human Rights Committee issued a report that absolutely overstepped its bounds and told Poland to repeal their pro-life laws. The report stated, ``The State party should liberalize its legislation and practice on abortion.'' For a U.N. committee that purported to respect fundamental human rights to condemn Poland--and others--for protecting their unborn babies is scandalous. Unborn children deserve respect in law and in practice-- these littlest of humans deserve to have their basic human rights protected.

A Center for Reproductive Rights internal document talks about reinterpreting terms and phrases in international declarations, like the Cairo and Beijing documents, to promote abortion and limit parental rights throughout the world. I posted in the December 8, 2003 Congressional Record the Center for Reproductive Rights internal documents where one of their trustees said, ``We have to fight harder, be a little dirtier.'' These papers reveal a Trojan Horse of deceit. In their own words, these documents demonstrate how abortion promotion groups are pushing abortion here and abroad, not by direct argument, but by twisting words and definitions. In discussing legal strategies to legalize abortion internationally they go as far as to say, ``. . . there is a stealth quality to the work: we are achieving incremental recognition of values without a huge amount of scrutiny from the opposition. These lower profile victories will gradually put us in a strong position to assert a broad consensus around our assertions.'' The abortion lobby admits they are using deceptive tactics to push abortion on countries that have laws protecting unborn boys and girls.

All the United States wants to do at this conference is to be truthful, nonambiguous and accurate about what the Beijing Programme of Action actually says about abortion and get on with the real work of helping women throughout the world.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 912) to ensure the protection of beneficiaries of United States humanitarian assistance.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 912.

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

Mr. Speaker, in the wake of the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami and the genocide in Darfur, we have witnessed untold suffering. And yet, Mr. Speaker, we have learned from other crises situations that people in some crises become victims of additional and incomprehensible violations, sexual exploitation and abuse. The most vulnerable groups, women and children, are at greatest risk.

The passage of the Humanitarian Assistance Code of Conduct Act of 2005 ensures that steps will be taken to protect the most vulnerable people from sexual exploitation and abuse by those providing aid and humanitarian relief operations.

H.R. 912 requires that the United States Government assistance for humanitarian relief operations will be available only to organizations that have adopted a code of conduct incorporating the core principles of the United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Force on Protection From Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises. These principles include, but are not limited to, the following:

``Sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian workers constitute acts of gross misconduct and are therefore grounds for termination of employment.''

``Sexual activity with children (persons under the age of 18) is prohibited regardless of the age of majority or age of consent locally. Mistaken belief regarding the age of a child is not a defense.''

``Exchange of money, employment, goods, or services for sex, including sexual favors or other forms of humiliating, degrading or exploitative behavior, is prohibited. This includes exchange of assistance that is due to beneficiaries.''

Mr. Speaker, passage of the Humanitarian Assistance Code of Conduct Act of 2005 will help ensure the protection of beneficiaries of United States humanitarian assistance. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I would also include a CBO estimate for H.R. 912, which indicates that this legislation has no significant budgetary effect.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to the important provisions of H.R. 912, I would like to inform my colleagues of additional measures contained in a bill I introduced, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, H.R. 972, which we will be marking up next week, cosponsored by my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), and a number of other Members of this committee and of this House. That comprehensive legislation is designed to help ensure the protection of vulnerable women and children in post-natural disaster situations.

H.R. 972, among several other things, incorporates stronger child protection and trafficking prevention activities into USAID, State and DOD post-conflict and post-natural disaster relief programs. The measure provides for the Secretary of State and the administrator of USAID to conduct a study regarding the threat and practice of trafficking in persons generated by post-conflict and humanitarian emergencies in foreign countries, and to look at and implement best practices to combat human trafficking in such areas.

It also requires, and I think this is very important, that the Secretary of State certify that prior to approval of a peacekeeping mission or a renewal of the mandate, the Secretary of State would have to guarantee or certify, 15 days before that, that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect vulnerable populations from trafficking and from rape and other kinds of sexual misconduct.

I would point out parenthetically to my colleagues that yesterday we held a day-long hearing on the atrocities committed by U.N. peacekeepers in the Congo, where unfortunately there have been credible and large numbers of allegations made that U.N. peacekeepers have raped 13-year-old, 14-year-old, and 15-year-old girls and older and have offered them $1 or $2 or a loaf of bread in exchange for this exploitation. It is outrageous.

The U.N. for its part, I believe, is committed to trying to rectify and remedy this situation, but more needs to be done; and we need to have in place safeguards to ensure that this kind of misconduct, which is gross and, unfortunately, very, very prevalent, is mitigated and stopped. This bill is another step in that direction; and I applaud the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), and all of those who have sponsored it and brought it to the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. Speaker, we do have one additional request for time, and I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.

We have no further requests for time, and I just want to conclude and again say to my friends on the other side of the aisle, to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt), the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), as well as to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the chairman of our distinguished Committee on International Relations, to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and, of course, to our majority leader for his leadership on this in ensuring that this very important piece of legislation not only gets expedited treatment but will be passed early and closed enough to the tsunami in order to address some of the problems that were exposed as a result of it.

Children need protection. Women need protection. This bill advances that ball. It is an important and very noble task, and I am glad we have bipartisan consensus on this kind of humanitarian and human rights legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the suffering of the people of Burma. They continue their valiant struggle for human rights and democracy despite brutal human rights violations committed by the illegal ruling military regime.

In a few days, Burma's military regime will reconvene a sham ``National Convention'' under the guise of facilitating a transition to democracy in the country. In reality, the Convention is filled with handpicked delegates of the ruling regime. It is simply an attempt to legalize the regime's grip on power and guarantee the military's permanent role in the future of the country.

Why do I call the Convention a sham? Because the country's democracy movement, led by the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi, is not invited. Her political party, the National League for Democracy, is similar to the African National Congress in South Africa under apartheid rule in the 1980s and enjoys universal support from the people of Burma. In Burma's last election, the NLD won 82 percent of the seats in parliament, only to have the results annulled by the regime. They are completely excluded from the Convention.

As if that's not bad enough, the Convention is being held at a military camp which is surrounded by several military battalions. Among the regime's hand-picked participants are members of the United Wa State Army, whose leaders were indicted in absentia by a U.S. Federal Court in New York on January 24, 2004. The Department of Justice rightfully stated that the UWSA is one of the largest heroin producing and trafficking organizations in the world and is responsible for the production of more than 180 tons of opium in 2004. It is estimated that the UWSA has exported more than $1 billion worth of heroin to the United States alone since 1985, as well as vast amounts throughout the world.

The proceeds from this drug money have kept Burma's military regime in power. Burma's regime is a narco-dictatorship, addicted to the proceeds of the international drug trade. The UWSA and the regime have worked together to launder billions of dollars in drug profits into the Burmese economy.

