Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York for her comments. This humanitarian crisis in Burma, or Myanmar, requires international attention and action, as Representative Tenney said. The actions of the Burmese State in ethnically cleansing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya demonstrate this need for international action. The most immediate need is to facilitate access by NGOs and international organizations in the Rakhine State. There are tens of thousands of Rohingya internally displaced within the Rakhine State. Violence against Rohingya, including the burning of villages, continues despite international condemnation. Just yesterday, a full month and a half after the beginning of this crisis, 11,000 Rohingya reportedly crossed over into Bangladesh. Access by international groups would allow the rest of the world to deliver assistance to the Rohingya still within Rakhine and to help prevent further violence. The United States, in partnership with our allies around the world, must also assist Bangladesh in providing for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya they lost. This includes food, water, shelter, and medicine. We cannot allow this humanitarian catastrophe to escalate further. We know a political settlement to repatriation is possible. Bangladesh and Burma have arrived at such agreements in the past. The United States and our allies must support the U.N.…”