| The Holocaust |
April 25, 2012 |
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Nita Lowey, D-NY
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"Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solemn recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Today marks the passage of almost 70 years since the unfathomable annihilation of six million Jewish men, women, and children from Europe. In addition to working to systematically eliminate the Jewish people, the Nazis also targeted other marginalized groups such as political opponents, the LGBT community, the Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, the disabled, and other religious minorities."
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| Border Shootout |
March 5, 2012 |
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Ted Poe, R-TX
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"Mr. Speaker, last week, border protectors were patrolling near Roma, Texas, when they spotted drug smugglers trying to move narcotics into the United States. The agents found themselves under attack from the Mexican side when narcoterrorists unleashed gunfire from the other side of the Rio Grande River. The agents returned fire in self-defense. This sounds like a scene out of a western movie, but unfortunately this is real life on the Texas border."
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| Roma Bridge Building |
February 13, 2012 |
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Benjamin Cardin, D-MD
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"Mr. President, at the end of January, something remarkable happened: Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Rudolf Chmel made a positive statement about Roma. Saying something nice about Europe’s largest ethnic minority may not seem newsworthy, but it is and here is why."
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| Remembering Vaclav Havel |
January 26, 2012 |
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Benjamin Cardin, D-MD
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"Eulogies to Havel from everyday Czechs, European and world leaders, and admirers across the globe have poured forth in the past month, and for me, some of the most touching have come from the Czech Romani community. The Roma community, which is often ostracized from and disenchanted with mainstream politics, embraced Havel as a leader and a friend. And indeed Emil Scuka, the Czech president of the International Romani Union, said “Vaclav Havel was not afraid to publicly stand up for Romani people even though he knew he could lose a great deal politically by doing so because the public wouldn’t like it. He never made such political calculations in advance … With the death of Vaclav Havel, all of us Romani people are losing a great defender, a fighter for freedom and human rights. We are losing the certainty that when things are at their worst, Vaclav Havel will help us. However, I believe his ideals, his ideas, and his philosophy will live on.”"
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| European Court Decision |
November 10, 2011 |
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Benjamin Cardin, D-MD
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"I regret that it has taken so long to achieve this single victory. Thus far, the Slovak Government has refused to acknowledge this past practice of targeting Romani women for sterilization. In the last decade, in the face of growing documentation of this abuse and increasing calls for the Slovak Government to acknowledge this grave human rights violation, Slovak authorities have, in turns, made threats against victims, denied the past abuse, and some voices even continue to call for making sterilization freely available to “socially excluded communities”—a term that is almost synonymously used to describe Roma."
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