We should not tolerate this orchestrated play by members of the military junta and drug traffickers, at the cost of thousands of lives of Burmese non-violence activists. As a Member of Congress who has been engaged on human rights and promoting democracy for 25 years, I am proud that our country has taken a firm stance against thugs who now control Burma. This pressure has been from both Republican and Democrats in Congress and the last two administrations. We should publicly denounce this sham convention and the drug traffickers that plan to attend.

In late 2004 Congress unanimously passed a resolution calling for the U.N. Security Council to address the Burmese military regime's threat to regional peace and security. I am also encouraged by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's labeling of Burma as an ``outpost of tyranny'' and I fully support her assessment. Now, I respectfully encourage President Bush and Secretary Rice to follow-up on our resolutions and take the issue to the U.N. Security council, where it belongs.

Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, which is intended to improve the United States' efforts in combating the scourge of human trafficking. I am pleased to be joined as original cosponsors by Representative Lantos, Ranking Member of the International Relations Committee, Representative Payne, Ranking Member of the International Relations Subcommittee on Global Human Rights, International Operations and Africa, Majority Whip Representative Blunt, Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Committee Chairman Representative Wolf, Helsinki Commission Ranking Member Representative Cardin, Representative Ros- Lehtinen, Chair of the International Relations Subcommittee on Middle East and Central Asia, and Representatives Pence, Pitts, and Faleomavaega.

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Government now estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 women, children and men are bought and sold across international borders each year and exploited through forced labor or commercial sex exploitation. An estimated 80 percent of the victims of this barbaric trade are women and girls.

Congress and President Bush have demonstrated unprecedented international leadership in combating human trafficking through enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003. Since taking office, the Bush Administration has devoted more than $295 million to combat trafficking worldwide.

Under the framework of the TVPA, the United States Government's efforts to combat trafficking in persons have focused primarily on international trafficking in persons, including the trafficking of an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign citizens into the United States each year.

Across the globe, governments are taking action to prevent trafficking, to prosecute the exploiters and to give hope and restoration to those victimized by trafficking. Between 2003 and 2004, twenty-four countries enacted new laws to combat trade in human lives. Dozens more are in the process of drafting or passing such laws. Moreover, nearly 8,000 traffickers were prosecuted worldwide and 2,800 were convicted. This bill would support the ongoing efforts that have made these gains possible by reauthorizing appropriations for anti- trafficking programs here and abroad.

The bill also offers solutions to a number of specific scenarios in which trafficking is a problem, but which would benefit from additional initiatives. For example, drawing lessons from the aftermath of war in the Balkans a decade ago, and the devastating tsunami in South Asia a mere few months ago, foreign policy and humanitarian aid professionals increasingly recognize the heightened vulnerability of indigenous populations in crisis situations to many forms of violence, including trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation. Traffickers also recognize this vulnerability. This bill would focus governmental efforts, particularly by the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Defense, to develop trafficking prevention strategies for post-conflict and humanitarian emergency situations--strategies which do not currently exist in sufficient form.

The bill would also take further steps to ensure that U.S. Government personnel and contractors are held accountable for involvement with acts of trafficking in persons while abroad on behalf of the U.S. Government. Although few would dispute that the involvement of U.S. personnel, including members of the U.S. Armed Forces, with trafficking in persons in any form is inconsistent with U.S. laws and policies and undermines the credibility and mission of U.S. Government programs in foreign countries, there remain loopholes in U.S. laws which allow such acts to go unpunished. This bill closes those loopholes by expanding U.S. criminal jurisdiction for serious offenses to all U.S. Government contractors abroad--jurisdiction which already exists with respect to contractors supporting Department of Defense missions abroad--and by making federal criminal laws against sex and labor trafficking applicable to members of the Armed Forces and others subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The bill would also direct the Secretary of Defense to designate a director of anti-trafficking policies who would guide DOD's efforts to faithfully implement applicable policies against trafficking.

The bill would also take on the outrageous situation of military and civilian peacekeepers, humanitarian aid workers, and international organizations' personnel, from complicity in trafficking and sexual exploitation in connection

with international peacekeeping operations. To cite but the most recent examples of this, in December, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan admitted that U.N. peacekeepers and staff have sexually abused or exploited war refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Among the 150 or so allegations of misconduct are instances of sexually abusing children, rape, and prostitution. On January 28, a senior official with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees was arrested for sexual abuse of minors and trafficking in Kosovo. The long list of allegations against international peacekeeping personnel involving sex trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation extends back at least a decade and yet the United Nations and most other international organizations have failed to take sufficient action to end this abuse.

To his credit, Kofi Annan has promulgated a ``zero tolerance'' policy on sexual exploitation by peacekeepers. But words alone do not protect women and children from abuse. Earlier this week, President Bush asked Congress for $780,000,000 to pay for contributions to international peacekeeping activities this fiscal year. He has requested more than $1 billion for next year. Prior to writing this check, the bill I am introducing would require that the Secretary of State no longer accept words alone as evidence that the United Nations, NATO, and other multilateral organizations are taking seriously the responsibility to address trafficking and exploitation by peacekeepers. The bill would require that the Secretary of State certify, prior to endorsing an international peacekeeping mission, that measures have been taken to prevent and, as necessary, hold accountable peacekeepers in the mission who are involved with trafficking or illegal sexual exploitation.

In addition to a host of other measures to address trafficking overseas and to aid foreign victims in the United States, the bill also recognizes that trafficking in persons occurs within the borders of single countries, including the United States. According to the State Department, if the number of people trafficked internally within countries is added to the estimate, the total number of trafficking victims annually would be in the range of 2,000,000 to 4,000,000.

This bill would address the trafficking of American citizens and nationals within the borders of the United States--which the bill defines as ``domestic trafficking.'' There are no precise statistics on the numbers of United States citizens or nationals who have been victimized through trafficking, but there is great reason for concern. It is well documented, for example, that runaway and homeless children are highly susceptible to trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Every day in our country, between 1,300,000 and 2,800,000 runaway and homeless youth live on the streets. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have estimated that 100,000 to 300,000 children in the United States are at risk for commercial sexual exploitation in the United States, including trafficking, at any given time.

To date, U.S. victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation have been dismissed by the law enforcement community, particularly at the State and local levels, as prostitutes. Child victims are dealt with as juvenile delinquents. This bill would begin to shift the paradigm--much as we have done so successfully in the international arena--to view these exploited souls for what they really are--victims of crime and sexually exploited children.

