[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 116 (Thursday, July 23, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5454-H5458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous materials on the topic of my Special
Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Georgia?
There was no objection.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by looking
at headlines. All you have got to do is just read the headlines that
are blaring at us, coming at us in print, over our Internet, and
others. They say things like: ``Five children among 94 crucified,
flogged, and caged by ISIS for eating during Ramadan''; ``Hundreds
Killed in Nigeria Anti-Christian Violence''; ``ISIS Plants Land Mines
in Christian Civilian Homes, Ancient Ruins Across Iraq, Syria.''
If we have the stomach for it that particular day, we may read the
article that follows. We might say a prayer or silently wonder at the
brazen face of evil. But ultimately, we go on with our lives. We do not
fear for our personal safety or that of our families because of
systemic religious violence.
Yet millions of our brothers and sisters around the world do not have
the luxury of walking away from real religious persecution. They don't
read the news stories; they live them day in and day out. They have
watched family
[[Page H5455]]
members die. They have had friends simply vanish into thin air, never
to be heard from again. Their homes and businesses are seized by the
government. Even as they place their hope in eternity, they fear for
their future here on Earth.
Today, my colleagues and I come to the House floor to tell our
stories. We come because this body and this administration have a
responsibility to use our position to promote religious liberty around
the world. Millions of lives are literally depending on America's
willingness to export our most precious commodity, religious freedom,
and it is time to step up our efforts.
As a pastor and currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force
Reserve, defending religious liberty at home and abroad is near and
dear to my heart. I have had the honor of serving folks of many faiths,
as well as those with no faith, and I am convinced that the
foundational importance of religious liberty is not just in America,
but in every country.
No nation is truly free unless its citizens can practice their
religious beliefs without fear of losing their life or livelihood
because of state-sponsored opposition or unchecked persecution by their
neighbors. Yet even in democratized societies, we are witnessing a
sharp increase in violent religious persecution worldwide.
If America is to be a shining city upon a hill in the 21st century,
we must redouble our commitment to fighting for those around the world
who do not enjoy the basic right to worship as they choose.
I am grateful that my colleagues who share my passion for religious
liberties have joined me for this Special Order, and I am especially
grateful to my friend from California, Representative Vargas. We have
gotten to know each other and travel, but on this issue, party lines
are diminished, party lines are laid aside. When we think about our own
freedoms and religious liberty, he is a champion for that.
I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Vargas) as we continue
to discuss this issue.
Mr. VARGAS. I thank the gentleman from Georgia, Representative Doug
Collins, for his opening remarks and especially for his courage to
speak out for religious freedom around the world and also for his
courage serving our Nation in uniform.
At this moment, religious freedom around the world is in a state of
emergency. The recently released International Religious Freedom annual
report describes ``humanitarian crisis fueled by waves of terror,
intimidation, violence,'' and ``the horrific loss of human life,
freedom, and dignity that has accompanied the chaos.''
From the brutality of ISIL in Iraq and Syria to Boko Haram's mass
murders at mosques and churches and the displacement of over 140,000
Rohingya Muslims and 100,000 Kachin Christians in Burma, the past year
has seen unspeakable violations of the basic right to practice one's
religion. Additionally, blasphemy laws, the vast displacement of
religious minorities, and the persistent attacks on religious
communities and places of worship should all be a cause for concern.
Today, I would like to highlight the plight of religious minorities
in ISIL-held territories a year after the fall of Mosul.
The Nineveh plains have been inhabited by Christians for the past
2,000 years and was first settled in 6000 BCE. In the Bible, the
Prophet Jonah was ordered by God to ``Arise, go unto Nineveh, that
great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.''
Based in modern-day Mosul, with the Tigris River to the east, the
Nineveh plains is rich in cultural history and religious diversity.
Before the fall of Saddam Hussein, the number of Christians in Iraq had
been estimated to be between 800,000 and 1.4 million. This included
Armenian Catholics, Chaldean Christians, Assyrian Church of the East
members, and Protestants. In 2013, the Christian population was
estimated at 500,000 and shrinking significantly.
Last year, the world watched in horror as a transnational Sunni
insurgency initiated a political and religious insurrection in the name
of establishing a caliphate across Iraq and Syria.
After ISIL established its control over northwestern Iraq, these
Islamist insurgents warned religious minorities living under its
jurisdiction to either convert to Islam, pay a cumbersome religious
tax, or be executed. These religious minorities included Christians,
Yazidis, Turkmen, and Shabak, all of which have a long and rich history
in the region and have historically coexisted peacefully with Muslims.
Since ISIL's declaration, thousands of families have packed their
belongings and fled to neighboring communities in Kurdistan, Syria,
Lebanon, and Jordan. Many thousands have been murdered or abducted, and
an unknown number of women and girls have been sexually assaulted and
forced into marriage.
