[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 13 (Monday, January 31, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S368]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONDEMNING THE NEW YEAR'S DAY ATTACK ON THE COPTIC CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY 
                          IN ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Foreign 
Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 
22 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 22) condemning the New Year's Day 
     attack on the Coptic Christian community in Alexandria, Egypt 
     and urging the Government of Egypt to fully investigate and 
     prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous act.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. REID. I ask the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed 
to, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, there be no 
intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 22) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                               S. Res. 22

       Whereas Coptic Christians are a native Egyptian population 
     and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria was founded by 
     the Evangelist Saint Mark the Apostle in approximately 42 
     A.D. and is the oldest Christian church in Africa;
       Whereas Copts in Egypt constitute the largest Christian 
     community in the Middle East and the largest Christian 
     minority group in the region;
       Whereas Coptic Christians account for at least 9 percent of 
     Egypt's population of 80,000,000 and number more than 
     3,000,000 outside of Egypt, including 1,000,000 in the United 
     States;
       Whereas, on New Year's Day 2011, a suicide bomber targeting 
     Coptic Christians blew himself up in front of the Saint 
     George and Bishop Peter Church in Alexandria, Egypt, killing 
     at least 21 people and injuring almost 100 others;
       Whereas President Barack Obama and other world leaders have 
     condemned the attack and called for its perpetrators to ``be 
     brought to justice for this barbaric and heinous act'';
       Whereas the head of Egypt's Coptic Christian community, 
     Pope Shenouda III, has called on President of Egypt Hosni 
     Mubarak to increase security for the Coptic Christian 
     community and to reach agreements over the building and 
     repairing of churches, including the adoption of a single law 
     applicable to both churches and mosques; and
       Whereas the freedom of religion is central to the ability 
     of people to live together and must be upheld by the laws and 
     practices of every democratic nation: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the New Year's Day 2011 attack on the Saint 
     George and Bishop Peter Church in Alexandria, Egypt;
       (2) expresses its deep condolences to the Coptic Christian 
     community who suffered from this attack and lost their loved 
     ones and to all Egyptians who have suffered from terrorist 
     attacks;
       (3) calls on President Hosni Mubarak and the Government of 
     Egypt to continue to fully investigate the bomb attack and to 
     lawfully prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous act;
       (4) calls on President Hosni Mubarak and the Government of 
     Egypt to continue to enhance security for the Coptic 
     Christian community and to work to ensure in law and practice 
     religious freedom and equality of treatment for all people in 
     Egypt;
       (5) calls on the President to work with the Government of 
     Egypt to identify the perpetrators of the New Year's Day 
     attack; and
       (6) calls on the Secretary of State to address the issues 
     of religious freedom and equality of treatment for all people 
     in Egypt with the Government of Egypt.

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