[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 18, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1330-E1331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PROVIDING FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIAL ENVOY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. RUSH HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 17, 2013

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I am an original co-sponsor of this 
legislation and look forward to its passage by the House.
  One of the most important services our State Department Special 
Envoys perform is to help highlight the concern of the American people 
for specific, often troubling, developments beyond our shores. Such is 
the case and the need where issues of the persecution of religious 
minorities are concerned.
  During my tenure in Congress, I have heard from many of my 
constituents on the scope and brutality of state-sponsored or state-
sanctioned persecution of religious minorities. Whether it has been 
Coptic Christians in Egypt, Baha'i in Iran, Falun Gong in China, or 
Muslims in Burma, the story is always the same: a violent element of 
the majority religion--or in China and Iran, the state itself--commits 
the most horrific acts of violence against religious minorities in 
their midst, including the destruction of the sacred places of those 
religious minorities. Our government must do more to help combat this 
insidious evil, and one mechanism for doing so is creating and properly 
funding this position.
  As a nation founded by religious minorities seeking a safe haven in a 
new land, we have both a history and an obligation to do all in our 
power to protect the rights and the lives of religious minorities 
around the world. Creating the position of Special Envoy to Promote 
Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South 
Central Asia is one important step in making good on that commitment. I 
urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this bill.

[[Page E1331]]



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