Political Quotes

“Many decades ago, we swore it wouldn't happen again, yet it happened in Rwanda in 1990, in Bosnia in 1995, Darfur in 2003, and it is happening right now in Burma. The word is ``genocide.'' It is unclear how many Rohingya men, women, and children have been lost to violent beatings, arson, and indiscriminate firings because the government is refusing access to human rights investigators. What we do know is that, since August, over 600,000 Rohingya civilians have fled to neighboring Bangladesh to escape systematic persecution, mass rape, killings, and disappearances committed by the Burmese military. These are crimes against humanity and the very definition of ethnic cleansing. There is no place for genocide in 2017. The international community needs to increase the humanitarian access to Rohingya. In addition, we must consider the crisis from a national security perspective. Not only are the squalid refugee camps teeming with contamination and disease, but the mass exodus and horrible conditions are a breeding ground for terrorist recruitment. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the resolution. ____________________”