We all witnessed in August 2014 thousands of Yazidis fleeing to Mount
Sinjar to escape the brutality and persecution as ISIL advanced in the
surrounding areas. I would like to read the testimony of a Yazidi
recounting that horrible time:
Hours later, ISIS forces attacked the Yazidis in Sinjar.
The Yazidis in towns and villages of the south side of Mount
Sinjar had some light weapons, such as AK-47 rifles, with a
small amount of ammunition. They fought against ISIS forces
for 4 or 5 hours. While this minimal defense was proceeding,
many Yazidis fled to Mount Sinjar.
Finally, the defenders ran out of bullets and our positions
were overrun. The lucky few Yazidis who made it to Mount
Sinjar stayed for several days without any food or water.
Hundreds then died from starvation and dehydration,
especially infants, young children, sick people, and
elders.
On August 6, while ISIS forces flushed other Yazidi and
Chaldo-Assyrians from their Nineveh plain homes, ISIS also
advanced toward Mount Sinjar. Then the Yazidis had no choice
but to flee by foot, a journey that took days.
On Friday, August 15, more than 210 Yazidi families in
Kocho village, which is just south of Sinjar City, received
an ISIS order to convert to Islam or be killed. In that
village, the ISIS militia beheaded more than 70 young men,
killed hundreds, and took all women, girls, and children to
Badush Prison near Mosul. The women and children were sold as
sex slaves by ISIS commanders.
While American leadership assisted in providing humanitarian relief
as events unraveled, little was done to alleviate ISIL's reign of
terror. Since then, over 2 million people have been displaced, and
thousands continue to face crimes against humanity. These include
torture, enslavement, rape, forced prostitution, imprisonment, and
extermination.
Additionally, as a means to eradicate the history and heritage of
these different groups, ISIS has led a campaign to destroy cultural and
religious properties. Assyrians and other Christians have seen the
destruction of the statue of the Virgin Mary at the Immaculate Church
and the tomb of the Prophet Jonah, and numerous churches have been
destroyed, looted, and burned down.
In closing, I would like to echo the words of Pope Francis, who
eloquently stated: ``Our brothers are being persecuted, chased away,
they are forced to leave their homes without being able to take
anything with them. I assure these families that I am close to them and
in constant prayer. . . I know how much you are suffering. I know you
are being stripped of everything.''
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I think what you have stated shows what we
are dealing with here. What we are finding is the intolerance,
something that is just so atypical of what we find here in America.
I think the reason we are here today and actually talking about this
is to again raise that level and to understand that this is not
something in the past, not something beyond. It is something that is
going on right now.
It is not easy to hear about, but you had spoken of it as well, the
ISIL victims who reject forced conversion. As we think about that in
our religious freedom context, just because they say, ``I am not going
to convert to your faith,'' Mr. Speaker, is what they are saying, they
are crucified, beheaded, tortured, raped, and countless other
atrocities, sold into slavery, simply because they stand on their own
faith and won't be forced into the faith of another.
ISIL, frankly, is just evil. They hide behind the cloak of
religiousness. The problem is evil is just evil. You call evil what it
is. Religious freedom has to be protected, and we have to be purveyors
of that.
When we look around, just in the Iraq community alone, just a few
years
[[Page H5456]]
ago, there were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq. Now, the best estimates
are 200,000, at best estimate. And it just continues to drive. This is
something that we are going to have to continue, I believe, to watch.
There is a dear friend of mine here tonight who is a fighter for not
only religious liberties, but I have fought with him for the lives and
the birthdays of newborns everywhere. He is a fighter for religious
liberties. The gentleman from Arizona speaks with authority on these
issues because he has been there and he has been fighting on the front
lines for a while.
It is my privilege to yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr.
Franks) to continue this discussion on the need for religious
liberties.
{time} 1700
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. It is a
privilege for me to be here on the floor of the House of
Representatives tonight with Congressman Collins and Congressman
Vargas.
I consider them both precious friends and colaborers in this vital
struggle for religious freedom, which is the cornerstone of all other
freedoms; and without which, there can be really no other kind of
freedom to exist for any length of time.
Mr. Speaker, there is nothing that I fear more for my colleagues and
my fellow Americans than the danger of growing numb to the evil that
incites these horrific atrocities being committed against people around
the world today based on their faith.
I submit that we are, in these days, witnesses to some of the most
glaring and brutal attacks on this universal right of religious freedom
in all of our history.
The Islamic State, that metastasizing cancer spreading throughout the
Middle East and north Africa, is especially targeting Christians,
Yazidis, and other ancient religious minorities and communities for
extinction.