The bill I am introducing would begin the process of developing a comprehensive strategy to prevent the victimization of U.S. citizens and nationals through domestic trafficking. It would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to undertake a study and then a program to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts in the United States, which in turn fuels trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. The bill would also authorize HHS to make grants to expand services to victims of domestic trafficking, with a priority for NGOs with experience in caring for victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

NGOs who work with trafficked children in the United States have indicated time and again that a lack of housing options for such children is a debilitating impediment to providing effective rehabilitative and restorative help. In response, this bill would require HHS to carry out a pilot program for residential treatment facilities for minor victims of domestic trafficking and authorizes the appropriation of $10,000,000 over 2 years for this purpose.

The bill would ensure that communities in the United States are fully informed about the presence of sex offenders in those communities. The bill would require that state sex offender registries include convictions in foreign court of a sexually violent offense, or a criminal offense against a child victim. The bill would also enhance State and local efforts to combat trafficking through a grants program to encourage the investigation and prosecution of domestic trafficking cases and the development of collaboration between law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 would address these and many other areas of concern, would authorize funding to continue our government's efforts against trafficking, and would build upon the experience of implementing the TVPA to refine U.S. laws and practices to better fulfill the intent of that law.

In summary, the TVPRA of 2005 would address trafficking in persons in foreign countries and the trafficking of foreigners into the United States by:

Incorporating trafficking prevention activities in post-conflict and humanitarian emergency relief programs conducted by the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Defense;

Requiring that sex offender registries, as established by the Jacob Wetterling Act and Megan's Law, include convictions in foreign courts;

Improving trafficking victims' access to information about federally funded victim services programs and facilitating access to counsel for victims;

Establishing a guardian ad litem program for child victims of trafficking;

Requiring USAID to establish in two foreign locations a pilot program of long-term residential rehabilitation facilities for victims of trafficking and authorizing $2.5 million for 2 years for this purpose.

Expanding U.S. criminal jurisdiction for felony offenses committed by contractors working abroad for Federal agencies;

Amending the Uniform Code of Military Justice to create punitive provisions for sex and labor trafficking by members of the U.S. Armed Forces;

Expanding the ability to prosecute traffickers for money laundering;

Amending the Protect Act to require U.S. Embassies to seek local prosecution or extradition of American citizens who commit sex crimes overseas.

Appointing the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence to the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking;

Requiring that the Attorney General's annual report to Congress include data on the number of trafficking victims identified, and benefits granted, with respect to each trafficking case prosecuted by the Department of Justice;

Refining criteria for determining, in the context of the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report, whether a government is making ``serious and sustained efforts'' to eliminate trafficking: (1) whether the government is taking measures to prevent its nationals from engaging in trafficking during peacekeeping operations, and (2) whether the government is implementing measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and participation in international sex tourism;

Expressing the need for research into the linkage between trafficking and the financing of terrorism; trafficking and HIV/AIDS; the development of an effective mechanism for quantifying the number of victims of trafficking; and the enslavement of children for use as soldiers;

Requiring that human rights training for Foreign Service Officers include instruction about trafficking in persons;

Requiring that the annual Trafficking in Persons Report include information on steps taken by the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other international organizations to eliminate involvement of the organizations' personnel in trafficking;

Requiring the Secretary of State to certify prior to endorsing an international peacekeeping mission that measures have been taken to prevent the peacekeepers from being involved with trafficking. The bill would prohibit the United States from providing logistical support or personnel in support of a peacekeeping mission until this certification is received unless the Secretary provides (a) an explanation as to the steps taken by the U.S. to encourage the international organization to take appropriate measures to prevent trafficking, and (b) a certification that endorsing the mission is in the national interests of the U.S., notwithstanding the failure of the international organization to address trafficking;

Directing the Secretary of Defense to designate within the Office of the Secretary of Defense a director of anti-trafficking policies;

Directing the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate acts of trafficking.

The bill also provides for new initiatives to combat the trafficking of U.S. citizens and nationals within the United States by:

Requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to prepare a report of best practices for reducing the demand for commercial sex acts, which demands feed into the demand for trafficking into prostitution, to post the report on the HHS website, and to establish and carry out programs to implement these practices;

Requires that all U.S. Government grants, contracts or cooperative agreements with private entities contain a clause authorizing termination if the grantee, subgrantee, contractor or subcontractor (a) engages in severe forms of trafficking in persons or has procured a commercial sex act during the period of time that the grant, contract or cooperative agreement is in effect, or (b) uses forced labor in the performance of the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. Since 2003 this requirement has been in place for international grants, contracts and cooperative agreements;

Authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants to expand services to victims of domestic trafficking;

Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to carry out a pilot program for residential treatment facilities for minor victims of domestic trafficking and authorizes the appropriation of $5,000,000 for 2 years for this purpose;

Enhances state and local efforts to combat trafficking through a grants program to encourage the investigation and prosecution of domestic trafficking cases and the development of collaboration between law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations;

Improves Interagency Coordination to Combat Domestic Trafficking by allowing the Director of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to participate in the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Reauthorizes appropriations for fiscal years 2006 and 2007:

$5.5 million to the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking; $3,000 in representation funds;

$15 million to the Department of Health and Human Services;

To the Secretary of State, $10 million for assistance for victims in other countries; $10 million for programs to improve law enforcement and prosecution; and $10 million for trafficking prevention initiatives;

$15 million to the Department of Justice for assistance to victims in the United States; and $250,000 for anti-trafficking training activities at the International Law Enforcement Academies (ILEAs);

$15 million to the President for foreign victim assistance (prevention activities); $15 million for assistance to foreign countries to meet the minimum standards to combat trafficking; $300,000 for research; and $250,000 for anti-trafficking training activities at the ILEAs; and

$10 million to the Department of Labor;

$15 million, for FY06 only, to provide additional resources to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate international and domestic trafficking cases.

Mr. Speaker, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and its reauthorization in 2003 enjoyed bi-partisan support in both Houses of Congress. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill and enhance the good work underway to combat international trafficking in persons and to ensure that our government's response to all who are victimized by trafficking--whether foreign citizens or United States citizens--is one of deep compassion.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join the gentleman from Illinois, Chairman Henry Hyde, in sponsoring this important and timely legislation that would grant Ukraine normal trade relations status. With the historic triumph of Ukraine's peaceful Orange Revolution President Viktor Yushchenko's determination to consolidate democracy in Ukraine, the time has come to graduate Ukraine from the provisions of the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974. Since 1992, Ukraine has been certified annually as meeting Jackson-Vanik requirements on freedom of emigration.

As Co-Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, I have closely monitored developments and actively encouraged progress in Ukraine with respect to democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Since independence, Ukraine has made considerable progress as a participating State of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in ensuring religious liberties and respect for national minorities. Normal trade relations status is especially warranted given Ukraine's embrace of freedom and the new government's active steps to promote reform and build a genuinely democratic future for this important partner.

