Washington–  A resolution authored by U.S. Sens. Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), and nine other senators honoring Anita Ashok Datar, the only American killed in the horrific November 2015 attack at the Raddisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali, which killed innocent civilians from seven countries, including the United States, Mali, Russia, China, Belgium, Israel and Senegal, was advanced through the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations today.

Booker and Menendez introduced the resolution earlier this month with Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D- M.D.), Ben Cardin  (D-M.D.),  Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI),  Richard Blumenthal (C-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Durbin (D-IL),  and Mark Warner (D- V.A.). The resolution is also co-sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Tom Udall (D-NM). 

“Through her life and her work, Anita Datar selflessly and bravely worked to advance international development and public health. Her death is a devastating loss not just for her son, Rohan, her family, and friends, but for the greater cause of bringing stability to communities around the world,” Sen. Booker said. “This resolution honors Anita’s sacrifice and the ongoing work of dedicated development professionals and volunteers across the globe working to provide critical humanitarian aid and counter violent extremism.”

Anita Datar was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and raised in Flanders, New Jersey. Datar was a graduate of Rutgers University and Columbia University and later resided in Takoma Park, Maryland. Early in her career, Datar served as a volunteer in the Peace Corps in Senegal and later as an international public health expert and health and development worker. Datar helped to found a not-for-profit organization dedicated to connecting low-income women in underserved communities to quality health services.  

 

The full text of the resolution is attached