Political Quotes

“It is now my great pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), a champion for human rights, especially for the rights of women and girls. Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member, and I thank the chairman, as well as the authors of this piece of legislation, Mr. Chabot and Mr. Crowley, for their work on this important issue. Last month, I visited Burma and Bangladesh on a congressional factfinding mission. Our visits to refugee camps, our conversations with survivors, made it clear that the persecution of the Rohingya people in Burma's Rakhine State is a severe humanitarian crisis and demands robust American leadership. This resolution is an important first step in demonstrating that Congress will not tolerate human rights abuses against the Rohingyas. Our delegation saw, however, there is a path forward. The Burmese Government and the military must fully implement the recommendations of the former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's advisory commission. Burma must work with Bangladesh, and the U.N. must fully work to return voluntarily the Rohingya refugees with guarantee of a safe return and a fair process to allow the Rohingyas to apply for and secure citizenship. That must be established. Finally, there must be an independent investigation to ensure accountability for the atrocities and the abuses that have taken place. Mr.…”