Congress has been supportive of Ukraine's efforts to develop as an independent, democratic and economically prosperous country that respects human rights and the rule of law, enjoys good relations with its neighbors, and integrates with the Euro-Atlantic community of nations. Today, Ukraine is positioned to realize these goals under leadership committed to democracy at home and beyond. No doubt there are significant challenges ahead. The granting of NTR to Ukraine would represent a tangible expression of support for the new government in Ukraine as they move ahead on their important historic agenda for change. President Yushchenko and the people of Ukraine deserve our support.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Nadler amendment and ask Members, especially on my side of the aisle, to join us in striking section 101.

Section 101 purports to reform asylum--but it does not. Under the pretext that it mitigates terrorists' access to the United States, the provision actually does a grave injustice and disservice to the persecuted, such as religious believers, and all others who have a well-founded fear of persecution and who seek asylum in our country.

Section 101 imposes onerous new requirements on the persecuted, including those who have been traumatized by rape, torture, trafficking, and religious hate and persecution, to prove the persecutor's motive. Read the language. You have got to prove that persecution was a central reason you left and why you are seeking asylum.

I would remind my colleagues that I have been in Congress 25 years. Dictatorships and authoritarian regimes never persecute. It is always some other pretext, whether it be the People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Cuba. When it was Romania many years back, there was always a false reason. Slander against the Soviet state was used over and over again, never because you were Jewish or Christian or because you were an evangelical or some other reason. They always have a pretext.

I can guarantee if this is enacted into law that real asylum seekers will be denied, and then the piling on just begins to start.

How many Members have met persecuted people, traumatized people who are coming to our borders? They get their stories wrong. According to this language, if they have any inconsistency, even if it is not germane to the issue at hand, if they get a date wrong, how many Members have forgotten their wife's birthday, date or year? We all make mistakes. Get one of those things wrong and the trier of facts can exclude you based on that single situation.

This is an ugly provision. I say with respect to my friend and colleague from Wisconsin, I am against terrorism. 9/11 hurt people in my district. They were hurt big time.

This is an ugly provision, Mr. Speaker. It has not had, in my view, the kind of hearing needed in terms of the consequences that it will impose upon true asylum seekers. I hope Members will vote against this.

I have authored 3 Torture Victims Relief laws to help torture victims. I meet with a lot of torture victims. They forget; they have been traumatized. You forget something pursuant to these new requirements and you are a goner. You are being deported back to that country of origin where you have been persecuted.

Please vote against Section 101. Vote for the Nadler amendment.

Mr. Speaker, this week marks the 31st Anniversary of National Catholic Schools Week, a week in which Catholics spotlight the important mission of providing quality education and strong character building of the 7,955 Catholic Schools across the country.

In conjunction with this important recognition as well as National Catholic Schools Appreciation Day, I have introduced legislation designed to ensure that the federal government appropriately assists parents with the financial burdens associated with their children's education at a public or private school. My legislation, the Education, Achievement and Opportunity Act will provide refundable tuition tax credits for the educational expenses incurred by parents of children enrolled in elementary and secondary school. The legislation offers parents of elementary school children up to $2,500 in tax relief, while parents of a child in high school could claim up to $3,500 in assistance.

Parents who choose to send their children to a Catholic school, or any private school, already pay twice for their child's education: once through their taxes and a second time for the tuition. These out-of- pocket expenses can certainly add up for some families and may pose an enormous obstacle to others. Sadly, many parents struggle--and some may have to forgo a Catholic School education--or any religious based school education--for financial reasons.

Recognizing the unique and enriching educational value that Catholic schools provide, I feel it is important that every parent have the option to send their children to such a school if they wish. It is important to note that not only parents of children in the Catholic School system will benefit from this legislation. The tax relief contained in my proposal can be utilized by parents of children in private and public schools to pay for a variety of educational expenses. Most significantly, the tax credits are designed to help parents with the cost of tuition. However, the tax credits can be used to help meet the costs of other educational needs: (1) computers, educational software, and books required for course of instruction; (2) academic tutoring; (3) special needs services for qualifying children with disabilities (4) fees for transportation services to and from a private school, if the transportation is provided by the school and the school charges a fee for the transportation; and (5) academic testing services.

The Education, Achievement and Opportunity Act proposes a tax credit, not a voucher, so the total amount of educational resources available for all school age children will increase. Under a voucher system, if a school loses enrolled students to a competing school, that school may lose the funding along with the student. Under my plan, that negative outcome is avoided.

There are over 59 million youngsters in elementary and secondary schools across the U.S. today--about 10 percent of these students are enrolled in private, parochial and rabbinical schools. If the public education system had to suddenly absorb all of these students, they would be financially unable to do so. Therefore, the public schools benefit from the existence of the private schools as well.

As every child is unique, so are their educational needs. It is important to support our nation's public school systems which are critical in providing educational opportunities for all. At the same time, it is important to support

those parents who have a desire to provide a secure academic education for their children but in a faith oriented setting.

It is my belief that the tuition tax credit should be available to all, no matter what their race, color or national origin. And make no mistake: the public school system will and must continue to remain the backbone of our nation's education system. However, we must never forget that the public school system was created to serve students--not the other way around. If a student is performing poorly in a school for one reason or another, parents should have the opportunity to move their child to what may be a better setting. And the federal government should help--not stand in the way.

To truly make good on our promise that ``No Child is Left Behind,'' ensuring that Catholic Schools are included in this national promise brings us closer to achieving this important goal. A child is a child, regardless of which school system they are enrolled. The children enrolled in Catholic, private and rabbinical schools deserve nothing less that our full support.

I urge my colleagues to support the Education, Achievement and Opportunity Act.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman, the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde), for his leadership on Ukraine and on so many other important human rights issues around the world. And for the resolution that he offered and gave us the opportunity to vote on in the latter part of last year, calling on the Ukrainian Government to respect the democracy process and to have a fair and free election which, thankfully, on the second go around, they indeed did.

I also want to thank Chairman Hyde for H. Con. Res. 16, which gives us as a body the opportunity to congratulate the people of Ukraine for conducting a democratic, transparent, and fair run-up election. The historic triumph of the Ukrainian people, Mr. Speaker, in what has come to be known around the

world as the Orange Revolution, did not come about easily. There were many moments of uncertainty.

Congratulations to Victor Yushchenko on his election as Ukraine's president. President Yushchenko displayed remarkable personal courage and dignity as he led the struggle for democracy and freedom, despite the debilitating dioxin poisoning attempt on his life and numerous other attempts that were designed to thwart him. He deserves our admiration for his incredible persistence in carrying out the fight for Ukraine's democratic future.

Mr. Speaker, I chaired the Helsinki Commission during the last 2 years, and we followed very closely the developments in Ukraine. We ourselves tried to influence and to bring to light many of the problems associated with the run-up to the election and the first election which thankfully was nullified. In various statements and speeches leading up to that election, and in hearings of the commission we noted that this election when conducted freely and fairly was perhaps the most important event in Ukraine since the restoration of independence.

