[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 139 (Friday, November 14, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1577-E1578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SPEECH BY HELMA ADDE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEVE ISRAEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 14, 2014

  Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, to draw your attention to a 
speech given by one of my constituents, Helma Adde of Huntington, NY, 
when I visited St. Peter's Syriac Orthodox Church. Ms. Adde offered me 
a warm welcome and introduction to the community and I would like to 
share her words.

       Congressman Israel, let me start with our customary 
     greeting. Shlomo, which in the Aramaic language literally 
     means peace. We are very happy to have you here in our home 
     today, so that we may get to know you better, as our 
     Congressman and man chosen to be our voice in government. And 
     we are also excited for the opportunity to introduce 
     ourselves to you, so that you may know who we, your 
     constituents are, and so that you may understand our concerns 
     as members of this community and participants in this 
     democracy. I hope this brief history I will share with you 
     helps you connect with us.
       So who are the members of this congregation? The Syriac 
     Orthodox Church is one of the most ancient Christian Churches 
     tracing its roots to the Church of Antioch where Jesus' 
     disciples were first called Christians, and Apostle Peter is 
     believed to have established the first church. Ethnically and 
     historically, we are indigenous to northern Iraq, southeast 
     Turkey, northwest Iran, and northeast Syria, a region 
     encompassing what was in ancient times known as the Assyrian 
     empire and is often referred to as Mesopotamia, or the land 
     between the two rivers, and we are proud to say that we speak 
     a dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by

[[Page E1578]]

     Abraham and his sons, and Jesus Christ. Due to the effects 
     and obstacles brought on by population growth, political 
     shifts and religious fanaticism, our community has evolved 
     like many others and today we have come to be known as the 
     Syriac, Assyrian, Chaldean people.
       As modern day Assyrians/Syriac Chaldean people, we do not 
     have our own country, and those of our people that have 
     managed to stay in the homeland, today find themselves 
     referred to as minorities in the land of their forefathers. 
     Our people are known to be a God fearing, peace loving 
     people, and have contributed to Middle Eastern society in a 
     positive way over the years. But, after years of being the 
     target of religious fanaticism, many have fled the ancient 
     homeland, and sought refuge in the diaspora in the hopes of 
     providing safety and stability to their children and their 
     families.
       Today, The United States constitutes the largest population 
     of Assyrian Christians in the diaspora. Our people first 
     started arriving in Western New York in the late 19th 
     century, after the Christian massacre in Diyarbakir, Turkey. 
     We witnessed another large influx of immigrants after the 
     Christian genocide in 1915 under the sword of the Ottoman 
     Turks, during which nearly 1 million Armenians and about 
     500,000 Assyrians were killed. As a result, many of our 
     people left Mardin, Midyat and other cities in Turkey and 
     eventually settled in parts of New York and New Jersey. But 
     after visiting Long Island, it was hard to resist its 
     beautiful green pastures, and its relaxing beaches. 
     Eventually, a small group made their way out and settled 
     there, mainly in parts of Queens, and then later to Nassau 
     County. These immigrants worked hard, and became prominent 
     entrepreneurs mainly in the jewelry and garment industry, 
     trades brought with them from the old country, back in the 
     early 70s. They built homes, grew families and raised 
     children who became lawyers, doctors, teachers, business 
     owners, and upstanding members in the community. Eventually, 
     in 1985, this growing community, now comprised of immigrants 
     from Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, became large enough to 
     establish a church where they could all congregate and meet 
     regularly with other Assyrian Americans to preserve their 
     ancient culture and practice their sacred religion. That 
     church was named St. Peter's Syriac Orthodox Church. The 
     community thrived and grew and after years of careful 
     planning an opportunity arose that allowed them to finally 
     purchase their own church. And in 2001, with the purchase of 
     this church in Hicksville that we are gathered in today, we 
     became permanent members of the Long Island community.
       Over the years, our American born generation has begun to 
     assimilate into American society and is proud of its American 
     nationality. But this generation is also proud of its 
     ancestral roots and works hard to maintain a balance between 
     its nationality and ethnic heritage. We have always been 
     grateful to our brave people living in our homeland knowing 
     that we rely on them to preserve our ancient culture and 
     language; they are the true torch bearers so to speak. God 
     has somehow given them the strength and courage to stay 
     rooted in their homeland, a feat many of us here could not 
     achieve. And we have always feared that without them, our 
     dwindling culture would undoubtedly face extinction, and our 
     name and language that have survived for centuries would 
     merely be something people hear about in history books. For 
     centuries, it is our ethnic heritage and religion that have 
     made us seem like a threat to governments in the Middle East. 
     Some have forced us to stop speaking Aramaic in our homes 
     with our children, forced us to hide our crosses, and even 
     forced us to change our names to assimilate into their 
     societies and forget where we came from. They have even 
     turned our century old churches to mosques, and some have 
     even become ashes, along with our ancient archaeological 
     sites. This cycle has been hammering away at our people to 
     the point where they have realized the need for a safe haven, 
     a place in their ancestral homeland that they can call their 
     own again, where they can feel safe and protected, and be who 
     they are. But their voices in the Middle East are being 
     stifled, so we, their American brothers and sisters must be 
     their voice.
       We have undertaken this duty to be their voice, not only as 
     Christians and members of this church, but also as human 
     beings and defenders of human, God given rights. Congressman, 
     we attempted to voice our concerns for our persecuted people 
     outside the UN where we rallied for our people back in 
     August. We also voiced our concerns when we wrote to your 
     office pleading for humanitarian aid and help in stopping the 
     barbaric acts of terrorism. And we were so grateful when you 
     replied both to our invitation to the UN rally and reached 
     out to meet with us here at our church today. And now that 
     you are here, and willing to build a relationship with us, we 
     want you to know that our people need help, they are asking 
     for their home back. We need a safe haven for them, in our 
     ancient ancestral land, the Nineveh plains, under the 
     protection of the United Nations so that we can break the 
     cycle of constant persecution threatening our existence for 
     too long. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to acquaint 
     you with our community today. It is our sincere hope that our 
     voices will be heard on behalf of our persecuted community, 
     namely the hundreds of thousands of displaced men, women, and 
     children suffering at the hands of ISIS today.
       Thank you.

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