some of the -- helsinki final act. besides the staggering estimates by the international labor organization that there are at least 12.3 million adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and commercial swal serving taoud at any -- sexual servitude at any given time. we know trafficking is connected to organized crime. we know that. this is not isolated trafficking of people. it's also part of an organized effort, criminal erts that we need to rout out. what we sometimes tpergt is women and children who are trafficked are victims. take a woman from china, now 20 years old, her testimony in a report said she spent most of her life in small village in sezchuan province. she was thrilled when her boyfriend offered to take her to his hometown but instead took her to a village in the mongolian region and sold her to a farmer to be his wife. the farmer imprisoned her, beat her and raped her for 32 months. her family borrowed a substantial a. money to pay for her rescue but the farmer's family forced her to leave behi

>> it started out as helsinki watch, which looks at the old soviet union, and help people were being treated there. if you look at our website, you can find out more about it. >> what is the name and number? it is outside on the paperwork. it simply states that the u.s. can only employ cluster munitions in areas that are not populated by civilians, and must have a scud rate of 1% or less. they have to work 99% of the time. it gets us about 90% of the way to the current treaty. if i may add, with germany and canada and the u.k., it is not just the industry. >> in iraq, can you tell us about the situation now about water and electricity and daily living? is human rights watch or you working with the obama administrations on conditions on guantanamo? >> we have people who work in iraq. i don't know the specific conditions now as far as electricity and water. as far as working on guantanamo bay, we have had people in guantanamo bay at the hearings since this began, sitting in on the hearings during all of them as far as we were allowed. we have been very active in that. just to think abo

i have the opportunity to chair the helsinki commission and we deal on a regular basis of human rights and one of our points is how we can use those reports in a more effective way to try to help the people of these repressive regimes and i just want you to perhaps share with us but we can do to try to advance human rights in north korea. i know we have a long list but i hope part is to try to improve government functioning as it relates to the basic rights of the people of north korea. >> i think i can assure you, senator, human rights concerns remain very much on the agenda of the perspective relationship with north korea, and in the case of the detained journalist, we are exploring all possible ways to bring about their release on humanitarian grounds. beyond that as i indicated i am not able to go, given privacy act considerations and other things. >> and my question was more general than just the two journalists. i certainly want you to do everything you can to secure their release and we have all expressed expressed our views but it goes beyond the two journalists. the human righ

the author received his degree from the university of helsinki and did an asounding study of the comanche00 to 1850 so it's got 150 years' time frame where the comanche completely dominated the southwest. and what comes through is their intelligence, their decentralized political organization, their escape from disease because they were nomanic. they would enslave whoever captured but if you wanted to be a comanche they would have groups. they were the first understand the horse and its importance in the western economy and the buffalo so they were very well armed, very well funded and very smart. and so they outdueled their rival tribes, the apache especially, and they absolutely ruled the spanish and anglos who came in and tried to take over and then finally the american government in 1857 send all the troops you can there and let's get the comanche problem settled and they basically took care of the comanche but for 150 years they ruled. >> you're listening to chris rogers, executive editor of yale university press talking about some of the new titles. >> our coverage of the "chicago t

i had the opportunity to charity helsinki commission, we deal on a regular basis with human rights, one of the points is how we can use those reports in a more effective way to try to help the people of these regimes. i want you to share with us what we can do to try to advance human rights in north korea. i know we have a long list but i hope part of it is to try to improve the government's functioning as it relates to the basic rights of the people of north korea. >>> i can assure you human rights concerns remain on the agenda of our relationship with north korea. in the case of the detained journalists, we are exploring all possible ways to bring out their release on humanitarian grounds. beyond that, as i indicated in my prepared remarks, i am not able to go, given privacy act considerations and other things. >> my question was more general than the 2 journalists. of one to do everything you can to secure their release. most of us have expressed their views on it but it goes beyond the 2 journalists. the human rights record of north korea is outrageous, one of the worst countries in