Accordingly, we sent members of the commission staff to Ukraine to act as poll watchers to try to ensure that ballot stuffing and a myriad of devices used to steal an election did not happen.

I would also point out to my friends that in a remarkable display of people power, more than a million Ukrainians took to the streets of Kiev and elsewhere in a historic, peaceful and well-organized protest, a protest that caught the attention and the imagination of the world, and many people in dictatorships noted as well. This people power intention was to compel a second election. We got the run-off election, and thankfully, that was judged to be free and fair, and the outcome is beyond dispute.

With the stunning success of the Orange Revolution, Mr. Speaker, Ukraine is now firmly on the path to fulfill its quest to become a thriving democracy in which human rights are honored and the rule of law prevails. The model of Putin's Russia or Lukashenka's Belarus have been rejected resolutely by the Ukrainian people. Ukraine has made its choice for democracy and freedom and for integration with the Euro- Atlantic community versus reintegration with Eurasia, with all of the implications of that choice for Ukraine's independence and its freedom.

Mr. Speaker, throughout much of the 20th century, the Ukrainian people were the victims of unspeakable suffering, most notably the genocidal Ukrainian famine of the early 1930s, perpetrated by brutal dictatorships and various invaders. Toward the end of that century, the promise of renewed independence, for which so many had sacrificed, at long last came to fruition. The Orange Revolution and the victory of Viktor Yushchenko have brought Ukraine its freedom and, despite the formidable challenges that lie ahead, the true promise of a bright future.

Mr. Speaker, finally, while listening to President Bush's inaugural address, I could not help but think of the recent events in Ukraine as a powerful example of what he called, and I quote him, ``one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant people, and that is the force of human freedom.'' We have seen, Mr. Speaker, this happen in Ukraine, and we must stand ready to offer our help and support and assistance to President Yushchenko and the Ukrainian people as they consolidate their free, democratic future.

I thank my good friend for this resolution, for his great leadership, and for my good friends, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) on the Helsinki Commission, and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking member. We are united as a Congress on this very important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding me this time and for his leadership on this resolution. I also want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), who along with his wife is a survivor of the Holocaust. He is to be commended for his clear and unmistakable and nonambiguous condemnation of these horrific occurrences that occurred 60 years ago and before; and for his leadership today in Congress and around the world on behalf of the plight of Jews, who are still subjected to a gross anti-Semitism all over the world.

Mr. Speaker, perhaps no other single word evokes the horrors of the Holocaust as much as the name Auschwitz, the most notorious death camp in the history of humanity. On January 27, the Government of Poland will mark the liberation of that camp by the Soviet Army some 60 years ago. Leaders from across the globe, including our Vice President Dick Cheney, will rightly and solemnly remember the victims of Auschwitz and the sacrifices of those who fought against Nazism.

This resolution, H. Res. 39, recognizes the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in German-occupied Poland. We also seek to strengthen the fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, and anti-Semitism. The Congress of the United States joins those in Poland and elsewhere who are marking this solemn occasion.

I particularly support, Mr. Speaker, this resolution's call for education about what happened during the Holocaust in general and at Auschwitz in particular. At that single camp, an estimated 1.1 million men, women, and children were slaughtered. All in all, more than 60 percent of the pre-World War II Jewish population perished during the Holocaust. Others drawn into the Nazi machinery of death included Poles, Roman and other nationalities, religious leaders and religious minorities, the mentally or physically handicapped individuals, those who were considered inferior by the Nazis. The lives of countless survivors were forever broken.

When Soviet troops entered Auschwitz, they found hundreds of thousands of men's suits, more than 800,000 women's suits, and more than 14,000 pounds of human hair, a silent and grim testimony to the magnitude of the crimes that had been committed there.

Mr. Speaker, throughout the last several years, the Helsinki Commission, which I chaired during the last 2 years, has tried to focus on this terrible rising tide of anti-Semitism that has been occurring throughout Europe, among the OSCE's 55 countries, and really throughout the world. I am very glad that the Global Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2004, which the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), and I and Senator Voinovich and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) all worked so hard to enact, now has given us its first installment, including a very comprehensive report, which the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) just read from, and which I would like to make a part of the Record as well.

Members need to read this, Mr. Speaker. Anti-Semitism is on the rise, and it must be countered. A tourniquet must be put on this hate every time it reappears.

I will be happy to yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the distinguished Democrat whip for his very kind remarks; but note that this has been a very strong bipartisan effort, and he has been very much a part of that Parliamentary Assembly.

When we first began to raise this issue, one of the focuses we brought to bear on the Parliamentary Assembly was the importance of Holocaust education. And I would ask every American when they visit Washington to go down to the Holocaust Museum and walk through that museum. Look at the pictures of the people doing the hail to Hitler, the Hail Hitler salute. Seemingly normal, everyday people who, whether they knew it or not, were buying into this extermination campaign that is the most horrific in all of human history.

We would hope that when the Parliamentary Assembly comes to Washington in July that the 220-plus members of Parliaments from each of the countries will spend at least half a day going through the Holocaust Museum to remember so that the past does not become prologue.

I would also point out to my colleagues that my own sense of Holocaust remembrance and education began when I was a young teenager, and a man who used to visit a store right next to my family's sporting goods store who was a survivor himself. I will never forget when he rolled up his sleeve one day and showed us that tattooed mark, the number. He was one of the lucky ones, like our good friend and colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), who survived this terrible time when hell was in session.

So, again, this is another one of those issues that we all are deeply concerned about. There is no division between Democrat or Republican. And again I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) for his leadership on this as well. It has been extraordinary.

Mr. Speaker, I submit herewith the ``Report on Global Anti-Semitism'' referred to earlier.

Report on Global Anti-Semitism

July 1, 2003-December 15, 2004, submitted by the Department

of State to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the

Committee on International Relations in accordance with

Section 4 of PL 108-332, December 30, 2004. Released by the

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, January 5,

2005.

Executive Summary

I. anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism has plagued the world for centuries. Taken to

its most far-reaching and violent extreme, the Holocaust,

anti-Semitism resulted in the deaths of millions of Jews and

the suffering of countless others. Subtler, less vile forms

of anti-Semitism have disrupted lives, decimated religious

communities, created social and political cleavages, and

complicated relations between countries as well as the work

of international organizations. For an increasingly

interdependent world, anti-Semitism is an intolerable burden.

The increasing frequency and severity of anti-Semitic

incidents since the start of the 21st century, particularly

in Europe, has compelled the international community to focus

on anti-Semitism with renewed vigor. Attacks on individual

Jews and on Jewish properties occurred in the immediate post

World War II period, but decreased over time and were

primarily linked to vandalism and criminal activity. In

recent years, incidents have been more targeted in nature

with perpetrators appearing to have the specific intent to

attack Jews and Judaism. These attacks have disrupted the

sense of safety and well-being of Jewish communities.

