I rise in support of this bill (to intervene with Saddam Hussein's acts of crime against humanity and to develop an International Criminal Court for Iraq to address these crimes).  What I would like to say, though, is that every great human rights struggle has involved personal responsibility and sacrifice.  Today, Mr. Speaker, a brave group of hunger strikers are highlighting the human rights issues posed by the Turkish Government against the Kurdish population and Kurdish elected officials.
 I would like to quote to my colleagues from a letter which was sent to President Clinton and signed by 153 Representatives which highlights the terrible situation of a Kurdish politician who was elected by her people and who is in prison for violating Turkish law.  All she did was speak out, as any Parliamentarian does.  As I today speak out for human rights, she was speaking out.
 In our letter to Mr. Clinton we say, one of the charges against Mrs. Zana was her 1993 appearance, here in Washington, at the invitation of the U.S. Congress.  We say, we find it outrageous that although she had been invited to participate, her activities led to her imprisonment.  We actively today, Mr. Speaker, seek and call on the administration to look for the release of Leyla Zana and to look at the terrible situation of the Kurdish people in Turkey.
 I got a letter just the other day from our Representative to the United Nations, former Congressman Bill Richardson; and he said, Leyla Zana's case is one of four convictions which are being appealed to the European Human Rights Commission.
 Mr. Speaker, I say today that we must focus the light of the American conscience on those people who are standing today in solidarity with the Kurdish citizens, whether they be in Iraq or Turkey.  And especially I want to draw attention to those brave citizens who have decided to take their lives at stake, their own health, be standing with Mrs. Zana and other Kurdish officials who have been imprisoned in Turkey.
 I thank the chairman for allowing me to speak on this issue.  This is an issue, just as the bill is an issue, of human rights violations to the Kurdish population.  It is up to us, as Members of Congress and members of the greatest democracy in the world, to speak out when we see human rights violations, whether it be our friends or our enemies who are creating these violations.
 I thank the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Hastings] for letting me use this time, and I thank him for his great work for human rights, and also the chairman the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman], who have stood for human rights in this country, in this body.  And together, I think that we will all join to try and get the release of these Turkish elected officials who are Kurdish and who are speaking for their own citizens.
 So, today, I join in solidarity with those hunger strikers.  And I have heard people say, "Oh, well, these are terrorists."  I remember when Nelson Mandela in South Africa was termed a "terrorist."  A terrorist is also a freedom fighter.  These people are seeking freedom for their people.