Calling for Renewed Attention to Boko Haram

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, today I wish to bring renewed attention to the continued violence perpetrated by Boko Haram against women and children.

It has now been 2 years since the horrific kidnapping of 279 school girls in Nigeria. In the aftermath of this brazen attack, Senator Mikulski and I, joined by the other women in the Senate, strongly advocated for the imposition of sanctions on Boko Haram, and the international community responded by doing just that. We were grateful for Secretary Kerry's swift action to get this done at the United Nations, and Boko Haram is now subject to a complete asset freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo.

In addition, the Senate unanimously passed legislation that I authored to require a comprehensive, 5-year strategy to combat Boko Haram at the end of last year. Next week, I am sending a letter signed by many of the cosponsors of this legislation to our colleagues in the House of Representatives, urging them to take up this important measure.

Nevertheless, Boko Haram has continued to wage its relentless war on innocent civilians in Nigeria and throughout the Lake Chad Basin since it declared its allegiance to ISIS last year. More women and more girls have been kidnapped. Although some of the captives have escaped, most are still lost, likely subjected to forced marriages, religious conversions, sexual trafficking, slavery, and possibly forced to carry out suicide bombings on behalf of Boko Haram.

According to UNICEF, 39 out of 89 Boko Haram suicide bombings in 2015 were carried out by women, and the number of children involved in suicide bombings increased tenfold in just one year. The fact that children are being used as weapons in Boko Haram's terror campaign speaks to the inhumanity and total disregard for life that is at the core of this terrorist group's perverse ideology. As Boko Haram increasingly relies upon women and children to carry out its attacks, survivors who have lived through such unimaginable ordeals are often met with suspicion when they return to their communities. Such marginalization extends their suffering.

In a letter to Nigeria's bishops, Pope Francis wrote: ``Do not grow tired of doing what is right.'' He urged: ``Go forward on the way of peace. Accompany the victims! Come to the aid of the poor! Teach the youth!'' I could not agree more. We must keep fighting to ensure that all Nigerians can live in peace and that young girls everywhere can pursue an education without fear of violence or intimidation.

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