The definition of anti-Semitism has been the focus of

innumerable discussions and

studies. While there is no universally accepted definition,

there is a generally clear understanding of what the term

encompasses.

For the purposes of this report, anti-Semitism is

considered to be hatred toward Jews--individually and as a

group--that can be attributed to the Jewish religion and/or

ethnicity. An important issue is the distinction between

legitimate criticism of policies and practices of the State

of Israel, and commentary that assumes an anti-Semitic

character. The demonization of Israel, or vilification of

Israeli leaders, sometimes through comparisons with Nazi

leaders, and through the use of Nazi symbols to caricature

them, indicates an anti-Semitic bias rather than a valid

criticism of policy concerning a controversial issue.

Global anti-Semitism in recent years has had four main

sources:

Traditional anti-Jewish prejudice that has pervaded Europe

and some countries in other parts of the world for centuries.

This includes ultra-nationalists and others who assert that

the Jewish community controls governments, the media,

international business, and the financial world.

Strong anti-Israel sentiment that crosses the line between

objective criticism of Israeli policies and anti-Semitism.

Anti-Jewish sentiment expressed by some in Europe's growing

Muslim population, based on longstanding antipathy toward

both Israel and Jews, as well as Muslim opposition to

developments in Israel and the occupied territories, and more

recently in Iraq.

Criticiam of both the United States and globalization that

spills over to Israel, and to Jews in general who are

identified with both.

II. harassment, vandalism and physical violence

Europe and Eurasia

Anti-Semitism in Europe increased significantly in recent

years. At the same time it should be noted that many European

countries have comprehensive reporting systems that record

incidents more completely than is possible in other

countries. Because of this significant difference in

reporting systems, it is not possible to make direct

comparisons between countries or geographic regions.

Beginning in 2000, verbal attacks directed against Jews

increased while incidents of vandalism (e.g. graffiti, fire

bombings of Jewish schools, desecration of synagogues and

cemeteries) surged. Physical assaults including beatings,

stabbings and other violence against Jews in Europe increased

markedly, in a number of cases resulting in serious injury

and even death. Also troubling is a bias that spills over

into anti-Semitism in some of the left-of-center press and

among some intellectuals.

The disturbing rise of anti-Semitic intimidation and

incidents is widespread throughout Europe, although with

significant variations in the number of cases and the

accuracy of reporting. European governments in most countries

now view anti-Semitism as a serious problem for their

societies and demonstrate a greater willingness to address

the issue. The Vienna-based European Union Monitoring Center

(EUMC), for 2002 and 2003, identified France, Germany, the

United Kingdom, Belgium, and The Netherlands as EU member

countries with notable increases in incidents. As these

nations keep reliable and comprehensive statistics on anti-

Semitic acts, and are engaged in combating anti-Semitism,

their data was readily available to the EUMC. Governments and

leading public figures condemned the violence, passed new

legislation, and mounted positive law enforcement and

educational efforts.

In Western Europe, traditional far-right groups still

account for a significant proportion of the attacks against

Jews and Jewish properties; disadvantaged and disaffected

Muslim youths increasingly were responsible for most of the

other incidents. This trend appears likely to persist as the

number of Muslims in Europe continues to grow while their

level of education and economic prospects remain limited.

In Eastern Europe, with a much smaller Muslim population,

skinheads and other members of the radical political fringe

were responsible for most anti-Semitic incidents. Anti-

Semitism remained a serious problem in Russia and Belarus,

and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, with most incidents

carried out by ultra-nationalist and other far-right

elements. The stereotype of Jews as manipulators of the

global economy continues to provide fertile ground for anti-

Semitic aggression.

Holocaust and tolerance education as well as teacher

training provide a potential long-term solution to anti-

Semitism; however, the problem is still rapidly outpacing the

solution. At the end of 2003, and continuing into this year,

some Jews, especially in Europe, faced the dilemma either of

hiding their identity or facing harassment and sometimes even

serious bodily injury and death. The heavy psychological toll

in this increasingly difficult environment should not be

overlooked or underestimated.

Middle East

Jews left the countries of the Middle East and North Africa

in large numbers near the mid-point of the last century as

their situation became increasingly precarious. This trend

continues. Today few remain, and few incidents involving the

remaining members of the Jewish community have been reported.

Nonetheless, Syria condoned and, in some cases, even

supported through radio, television programming, news

articles, and other mass media the export of the virulent

domestic anti-Semitism. The official and state-supported

media's anti-Zionist propaganda frequently adopts the

terminology and symbols of the Holocaust to demonize

Israel and its leaders. This rhetoric often crosses the

line separating the legitimate criticism of Israel and its

policies to become anti-Semitic vilification posing as

legitimate political commentary. At the same time,

Holocaust denial and Holocaust minimization efforts find

increasingly overt acceptance as sanctioned historical

discourse in a number of Middle Eastern countries.

Other Regions

The problem of anti-Semitism is not only significant in

Europe and in the Middle East, but here are also worrying

expressions of it elsewhere. For example, in Pakistan, a

country without a Jewish community, anti-Semitic sentiment

fanned by anti-Semitic Articles in the press is widespread.

This reflects the more recent phenomenon of anti-Semitism

appearing in the countries where historically or currently

there are few or even no Jews.

Elsewhere, in Australia, the level of intimidation and

attacks against Jews and Jewish property and anti-Zionist and

anti-Semitic rhetoric decreased somewhat over the past year.

This year, New Zealand experienced several desecrations of

Jewish tombstones and other incidents. In the Americas, in

addition to manifestations of anti-Semitism in the United

States, Canada experienced a significant increase in attacks

against Jews and Jewish property. There were notable anti-

Semitic incidents in Argentina and isolated incidents in a

number of other Latin American countries.

III. Media

The proliferation of media outlets (television, radio,

print media and the Internet) has vastly increased the

opportunity for purveyors of anti-Semitic material to spread

their propaganda unhindered. Anti-hater laws provide some

protection, but freedom of expression safeguards in many

western counties limited the preventive measures that

governments could take. Satellite television programming

easily shifts from one provider to another and Internet

offerings cross international borders with few or no

impediments.

In June, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe (OSCE) organized a separate meeting in Paris dealing

with intolerance on the Internet, and subsequently approved a

decision on ``Promoting Tolerance and Media Freedom on the

Internet.'' The decision is prescriptive in nature and

carefully caveated to avoid conflict with the varied legal

systems within the countries of the OSCE. It calls upon

Participating States to investigate and fully prosecute

criminal threats on violence based on anti-Semitic and other

intolerance on the Internet, as well as to establish programs

to educate children about hate speech and other forms of

bias.

