[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 116 (Friday, July 29, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ESTABLISHING SPECIAL ENVOY FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE NEAR EAST AND 
                           SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 27, 2011

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose yet another of our misguided 
foreign policy initiatives. Of course none of us favors religious 
persecution, here or abroad, but how would we feel if Iran, Israel, 
Afghanistan, or Iraq--all targeted by this bill--sent a government 
representative here to dictate what our government policies toward 
religious minorities should be? In many parts of the world certain 
religious institutions are financed by the state. How would we feel if 
foreign governments demanded that we abide by such practices? In short, 
it is arrogant and counterproductive to attempt to impose our values--
which we sadly do not always live up to--onto nations overseas. I 
certainly believe that people should have the right to worship as they 
wish without government interference, but it would be far better for us 
to lead the rest of the world by example than by the implied force of a 
``special envoy.''
  Finally, I find it disturbing but sadly telling that on the day we 
are debating our dire fiscal condition and contemplating the 
implications of reaching the debt ceiling we nevertheless do not 
hesitate to obligate taxpayer dollars to fund yet another new 
boondoggle overseas. This bill will spend another million dollars per 
year for the special envoy and his staff to travel throughout the 
Middle East and South Central Asia lecturing foreign governments on 
religious policy. What a waste.

                          ____________________