Press Release
Smith Tells Colleagues of Urgent Need to Help Nigerian People in Their Fight Against Boko Haram Terrorists
Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) took to the House floor last night, along with his colleague Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01), to bring attention to the dire needs of the Nigerian people who are facing murders, kidnappings and human trafficking of schoolgirls and other terrorist activities at the hands of the notorious group "Boko Haram."
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey: "Mr. Speaker, last week, I spent four days in Nigeria, and while in Abuja, I met with one of the Chibok girls who escaped after the infamous mid-April Chibok school abduction. "This brave young woman as suffered much, was clearly traumatized, and in deep emotional pain. You could hear it in her voice. You could see it in her eyes, as she sat motionless, recounting her tragic story, yet she spoke of concern not for herself, but for her friends and classmates who remain in captivity. She pleaded for their rescue and for their protection. "In Nigeria last week, I met with a Muslim father of two girls abducted from the Chibok school. Fighting back tears, he said the agony was unbearable. The story of his daughters underscored the fact that Boko Haram brutalizes Muslims as well... ." Click here to read the Congressional Record from June 12, 2014. Congressman Smith told other House members about the victims he met with on his trip last weekend to Nigeria and his hearing in Washington this week on the threat of Boko Haram. He also recounted his two previous hearings in 2012 and 2013, and his 2013 trip to Nigeria and subsequent bill H.Res. 3209 prodding the U.S. State Department to officially declare Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Smith also appeared on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports (click here or on image below) and Gretchen Carlson's The Real Story this week to talk about Boko Haram. |