Date: 2013-04-11
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Madam Speaker. on Sunday. April 6. at 11 a.m.. America lost five of our best and brightest in Afghanistan when the convoy they were traveling in. along with an Afghan doctor. was attacked by a suicide bomber. One of them. 25yearold Anne T. Smedinghoff. who grew up in River Forest. Illinois. in the Seventh Congressional District where her family still lives. became the first U.S. State Department officer to die in Afghanistan since the 1970s. She had less than 4 months left to serve in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Kerry said in Istanbul. where he is on a diplomatic trip: A brave American was determined to brighten the light of learning through books written in the native tongue of the students that she had never met. but whom she felt compelled to help. and she was met by cowardly terrorists determined to bring darkness and death to total strangers. Anne was killed while delivering donated textbooks to children at a new school. For Anne. who could have remained relatively safe in the embassy. delivering these books was essential to her mission. just as appearing on one of the most watched Afghan television shows to explain to the Afghan people the similarities between Eid. a Muslim holiday that celebrates giving and sharing. and Thanksgiving. Both give thanks for lifes blessings. and Anne Smedinghoff discussed how she and her family celebrated back at home. Anne recently worked on a campaign to end gender violence by producing and distributing videos to the press across the country and was rewarded when she and her colleagues saw photographs of Afghan men in markets wearing purple ribbons. a symbol of the campaign. Her parents. Tom and Mary Beth Smedinghoff. said the foreign service was a calling. and Afghanistan was her second deployment. an assignment for which she had volunteered after a tour in Caracas. Venezuela. She died her parents said. doing a job she thought must be done. They said: She particularly enjoyed the opportunity to work directly with the Afghan people. and was always looking for opportunities to reach out and help make a difference in the lives of those living in a country ravaged by war. We are consoled knowing that she was doing what she loved and that she was serving her country by helping to make a positive difference in the world. Before she joined the State Department. Anne served on the board of directors for the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults 4K for Cancer program. spending a summer cycling across the United States to raise money and awareness. She was full of life and hope. She rode her bicycle from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. She was once photographed with a boa constrictor around her neck in South America. 1l 1010 The residents of the Seventh Congressional District join me in honoring her life and work. Her bravery. her focus on using public diplomacy for positive change. her vision of the human potential. wherever it might be. sets a standard that it behooves all of us to try and emulate. Today a flag is being flown across the United States Capitol in her honor in recognition of her service to our country. My thoughts and prayers are with her parents. brothers. sisters. and friends during these difficult days. She is indeed a hero.