On the recordSeptember 15, 2022
This is a devastating time for the people of Pakistan. Mr. Speaker, I rise to share this with my colleagues and to ensure that their story is in the public eye because it is a story that addresses devastation like you have never seen before. I guess the story that is so devastating is the 600,000 women who are on the verge of giving birth in conditions that are so devastating. The week of September 2, members of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus made their way as quickly as they could to the rain-torn, flood-torn region of Pakistan. We arrived on Sunday morning and immediately were able to secure a transport into the flooded areas. As the government indicated, this is not overflowing rivers, this is sheer rain that generated into flooding. In the Sindh region, Balochistan, the southwestern region--sheer rain turned into floods that were unspeakable. The water was unspeakable, it was of biblical proportion. The size and the width and the depth was unspeakable. It was a monstrosity. We took an aerial survey. You could not see land. It was only water as far as the eye could see. In fact, tragically and unfortunately, we could imagine that whole communities were covered with water, that bodies are yet unfound. Even though the death toll is upwards of 1200 to 1300, with one-third or more of those being children.…
