Speech #1090150079

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize World Refugee Day. which is the international communitys day of remembrance and action on behalf of the more than 20 million refugees. who have been driven from their homes because of war. famine. and natural disaster. World Refugee Day is intended to raise awareness of the plight of these millions of people. but more importantly. it is about the recognition that we have the power to help them and that we must. To Americans who are blessed with the comforts of 21st Century living and an abundance of food. it is difficult to conceive of the intolerable and degrading existence in which nearly all refugees live. Today. as individuals and as a Nation. we must pledge to redouble our efforts to work with our allies. the United Nations and other regional organizations to help alleviate the suffering of the worlds refugees and to address the causes that have created the worlds refugee population. As we speak. millions of Darfudans in Sudan have been driven out of their homes by the armed Janjaweed militia. Huddled in pitiful camps and under constant threat of attack. the Darfur refugees live on inadequate food and with little or no shelter. Their crops are destroyed. Their livestock have been killed and thrown into wells. poisoning the water. Their villages have been burned to the ground. Darfurian women are systematically raped. including young girls who venture out of the refugee camps for firewood. What we are seeing in the largest country on the African continent is genocide: a calculated means of annihilating a group of people. robbing them of their chance at livelihood. International aid workers and a thin force of African Union peacekeepers are all that stands between them and death. Addressing the refugee crisis is not only a humanitarian endeavor. it also contributes to our national security. Refugee camps have long been recognized as prime breeding grounds for extremism. As we have seen throughout the last century. wars that force large numbers of people from their homes result in regional instability. threatening American interests and our security. American and international aid can do much to ensure that refugee camps do not become the birthplace of more violence and terrorism. While refugees are most often associated with war. it is important to recognize today that natural disasters also force people out of their homes. The Asian tsunami and the Pakistani earthquakes have created millions of displaced people and desertification and rising sea levels which are the result of climate change will create millions more. Mr. Speaker. it is easy to associate the word "refugee" with a nameless. faceless person. We must remember that refugees are mothers. fathers and children. whose lives have been destroyed by war natures wrath. Today we acknowledge our common humanity and pledge that every day be a day of action on behalf of those who have no voice. EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS.