It also authorizes the same amounts for the U.S. Agency for International Development to assist victims of torture abroad. The United States now takes a leading role in encouraging additional treatment programs with the President signing my legislation into law. We are making progress by turning victims into survivors. This legislation provides a focus and framework for the debate about where torture survivors, and our response to the practice of torture by other countries, fit within our foreign policy priorities. Providing treatment for torture survivors is one of the best ways we can show our commitment to fighting human rights abuses around the world.
Repressive governments torture grassroots leaders struggling to obtain human rights and democracy.
U.S. support for rehabilitation of these leaders demonstrates our support for their struggle and our opposition to torture. Treating victims in this country enables them to become contributing members of our communities.