Columns
Friday, March 31, 2006
speaking up for human rights
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that “the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.” Of course, the arc of history does not bend towards justice by itself. Individuals must be willing to raise up their voices and take action to make the world a more just place.
I have seen first hand in the United States Congress that when individuals are willing to speak out, they really can make a difference. Indeed, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus’ strives to be a constructive troublemaker, speaking out against human rights abuses wherever they exist. I have striven to fight injustice throughout my time in Congress, which is why earlier this year I joined Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) as the co-chair of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. For over 20 years the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in the House has worked to promote human rights around the world, and this work will continue in the Senate as long as injustice and inhumanity persist.
My devotion to human rights came into focus for me in 1970, when I went to Vietnam as a young Congressional staffer. I was with a Congressional delegation that supposedly was on a “fact finding” mission. But unfortunately, when I stumbled on some horrifying cases of abuse, many delegation members did not want to face the facts. I went to Con Son Island, where the South Vietnamese government was keeping hundreds of political prisoners in “tiger cages” in the ground, shackled and living in unspeakable squalor. When I got back to the States, despite the objections of my superiors, I was determined to speak out. My photographs of the tiger cages were published in Life magazine. For my insubordination, I got fired. I never regretted making those photographs public though. To do anything else would have been unthinkable.
Today, I am determined to keep speaking out against human rights abuse around the world, urging Congress to be aware and to take action. In the past, it made a difference when Congress passed sanctions against oppressive regimes in South Africa and the Soviet Union. It made a difference when I teamed up with Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) to persuade the chocolate industry to sign the 2001 Harkin-Engel Protocol, pledging action against child slavery on the cocoa farms of West Africa. Today, Congress needs to make a difference in the Darfur region of Sudan, where a genocide is raging; in China, where people of faith are being persecuted; and in many other troubled corners of the world.
From countless conversations, I know that Iowans care deeply about issues of human and civil rights. I want to keep hearing Iowans’ concerns about human rights worldwide. By working together to shine a spotlight on abuses, we truly can create a more just world.