human rights watch started as helsinki watch which looked at the old soviet union and how people were being treated and it grew and has taken on a larger mandate. if you look at our web site you can find out more about it. >> what does the senator feinstein bill do? do we have the name and number? >> to me have the name and number? it is outside on the paperwork, the civilian cluster protection act, it escapes my mind right now. what it does is simply states that the u.s. can only employ cluster munitions in areas that are not populated by civilians and also must have a dud rate of 1% or less, they have to work 98% of the time. a solid build. it gets us 90% of the way to being on board the current treaty. if i may add, with the u.k. and germany, canada, some of our major allies, it is not just the whole ec. >> in iraq, can you tell us about the water and electricity and matters of daily living, human-rights, are you working with the obama administration on conditions in guantanamo bay? >> we have people who work in iraq, i don't know the specific conditions as far as electricity and w

recall when i was running back in the early 1950's, george rhoden was a quarter miler who won the helsinki gold medal in the olympics. but george rhoden and many other jamaicans came up and went to morgan state university and at the relays these jamaicans in the late 1940's, early 1950's started to get recognition. we know in the beijing olympics, bolt, at 21 years old won the 100 meters and the 200 meters. he was one of the youngest persons ever to win those events and the first person since mr. lewis from new jersey to win both sprints in the olympics. we have had many outstanding people that started politics in new york. jack way back, fellow from st. lucia, he was born in 1905, moved up to new york, high school dropout, went to work for a company and worked his way up from a janitor to become a vice president of the firm. became active in politics and he became new york city democratic political leader, loyal to the tamm manny hall -- tamany hall feeaso. jack won seven straight elections to the new york state asimmably representing his harlem district. in 1953 he was elected president

organizations, and when congress established the commission, there were 35 countries that were part of the helsinki process. today that number has grown to 56. additionally, the commission has paid increasingly attention to developments in osce partner countries including afghanistan, egypt, jordan, israel, among others. the commission's increased workload has led to an increased number of public events as well as meetings with foreign dignitaries. . ms. wasserman schultz: i can appreciate the difficulty and commime committed to working with the gentleman from in finding a solution to this persistent problem. he has identified space that might meet the commission's needs. mr. hastings: that is correct and i appreciate the chair's thought and look forward to working with her and others fix this problem. thank you so much. ms. wasserman schultz: at this time, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. aderholt: i yield three minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from illinois, mr. kirk, who is a member of the full committee, who has worked diligently on a l

yesterday as chairman of the united states commission on security and cooperation in europe, the helsinki commission, i was privileged to join secretary of state clinton at the state department for the official release of the ninth annual trafficking in persons report. this is a vital diplomatic tool. it's put out every year by the united states, been doing this for almost 10 years now. and it lists every country, and the current status of trafficking in their country. some countries are origin countries. others allow trafficking through their countries. other countries are receiving countries. in this report there is an -- and this report is an objective yardstick so we know exactly what is happening in each one of these countries much it is a valuable tool for us to put an end to the trafficking in human beings used for forced labor or sex or for other illegal-type purposes. it was interesting, mr. president, that the secretary of state, secretary clinton, also released the attorney general's report to congress, "an assessment of u.s. government activities to combat trafficking in perso

helsinki commission, which has had decades of experience monitoring elections and promoting democracy and human rights, i would like to take this moment to speak on a troubling matter that has filled the headlines around the world in the last few days. we have all seen the images -- violence and mass protests are erupting across iran following the hasty vote count of a deeply flawed presidential election process in that country. yet another unfortunate chapter is unfolding before our eyes. the it reinforces iran's record as a police state and a totalitarian regime, we're concerned with keep -- more concerned with keeping its tight grip on power than yielding to the will of the people. i stand with president obama calling or the government to exercise restraint and the violence to end. regrettably, at least seven people have been killed ant countless others injured. we may never know the true results of this election, given the lack of international monitoring. but what we do know is that in the last few days we have witnessed tens of thousands of iranians raise their voice in protest