Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Kidnapping of Nigerian Students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6th, 2014
Contact: Katherine Jolly (510) 763-0370
Washington, DC—Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued the following statement regarding the Obama Administration’s decision to deploy U.S. resources to Nigeria to aid in the recovery efforts of the over 200 girls reportedly abducted from school in a rural Nigeria:
“I join in the world’s outrage over the abduction of over 200 girls from their school in rural Nigeria by terrorist group Boko Haram. Further, Boko Haram’s threat to sell the girls into the marketplace brings much needed attention to the need to stamp out modern day slavery and human trafficking in all forms.
“I commend President Obama and Secretary Kerry on their decision to deploy aid, personnel, law enforcement and experts to Nigeria to bolster the country’s ability to search and recover the missing girls and return them safely to their families.
“As the Congressional Representative to the United Nations, I urge world leaders to utilize all resources necessary to not only return the girls safely to their families but also to ensure unencumbered access to education, a basic human right. Not only is this a Nigerian problem, it is a world crisis."
“My heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to the families of the missing girls. I cannot imagine the desperation that each mother and father must feel as they fervently plea for the world to respond to this terrible atrocity.”
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Follow Barbara Lee on Facebook and Twitter at @RepBarbaraLee. To learn more, visit lee.house.gov.
Congresswoman Lee is a member of the Appropriations and Budget Committees, the Steering and Policy Committee, is a Senior Democratic Whip, as well as the Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus(CPC), where she serves as the Co-Chair of the CPC Peace and Security Task Force.