Critics of Israel frequently use anti-Semitic cartoons

depicting anti-Jewish images and caricatures to attack the

State of Israel and its policies, as well as Jewish

communities and other who support Israel. These media attacks

can lack any pretext of balance or even factual basis and

focus on the demonization of Israel. The United States is

frequently included as a target of such attacks, which often

assert that U.S. foreign policy is made in Israel or that

Jews control the media and financial markets in the United

States and the rest of the world. During the 2004 United

States presidential campaign, the Arab press ran numerous

cartoons closely identifying both of the major American

political parties with Israel and with Israeli Prime Minister

Sharon.

``The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,'' a text debunked

many years ago as a fraud perpetrated by Czarist intelligence

agents, continued to appear in the Middle East media, not as

a hoax, but as established fact. Government-sponsored

television in Syria ran lengthy serials based on the

Protocols. The representations emphasized blood libel and the

alleged control by the Jewish community of international

finance. The clear purpose of the programs was to incite

hatred of Jews and of Israel. Copies of the Protocols and

other similar anti-Semitic forgeries were readily available

in Middle Eastern countries, former Soviet republics and

elsewhere. Similarly, allegations that Jews were behind

the 9/11 attacks were widely disseminated.

In November 2004, Al-Manar, the Lebanon-based television

network controlled by Hizballah featuring blatantly anti-

Semitic material, obtained a limited 1-year satellite

broadcast license from the French authorities. This was

revoked shortly thereafter due to Al-Manar's continued

transmission of anti-Semitic material. Al-Manar is now off

the air in France. Other Middle East networks with

questionable content, such as Al-Jazeerah and Al-Arrabiya,

maintain their French broadcast licenses.

IV. actions by governments

In Europe and other geographic regions, many governments

became increasingly aware of the threat presented by anti-

Semitism and spoke out against it. Some took effective

measures to combat it with several countries, including

France, Belgium, and Germany, now providing enhanced

protection for members of the Jewish community and Jewish

properties.

For the most part, the police response to anti-Semitic

incidents was uneven. Most law

enforcement officials are not specifically trained to deal

with hate crimes, particularly anti-Semitic hat crimes.

Police sometimes dismissed such crimes as hooliganism or

petty crime, rather than attacks against Jews because of

their ethnicity or religion, or because the assailants

identified the victims with the actions of the State of

Israel.

In countries where anti-Semitism is a serious problem,

specialized training for police and members of the judiciary

remains a pressing need. Many nations still do not have hate

crimes laws that address anti-Semitic and other intolerance-

related crimes. In some instances where such laws already

exist, stronger enforcement is needed.

V. multilateral action

Anti-Semitism is a global problem that requires a

coordinated multinational approach. Thus far, the most

effective vehicle for international cooperation has been the

OSCE, comprised of 55 participating states from Europe,

Eurasia and North America plus Mediterranean and Asian

partners for cooperation. The OSCE organized two

groundbreaking conferences on anti-Semitism--in June 2003, in

Vienna and in April 2004, In Berlin. These were the first

international conferences to focus high-level political

attention solely on the problem of anti-Semitism. The Vienna

Conference identified anti-Semitism as a human rights issue.

OSCE Foreign Ministers gave further high-level political

acknowledgment to the seriousness of anti-Semitism at their

December 2003 meeting in Maastricht. There they took the

formal decision to spotlight the need to combat anti-Semitism

by deciding to task the OSCE's Office of Democratic

Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to serve as a

collection point for hate crimes information. ODIHR is now

working with OSCE member states to collect information on

hate crimes legislation and to promote ``best practices'' in

the areas of law enforcement, combating hate crimes, and

education. ODIHR established a Program on Tolerance and Non-

Discrimination and now has an advisor to deal exclusively

with the issue.

At their December 2004 meeting in Sofia, OSCE Foreign

Ministers welcomed the Chair-in-Office's decision to appoint

three special representatives for tolerance issues, including

a special representative for anti-Semitism, to work with

member states on implementing specific commitments to fight

anti-Semitism. In addition, the Foreign Ministers accepted

the Spanish Government's offer to host a third anti-Semitism

conference in June 2005 in Cordoba.

The United Nations also took important measures in the

fight against anti-Semitism. One was a June 2004 seminar on

anti-Semitism hosted by Secretary General Kofi Annan. Another

measure was a resolution of the United Nations Third

Committee in November 2004, which called for the elimination

of all forms of religious intolerance, explicitly including

anti-Semitism.

Education remains a potentially potent antidote for anti-

Semitism and other forms of intolerance. Following the first

Stockholm Conference in 1998, convoked out of concern for the

decreasing level of knowledge of the Holocaust particularly

among the younger generation, Sweden, the United Kingdom and

the United States decided to address the issue

collaboratively. The Task Force for International Cooperation

on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF)

emerged from this initial effort.

Today the ITF, an informal international organization

operating on the basis of consensus, and without a

bureaucracy, consists of 20 countries. ITF member states

agree to commit themselves to the Declaration of the

Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust and to its

implementation. Current members of the ITF include Argentina,

Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary

Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the

Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland,

United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition four other

countries (Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Slovakia) maintain a

liaison relationship with the ITF.

vi. U.S. Government Actions to Monitor and combat anti-semitism

The U.S. Government is committed to monitoring and

combating anti-Semitism throughout the world as an important

human rights and religious freedom issue. As President Bush

said when he signed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act on

October 16, 2004, ``Defending freedom also means disrupting

the evil of anti-Semitism.''

Annually, the U.S. Department of State publishes the

International Religious Freedom Report and the Country

Reports on Human Rights Practices. Both detail incidents and

trends of anti-Semitism worldwide. The State Department's

instructions to U.S. Embassies for the 2004 Country Reports

on Human Rights Practices explicitly required them to

describe acts of violence against Jews and Jewish properties,

as well as actions governments are taking to prevent this

form of bigotry and prejudice.

In multilateral fora, the Department of State called for

recognition of the rise of anti-Semitism and the development

of specific measures to address it. The Department played a

leading role in reaching agreement in the OSCE to hold the

two conferences on combating anti-Semitism noted above in

Section V. Former New York City Mayors Rudolph Giuliani and

Edward Koch led the United States delegations to the

conferences in Vienna and Berlin, respectively. Each brought

a wealth of knowledge and experience in fostering respect for

minorities in multicultural communities. Key NGOs worked

productively with the Department to prepare for these

conferences. In his address to the Berlin Conference,

Secretary Powell said: `` We must not permit anti-Semitism

crimes to be shrugged off as inevitable side effects of

inter-ethnic conflicts. Political disagreements do not

justify physical assaults against Jews in our streets, the

destruction of Jewish schools, or the desecration of

synagogues and cemeteries. There is no justification for

anti-Semitism.'' At the United Nations, the United States has

supported resolutions condemning anti-Semitism both at the

General Assembly and at the UN Commission on Human Rights.

