HONORING THE WORK OF THE VALLEY SYRIA RELIEF COMMITTEE; Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 201

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HONORING THE WORK OF THE VALLEY SYRIA RELIEF COMMITTEE

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HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

of massachusetts

in the house of representatives

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I rise in appreciation of the efforts of

my constituents to educate their fellow Americans about the human

consequences of more than a decade of horrendous armed conflict in

Syria and to provide support to the Syrian people.

The crisis in Syria has faded from the headlines here in the U.S. But

my constituents understand that democracy and justice, at home and

abroad, depend on the commitment and participation of engaged American

citizens. They have not given up, and neither must we.

Their efforts are well described in a column by Sara Weinberger of

the Valley Syria Relief Committee, published on November 15 in the

Daily Hampshirite Gazette, and which I would like to include in the

Record.

Human Rights in Syria Hits Home

(By Sara Weinberger)

\\\`\\\`It was 11:15 a.m. on Sept. 30th. I was one of six heads

on the Zoom screen. Michael Kane, Micky McKinley, Debbie

Shriver and I stared in silence. The four of us comprised The

Valley Syrian Relief Committee.

\\\`\\\`Sharing the screen were two of Congressman Jim McGovern's

staff. We had requested the meeting to give the congressman

an update on the war in Syria, now in its 11th year, and to

ask that he raise his voice in Congress to save Syrian lives.

\\\`\\\`What we didn't know was that McGovern had spent the

morning trying to pass a stopgap bill on the last day of the

fiscal year to prevent a government shutdown. Not a great day

for our meeting, I thought, imagining a preoccupied McGovern

politely listening to our presentation, while his mind was

elsewhere. Apologizing for his late arrival, he left his

morning crisis at the door, and for the next hour listened

intently, asked questions, and showed us that the purpose of

our visit genuinely mattered.

\\\`\\\`In 2011, Syrians, inspired by our democratic form of

government, demonstrated in defiance of the authoritarian

regime of Syria's brutal dictator, Bashar Al Assad. They have

been paying for it ever since with their lives and their

livelihoods, with a whole generation of traumatized children

who have lost loved ones, ran for refuge from barrel bombs,

and tried to hold unto hope in a place that many have deemed

a hell on earth. Yet, with our own country's democracy in

peril, garnering interest in longstanding wars on the other

side of the world can be a challenge.

\\\`\\\`This was not the case in our own community, where several

hundred of McGovern's constituents have faithfully

demonstrated their commitment and concern for the welfare of

Syrians since 2014. In September 2015, they filled the

sanctuary of First Churches for our first big event, \\\`\\\`Songs

for Syria'' to raise funds for the Syrian American Medical

Society. We reminded McGovern of the hundreds who accepted

our invitations to educate members of his district's

interfaith organizations, who broke bread with us, shared

soup, and bought copies of \\\`\\\`The Soup for Syria'' cookbook,

produced by local publisher Michel Moushabeck.

\\\`\\\`Folks from Franklin and Hampshire counties shipped a

container filled with everything from diapers, to winter

clothing, to shoes and boots to enable refugees and displaced

people living in tents to survive the long Syrian winter.

Actions led to more actions: groups gathered to write

personal letters of hope to assure Syrian children and their

families that they are not alone.

\\\`\\\`Rebecca Leopold's students at Amherst Regional High

School formed the Refugees in Distress Club, developing a

curriculum to educate younger students about the situation in

Syria. With the help of our partners at the Washington, D.C.-

based Syrian Emergency Task Force, Mazen Al-Hamuda, spent a

day at ARHS openly shared his traumatic story of the physical

and emotional scars of brutal torture he endured in a Syrian

prison.

\\\`\\\`The above stories only scratch the surface of the many

actions the residents of Congressional District 2 engaged in

on behalf of the Syrian people. Their efforts allowed the

Valley Syrian Relief Committee to raise more than $200,000

for humanitarian assistance and bring internationally known

experts to inform and engage people in efforts to make sure

the people of Syria are not forgotten.

\\\`\\\`Pivoting to Zoom in 2020, our supporters generously

donated funds to purchase two school buses to serve as an

evacuation vehicle when the bombs start falling, an ambulance

to get medical help for injured children, and of course, to

transport the young children to their beloved Wisdom House

School.

\\\`\\\`There was heartbreak too. The news of Mazen Al Hamouda's

disappearance in Syria broke all of our hearts, especially

those of the students who fell in love with the lanky man

with dark shadows under his eyes. Mazen's legacy will live on

with some of these students, who went on to college to major

in human rights and international relations. They will be the

future peacebuilders, replacing dictatorships with civil

societies in Syria and beyond.

\\\`\\\`McGovern has been an ally for the Syrian people. He has

organized programs for his congressional colleagues and

others through the Lantos Human Rights Commission, to

showcase Syrian heroes such as Caesar, who smuggled thousands

of photographs of brutalized bodies of imprisoned Syrians, to

expose to the world the war crimes of the Assad regime. We

were moved by the genuine feelings expressed at the end of

our meeting, when McGovern reminding his colleagues in

Congress that they must recommit to bringing about an end to

the carnage.

\\\`\\\`Our own country is on a precipice, with democracy hanging

by a thread. Recently, I have become aware that what has

happened in Syria could one day envelop our own country.

Fascism is rearing its ugly head on every continent. Aligning

ourselves to support those who are suffering can grow an

international movement for human rights. It begins in

communities like those in western Massachusetts, with those

who actively uphold the humanity of our brothers and sisters,

no matter where they live.''

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