AMERICAN ANGELS OF MERCY IN SYRIA; Congressional Record Vol. 161, No. 62

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AMERICAN ANGELS OF MERCY IN SYRIA

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from

Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, last year, a National Geographic

photographer captured 5,000 desperate people navigating their way

through a sandstorm, then eventually breaking through a barbed wire for

safety through the border into Turkey. They were among the roughly 11

million Syrians who have now been displaced from their homes over the

past 4 years.

The rich, the poor, the elderly, and the children, Christians,

Muslims, they all share a new identity: a war refugee. Though they may

be alive, many of them have little hope for a better life.

A Syrian mother and a refugee under World Vision's refugee program

said she and her family lived in a small apartment and they were happy

before the war; they were never envious of anyone, but after living in

a tent with some 25 other families in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, she now

envies even the dead in Syria.

Unable to work because it is illegal, the more than 3.8 million

refugees in neighboring countries wonder every day if they will be

given aid to feed their kids. Safe places where children can go to

learn, laugh, and play don't exist. Parents worry that their children

might also join the ranks of ISIS, become victims of child labor or

forced marriage.

A 14-year-old girl who participated in Save the Children's programs

in Jordan had been married off by her father, not because he loved her

less, but because it was one less mouth to feed in the family. Young

girls like this one are torn within their identity. They wonder whether

they should be playing with fellow children or must be a wife.

For the 7 million people internally displaced in Syria\\--7 million,

that is bigger than New York City--those people face a double-edged

sword every day because they may be killed by Assad's monsters or by

the rebels. In June 2012, government forces executed entire families in

front of one another and their neighbors.

Ten-year-old Fatima stood bravely before the soldiers with $2 in her

hand, asking to spare the life of her 11-month-old baby brother,

Mattessem. They still shot. The bullet went through Mattessem and

killed their mother. Out of a family of 25, only Mattessem, Fatima, the

father, and the grandfather survived those executions.

Assad kills his people indiscriminately with barrel bombs that are

embedded with chlorine and with shrapnel. These attacks bring scores of

victims into the already overworked makeshift hospitals in Syria; 175

of these hospitals have been hit by barrel bombs by Assad.

Dr. Sahloul, a Chicago doctor and head of the Syrian American Medical

Society, has become one of the dozens of American doctors who have

helped the wounded in this war. He has risked being arrested, tortured,

and even killed for aiding the opposition. He has treated victims of

these barrel bomb attacks and has shared with my committee a young

boy's vivid account of the attack.

Instead of drawing a sun and animals, this child drew people with

their legs severed--severed from their bodies--bloody, and tears in the

eyes of the victim. These children have had the first years shrouded in

war. They have been deprived of a childhood stolen by war.

We are all made the same way, no matter what we look like or where we

live, and deep down in our soul, all of us, even these Syrian refugees,

just want to be free.

For every day the reign of terror continues, the colossal number of

12.2 million Syrians who are in dire need of humanitarian assistance

continues to grow. U.S. Government-funded programming is working to

meet this need. U.S.-based nongovernment organizations, both religious

and secular, are doing great work inside Syria and the surrounding

region to address the many needs of the displaced.

American funding has provided lifesaving food and essential items for

several hundred thousand people inside the constantly bombarded city of

Aleppo. Dozens of medical facilities throughout Syria are providing

trauma and primary health care, as well as much-needed psychological

and social support. Child-friendly spaces are set up in a safe place

for children to receive support, to learn, and to play.

Mr. Speaker, war is hell, and the noncombatant citizens are the ones

who suffer from this hellish violence. Until the war in Syria is over,

the lifesaving humanitarian care done by these American angels of mercy

give hope to millions of refugees.

We thank these selfless people that help those affected by this war

in Syria.

And that is just the way it is.

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