An important lesson of the Holocaust is that bigotry and

intolerance can lead to future atrocities and genocides if

not addressed forcefully by governments and other sectors of

society. The United States is committed to working

bilaterally to promote efforts with other governments to

arrest and roll back the increase in anti-Semitism. President

Bush affirmed that commitment during his visit to Auschwitz-

Birkenau in 2003, stating: ``This site is a sobering reminder

that when we find anti-Semitism, whether it be in Europe, in

America or anywhere else, mankind must come together to fight

such dark impulses.''

U.S. Embassies implement this commitment by speaking out

against anti-Semitic acts and hate crimes. Ambassadors and

other embassy officers work with local Jewish communities to

encourage prompt law enforcement action against hate crimes.

In Turkey, the U.S. Embassy worked closely with the Jewish

community following the November 2003 bombing of the Neve

Shalom Synagogue. In the Middle East, our embassies have

protested to host governments against practices that have

allowed their institutions to promote anti-Semitism, such as

the heavily watched television series Rider Without a Horse

and Diaspora that respectively promoted the canard of the

blood libel, and ``The Protocols of Elders of Zion.'' U.S.

bilateral demarches were effective in specific instances, but

more remains to be done to encourage national leaders to

speak out forcefully against anti-Semitism and in support of

respectful, tolerant societies.

Building on the success achieved to date, the Department of

State is accelerating its efforts with its partners globally

to improve both monitoring and combating anti-Semitism in

three specific areas: education, legislation, and law

enforcement. The Department will continue to promote the

development of Holocaust education curricula and teacher

training programs. A successful program in this area has been

summer teacher training partially funded through U.S.

Embassies in cooperation with the Association of American

Holocaust Organizations (AHO) and the United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum (USHMM). At the October 2004 OSCE Human

Dimension Meeting, the United States and France hosted a

seminar on methodologies for teaching the Holocaust in

multicultural societies. The United States also supports the

work of NGOs in promoting educational programs abroad, in

part based on successful seminars in the United States that

teach respect for individuals and minority groups.

Additionally, the U.S. State Department has supported efforts

to promote tolerance in the Saudi educational system

including by sponsoring the travel of religious educators to

the United States to examine interreligious education.

The roots of anti-Semitism run deep and the United States

does not underestimate the difficulty of reversing the recent

resurgence of this ancient scourge. The legislative and

executive branches, together with NGOs, constitute an

important partnership in continuing the vital effort to find

creative ways to monitor, contain, and finally stop anti-

Semitism.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, 100,000 human rights advocates endured the numbing cold and snow in a great witness for life here in our Nation's Capital. Their presence on behalf of those who have no voice of their own was truly inspiring. It was gratifying beyond words to see so many teenagers full of idealism and full of compassion and love for their littlest brothers and sisters and for all human life that is at risk.

Indeed, Mr. Speaker, the pro-life movement is the greatest human rights movement on Earth.

It is a struggle based on unconditional love, even for the proabortionists, unconditional empathy for the victims, both the child and his or her mother, and unconditional courage.

We are a movement with deep hope and expectation, that with God's all-powerful grace, and through that all-powerful grace, the culture of death will soon be vanquished by the culture of life, where all human life is cherished and respected. We pray for the day when branding an unborn child as unwanted will no longer mean a death sentence in America.

Mr. Speaker, I have always found the term ``unwanted child'' dehumanizing, for it relegates a child to the status of a commodity, an object, a thing, something that can be chosen or unchosen at will, not unlike any other consumer product.

Mr. Speaker, with each passing year, the horrific toll of abortion on women's lives becomes more evident, and it is time the media especially stopped censoring the truth. Women deserve better than abortion, and the compelling stories of the brave women, the postabortive women who are silent no more need to be heard. These very special women bear witness not only to the agony and the trauma of their own abortions, but to the hope of healing, reconciliation and inner peace as well.

Wounded women like Dr. Alveda King, the niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, who has had an abortion, Jennifer O'Neill, singer Melba Moore, civil rights activist, like I said, Dr. King, and so many others, and cofounder of this group called Silent No More Awareness Campaign, Georgette Forney, have all called on us to listen to their heart-wrenching stories and take seriously our moral duty to protect women and children from the predators who ply their lethal trade in abortion mills throughout the land.

These brave women are the new champions of life. They have refused to be silent any longer. They care too deeply about other women and their children, and they want others to be spared the anguish that they themselves have endured. And to the millions of women who have aborted, they are uniquely equipped to convey the breathtaking love and healing and reconciliation that God provides to those who ask. They do have a connection, the silentnomoreawareness.org, if those who might want to contact them just go on the Web and check them out. They are unbelievably full of compassion.

Mr. Speaker, let me also point out that with each passing year, the child body count from abortion in America grows. Since the infamous decision in 1973, more than 46 million babies have been killed by dismemberment or chemical poisoning, a number fast approaching the total worldwide deaths attributable to World War II; that is civilian and military deaths.

And as we have feared, Mr. Speaker, the much touted baby pesticide, RU-486, rushed to approval by a very biased

FDA, is poison not only to the baby, but women are dying from it as well.

And now we learn, Mr. Speaker, from science and medicine that due to nerve cell development, unborn children from at least 20 weeks onward, and most likely even earlier, feel excruciating pain, two to four times more painful than you or I would feel from the same assault.

Today, along with 75 cosponsors, I have reintroduced legislation, the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, to require in part that women seeking abortions at this stage of development be informed of this gruesome reality. These kids feel pain, and we need to make that known to those women who are procuring abortions at that gestational period.

The bill would also require that women be given the option of having anesthesia administered directly to the unborn child, because indirect administration does not cross the placenta to numb the pain that the child feels as they are being slowly dismembered by these later-term abortion methods. One of those methods, the D and E, takes about 30 minutes as the arms and the legs and the body and the torso are all hacked off. And the baby feels pain during this hideous procedure.

Interestingly, Mr. Speaker, the partial-birth abortion legal trials in various courts around the country drew new attention to the pain that unborn children feel during an abortion. In expert testimony during these trials, Dr. Sunny Anand, Director of the Pain Neurobiology Lab at Arkansas Children's Hospital, said, and I quote him, ``The human fetus possesses the ability to experience pain from 20 weeks of gestation, if not earlier, and the pain that is perceived by a fetus is more intense than that perceived by newborns or older children.''

He went on to explain that the pain inhibitory mechanisms, in other words the fibers that dampen and modulate the experience of pain, do not begin to develop until 32 to 34 weeks of gestation. Thus these children feel pain, and they feel it excruciatingly so.

Abortion is violence against children, Mr. Speaker, and these kids feel that pain.

Abortion clinics, if we look at them as what they really are, are not only killing centers, they are torture chambers as well. I hope that we all can move on this legislation as quickly as possible.