1. Recently Defar spoke to young mothers hospitalized with vaginal fistulas.

2. The country has Africa‘s highest rate of vaginal fistulas, a tearing of the vagina that often afflicts adolescents during childbirth and requires painful reconstructive surgery.

3. "Each side has the ability to move forward in the wake of the election, and they must do so for the sake of the Ethiopian people," Smith said. "Opposition parties can play a very positive and effective role by actively participating in debates and other concerns of the country peacefully in Parliament. That is one major benefit of a two–party system." According to his Washington staff, Smith also visited the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital while in Ethiopia. The center performs simple surgeries to repair fistulas in women –– a painful condition, often caused by giving birth, that afflicts approximately 2 million women a year, predominantly in Africa. The condition causes nearly 8 percent of maternal deaths each year. Smith recently authored legislation that would provide $12.5 million to fund centers that treat thousands of women suffering from fistulas in Africa.