Boko Haram

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I stand today with my colleagues to focus the attention of the world on the 276 young women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram--219 whose whereabouts remain unknown--in Chibok, Nigeria, just a year ago in April.

This kidnapping, this act of terrorism, was an attack on the basic human rights of women and girls to participate in the civil society, in this instance by attending school to develop their individual talents and God-given potential.

These young women were violently abducted for the explicit purpose of preventing their full participation in the civil society of Nigeria.

Now, a year after their kidnapping, these young women are still missing, and Boko Haram continues to terrorize the people of west Africa, forcing millions of people to flee their home and undermining the foundations of democracy.

We must continue in our efforts to find these girls and bring their abductors to justice. The destabilization of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad has implications for the entire continent of Africa and, indeed, the world.

We have called on the community of nations to bring back our girls.

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