Whereas Iraq has been home to a native Christian
population since the first century A.D.;
Whereas the Iraqi Christian community includes a diversity
of churches and numbered as many as 1,000,000 in the early 1990s before the
first Persian Gulf War;
Whereas Iraqi Christians have historically suffered from
official discrimination, periods of persecution, and even massacres;
Whereas since 2003, Iraqi Christians have been
particularly targeted by al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and other violent Islamist
militants for abduction, torture, bombings, and murder;
Whereas Iraqi churches have been deliberately attacked in
a wave of anti-Christian animus;
Whereas the Iraqi Christian population has been decimated,
with Iraqi Christians seeking refuge in other countries or in safer areas of
Iraq;
Whereas Iraqi Christians are entitled to the protection of
their government to be secure in their homes, schools, and places of worship;
and
Whereas all people are entitled to absolute freedom of
conscience with regard to their religious beliefs or lack thereof: Now,
therefore, be it
That the House of
Representatives—
(1)condemns in the strongest terms the
anti-Christian violence that has occurred in Iraq and has forced Iraqi
Christians to flee their homes and communities;
(2)calls on the Government of Iraq to enhance
its efforts to guarantee the protection and survival in place of the vulnerable
Iraqi Christian population and all other Iraqi religious minorities; and
(3)urges the President and the Secretary of
State to make the protection of vulnerable minority groups in Iraq, including
Iraqi Christians, a priority in their discussions with Iraqi leaders, and a
central element in United States efforts on the ground in Iraq.