March 8, 2011 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE, Vol. 157, Pt. 3 3481 PIRATES OF THE SEA: DE´ JA` VU resents the attacks by pirates in the ghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Sudan, and OF 1801 Indian Ocean in just the last 4 months. elsewhere, who continue to fight the The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Piracy is a growing business because good fight at great risk to their own Chair recognizes the gentleman from nations pay the ransom. Every dollar lives in the face of being ostracized and Texas (Mr. POE) for 5 minutes. paid in ransom is helping the pirates of persecuted by their families and com- Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the the seas finance their cause, expand munities, for women’s abilities to be pirates are back. These are not the their reach, and their thirst is even included in the societies in which they Blackbeard, eye-patched, hook-for-a- getting greater for more bounty and live. hand, peg-legged kind of pirates from loot. Despite an increased inter- We celebrate tremendous women here the Hollywood movies. The modern-day national naval presence, the Somalian at home in the United States who have pirates are skilled, rich, violent, armed pirates are getting bolder, and they are done much to advance the ability of with automatic weapons, and are driv- getting more violent. women to work, to vote, to go to en by a business that is generating up America has been dealing with the school, and to run for and hold elective to $7 billion a year. threat of pirates since the days of our office. As a woman who is able to serve My constituents from Texas, Bill Founding Fathers, over 200 years ago. in Congress today, I know that I stand Rouse and his wife Judy, have navi- During the youngest years of America, on the shoulders of these women giants gated the oceans for years. Recently, the Barbary states would blackmail who have sacrificed so much in the they and another group of inter- American ships and the United States past. national navigators and sailors decided by demanding money in return for the But we must also recognize that that Somalia and the Somalian pirates safety of U.S. ships that crossed the much needs to be done right here in the had made the seas too dangerous to Mediterranean Sea. For years, the United States. In our country, women sail in that region, forcing them to United States and European govern- make only 77 percent of the paycheck transport their ships and boats by ments paid the humiliating tribute to that a male would make doing the barges to safer ports. Bill said that we protect the ships, but then in 1801 the same job. We know that even after 100 cannot allow a bunch of thugs to take Barbary pirates felt the wrath of the years it is too soon to declare: Mission an entire ocean away from the world. United States when Thomas Jefferson accomplished. And that is exactly what these pirates sent the United States Navy and the Recent news reports in Afghanistan are trying do. They have taken control United States Marine Corps to take show efforts in Afghanistan to pass leg- of parts of the ocean and are trying to care of business with the Barbary pi- islation that would shut down domestic mock the most powerful nations on rates. violence shelters. Turning our atten- Earth, including ours. This was the most famous action of tion closer to home, in Haiti, we find Days before the ill-fated American the marines during this time. And the that after the devastating earthquake, ship Quest left for their journey, Bill phrase, ‘‘from the shores of Tripoli,’’ UNICEF has found that the rapes in asked Scott Adam to join them in has been immortalized in the marine Haiti are at an all time high. But we’ve transporting their boats. Adam, the hymn. Jefferson sent a clear message also been fixated in recent weeks by skipper, said of the Quest, the Quest to the Barbary states and their pirates: the protests and push for democracy was circumnavigating the globe, and it don’t mess with the United States. And sweeping the Middle East. And women was a lifelong quest. And they contin- they didn’t for 200 years. The Somalian have been leading the charge. ued on their trip, although it turned pirates should study a little American We must also acknowledge the out to be doomed, in the Indian Ocean. history. If they would, they’d find out shameful plight of hundreds of thou- Just a week after Scott Adam and that there will be a day of reckoning sands of mothers-to-be around the three other Americans were captured, that will eventually come to them and globe who die because of pregnancy or they were executed pirate-style after their evil ways. Thomas Jefferson de- child-related complications. It’s Somali pirates captured the ship the stroyed them. We will see what hap- shameful that the simple act of child- Quest. pens now. birth remains a death sentence for hun- Pirates have also hijacked and kid- Our Constitution gives us the author- dreds of thousands of women and girls napped a Danish family. Bill Rouse has ity in article I, section 8: ‘‘To define around the world. also met with these people on this and punish piracies and felonies com- b 1420 doomed ship. This family, including mitted on the high seas.’’ These ocean We must recommit ourselves to the small children, is now on the Somali lines are essential to American com- Millennium Development Goal to re- mainland, still held hostage. Their cap- merce and travel, and we must do ev- duce dying from pregnancy or child- tors have arrogantly warned that any erything in our power to stop the pi- birth. military effort to save them will result rates off the Somalian coast. These pi- Last, I had the honor of attending in their immediate execution. rates of the seas must find out that if the State Department’s Women of Bill has told me of other stories they continue to mess with the United Courage ceremony to honor 10 women. about the tight-knit community of States, they will find themselves in a They were: people sailing in that region from all de´ja` vu of 1801. And they, like the pi- Maria Bashir, a prosecutor general in over the world. And they have been rates before them, will disappear in the Afghanistan. She handles cases on be- forced off of the sea because of the pi- ash heap of history. half of women victims of domestic rates. There are not enough resources And that’s just the way it is. abuse. to respond to these constant threats; f Nasta Palazhanka, who at age 20 has and these pirates not only kidnap, led peaceful protests and called atten- murder, and hold for ransom small INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY tion to the plight of families of polit- boat owners, but attack freighters and The SPEAKER pro tempore. The ical prisoners. other commercial vessels as well. Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Henriette Ekwe Ebongo from Cam- In just 2010, Somali pirates hijacked Wisconsin (Ms. MOORE) for 5 minutes. eroon, a political activist and publisher 53 ships and held a total of 1,100 hos- Ms. MOORE. I rise today as the of Bebela, she spent a lifetime advanc- tages for ransom; and pirate attacks Democratic cochair of the Women’s ing press freedom, human rights, good have increased dramatically in recent Caucus to celebrate the 100th anniver- governance, and gender equality. months. Here is a drawing of the recent sary of International Women’s Day. From China, Guo Jianmei, a lawyer. attacks of the pirates in the Indian Mr. Speaker, I’m so pleased to join Founder of the Women’s Law Center at Ocean. The red represents all of the pi- millions in our Nation and around the Peking University, she helped to create rate attacks between March of 2009 up world in commemorating this Inter- a corps of lawyers to defend public in- until October of 2010. But the blue, national Women’s Day. We celebrate terest cases, especially affecting which you see just as much of, rep- courageous women in places like Af- women and other vulnerable groups. VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:31 Feb 07, 2014 Jkt 099102 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 0688 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR11\H08MR1.000 H08MR1 pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with BOUND RECORD 3482 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE, Vol. 157, Pt. 3 March 8, 2011 From Cuba, Yoani Sanchez. She has 2011 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE Maman’’ (as her fellow journalists call her) an international following for her blog AWARDS CEREMONY continues to be committed to fight ‘‘until things move in the right direction.’’ to provide insight into life in Cuba and HOSTED BY GUO JIANMEI to expand information flow and free ex- Hillary Rodham Clinton CHINA pression throughout Cuba. Secretary of State Born in an impoverished area of China, Agnes Osztolykan, elected to the Tuesday, March 8, 2011 Guo Jianmei has become the country’s best- Hungarian Parliament in 2010, the only 11:00 a.m. known female lawyer. Founder of the Wom- female Roma Member of Parliament in Dean Acheson Auditorium—Department of State en’s Law Center at Peking University, Ms. WITH SPECIAL GUEST Guo helped create a corps of lawyers to de- Hungary. fend public interest cases, especially in areas First Lady Michelle Obama From Jordan, Eva Abu Halaweh has affecting women, migrants, and other vul- PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS dedicated her career to advocating for nerable groups.