On the recordFebruary 1, 2011
I want to take a minute to call the Senate's attention to a small U.S. aid program in Afghanistan that has a big impact, which I suspect few people here know about. Shortly after 9/11 and the U.S. invasion to topple the Taliban, a young Californian woman named Marla Ruzicka traveled alone to Afghanistan where she soon learned about incidents where U.S. bombs had missed their targets and killed civilians. The international press ran stories about those tragedies but nothing was being done to take responsibility for what had happened or help the families of the victims. Marla decided to do something about it, and she organized protests at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, rallied the media, and not long after was in Washington urging Congress to help the families and show that the United States does not turn its back on innocent victims of our own mistakes. It was because of Marla that we started a new program, now known as the Afghan Civilian Assistance Program, ACAP, which is managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by the Afghan staff of the International Organization for Migration. Over the past 8 years, ACAP has provided millions of dollars in small grants to families and communities that have suffered losses as a result of the military operations.
