Ed Royce: “Part of the tragedy of this can be seen in what happened in Garissa National Park in Africa. The jihadists hit that park…”

“Part of the tragedy of this can be seen in what happened in Garissa National Park in Africa. The jihadists hit that park in order to take those tusks, in order to get that hard currency and trade those tusks for weapons and for bullets, and then used that weaponry to turn on Garissa University. Now, remember, these are jihadists. The one thing that Al-Shabaab has in common with the Janjaweed and with these other jihadi organizations is a hatred--just as Boko Haram has this hatred--a hatred of those who study. So what did they do? What did they do when they had their hands on those weapons? They then went to Garissa University and slaughtered 145 students after slaughtering the elephants in the parks. There is a direct link when jihadi organizations, as Judge Ted Poe shared with you, carried out these attacks to recruit, to show that they have got the power to kill, that they have got the power to exterminate, to annihilate not just these animal species but human beings as well. Mr. Speaker, time is not on our side. Each day of inaction means more animals poached, and the coffers of terrorist organizations and rebels grow full because the criminal syndicates that buy the ivory give them the weapons and give them the money. That has to come to an end. Since the time we started this debate, as Mr. Engel pointed out, two elephants have already been poached, have been slaughtered, because one is killed every 15 minutes in Africa. It is quite possible, as Mr.…”