The Honorable Bill Clinton 
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Clinton:

	The United Nations General Assembly has declared June 26th the 
International Day in Support of Torture Victims/Survivors.  We are pleased 
to note that in Washington, D.C., a number of human rights organizations 
and torture survivors have come together as the Torture Abolition and 
Survivors Support Committee (TASSC), to plan a commemoration of that 
day.  In support of the Committee, we believe this day should be recognized 
in the United States as a time to declare new initiatives to end this terrible 
plague.  In so saying, we are mindful that more than 124 countries 
countenance torture and that an estimated 400,000 survivors of this horrible 
practice currently reside in our own country.  Many suffer from severe 
psychological effects such as fear, guilt, nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, and 
depression.  

	Mr. President, you have spoken publicly of your concern for human 
rights.  This important day, above all others, is one during which words 
should chart pathways to new action.  We propose that you join in the 
commemoration of this significant day and, by so doing, place our country in 
the forefront of those opposed to this crime against humanity.

	We urge you to take two actions.  First, we ask you to commemorate 
this important day by issuing a proclamation which would call for a renewed 
commitment to ending this pernicious human rights abuse around the world 
and to expanding the availability of treatment resources and centers for 
survivors of torture.  Second, we urge you to accept the invitation given to 
you by the Committee to meet with a group of torture survivors to listen to 
them and to respond to their concerns.  This group will be made up of 
women and men from various parts of the world. 

	Mr. President, we share your concern for human rights.  We hope you 
will act upon our recommendations as further evidence of our governments 
implacable opposition to torture so that it will not continue to plague the 
world in the 21st century.

Sincerely,




Constance A. Morella, MC


Tom Lantos, MC


Benjamin A. Gilman, M.C.


Dan Burton, M.C.


Louise M. Slaughter, M.C.


Eddie Bernice Johnson, M.C.


Bob Filner, M.C.


William D. Delahunt, M.C.


John J. LaFalce, M.C.


Thomas J. Manton, M.C.


William O. Lipinski, M.C.


Lloyd Doggett, M.C.


Sheila Jackson-Lee, M.C.


Sidney R. Yates, M.C.


Brad Sherman, M.C.


Edolphus Towns, M.C.


John Lewis, M.C.


Gary L. Ackerman, M.C.


John W. Olver, M.C.


Henry A. Waxman, M.C.


Carolyn B. Maloney, M.C.


Michael R. McNulty, M.C.


Bobby L. Rush, M.C.


David Minge, M.C.


Elizabeth Furse, M.C.


Martin Olav Sabo, M.C.


Glenn Poshard, M.C.


Sherrod Brown, M.C.


Luis V. Gutierrez, M.C.


Roy Blunt, M.C.


James P. Moran, M.C.


John Edward Porter, M.C.


Nancy Pelosi, M.C.


Martin T. Meehan, M.C.


Eleanor Holmes Norton, M.C


Marcy Kaptur, M.C.


Maxine Waters, M.C.


Charles B. Rangel, M.C.


Robert A. Underwood, M.C.


Major R. Owens, M.C.


Julia M. Carson, M.C.


Frank Pallone Jr., M.C.


Bart Stupack, M.C.


Joe Moakley, M.C.


Steve Horn, M.C.


James P. McGovern, M.C


Anna G. Eshoo, M.C.


Maurice D. Hinchey, M.C.


George E. Brown Jr., M.C.


Charles E. Schumer, M.C.


Tom Petri, M.C.


Linda Smith, M.C.


Sander M. Levin, M.C.


Lynn Rivers, M.C.


Sue Kelly, M.C.


Zoe Lofgren, M.C.


James L. Oberstar, M.C. 


Christopher Smith, M.C.


Bruce S. Vento, M.C.


Robert I. Wexler, M.C.


Phillip S. English, M.C.


Barbara B. Kennelly, M.C.


Joseph R. Pitts, M.C.