The world has watched this insidious campaign of terror unfold day by
day for over a year. More than 407 days now have passed since the
ancient city of Mosul fell into the hands of the Islamic State.
Their campaign of terror drove hundreds of thousands of Christian
men, women, and children out of the land of their spiritual heritage,
which dates back for nearly 2,000 years.
Nearly 1 year has passed since the Islamic State's attack on the
Yazidi community. Thousands were slaughtered, Mr. Speaker. At least
5,000 women and young girls were taken captive as sex slaves. Nearly
1,000 boys between the ages of 4 and 10 were captured and forced into
ISIS training camps.
Mr. Speaker, there is no room for Christians, Yazidis, or other
dissidents in the Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate. Innocent
men, women, and children are forced to choose between their deeply held
religious beliefs and their lives.
They are subject to torture, mass executions, beheadings, and
crucifixions. They are drowned and burned alive in cages. They are
raped, abused, and sold as commodities in a modern day slave market.
They are tied to chairs and thrown off high-rise buildings. They are
desecrated, violated, humiliated, and stripped of their dignity. Their
ancient places of worship and sacred sites are destroyed.
Mr. Speaker, how many more unimaginable atrocities must occur before
this administration takes off its heartless blinders and finds the
courage and determination to decisively address this evil slaughter of
innocents based on their religious beliefs?
German Lutheran pastor and anti-Nazi dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer
said: ``Silence in the face of evil is evil itself. God will not hold
us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, and not to act is to act.''
Mr. Speaker, the Obama administration can no longer remain
conspicuously silent on the plight of religious minorities caught in
the wake of the Islamic State. It is vital that America and the world
make the necessary responses to stop this campaign of terror and
preserve these ancient religious communities from extinction.
In the middle of this scourge, the administration has allowed the
Special Envoy to promote religious freedom of religious minorities in
the Near East and South Central Asia position to remain vacant now for
nearly a year. Very little effort has been made to equip regional
security forces to protect these communities from ISIS' advance.
This administration's response is shameful and an astonishing
failure, and it only affirms the Islamic State's barbaric strategy and
encourages what they proudly boast to be a ``battle between faith and
blasphemy, truth, and falsehood.''
Mr. Speaker, I would just adjure the President of the United States
not to continue to stand by and let this evil relentlessly proceed.
The assault on religious freedom we are witness to in the Middle East
is just one of the many attacks against this most sacred and basic
right of religious freedom. There are thousands of innocent people
around the world who are antagonized, oppressed, tortured, and killed
because of their belief or disbelief in a particular religion or
ideology.
I know these are challenging subjects, Mr. Speaker, but God help us
to remain committed to echoing the voices of these innocents in the
halls of Congress.
May we all be relentlessly committed to pursue that day when the
light of hope will fall across all of the lonely faces of God's
children all over this world and that this ``most inalienable and
sacred right of true religious freedom will be the possession of every
last human being, and the destiny of future generations will be to walk
in the sunlight of liberty for as long as mankind inhibits the Earth.''
May it be so.
I thank the gentleman.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I thank you again, Congressman Franks, for
your friendship. Thank you for your outspokenness on this issue for
many years, and I think we continue to bring this forward as we go
forward.
Mr. Speaker, one of the things I want to overlook before I turn it
over to another colleague is the area of Pakistan--and this is
something that is many times overlooked when we start, but in Pakistan,
blasphemy laws carry a potential death sentence.
Now, think about this for just a second--and, again, in our area, we
get numb to the fact because of what we have--but blasphemy laws there
carry a potential death sentence for anyone who insults Islam or
professes another faith.
In November 2014, two Pakistani parents were burned alive because of
their Christian faith. These individuals were accused of burning a
Koran and subsequently killed by a mob of their countrymen.
A Pakistani court also convicted a Christian woman, mother of five,
Asia Bibi, of blasphemy and sentenced her to death. Yesterday, after
much prayer and concern from the Christian community, Reuters News
reported that the Pakistani Supreme Court temporarily suspended her
death sentence.
While the suspension is welcome news, the international community
desires that Ms. Bibi is released from prison because of the trumped-up
charges.
These are just two examples of persecution in a nation in which all
minorities must grapple with the devastating impact of the notorious
blasphemy law, as well as the danger posed by Islamic militant
organizations that enjoy a strong foothold in the region.
We must, as Congress and the administration, implore, put pressure--
whatever we need to do--to say to Pakistan: This is something that has
got to be removed. This is something that needs to be done away with.
These blasphemy laws must be put away, to be a part of a free and
orderly society that actually recognizes the beliefs and religious
liberties.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr.
Walker), my friend and fellow pastor to speak on this issue and bring
his perspective on what he has seen across the world, but also in his
time in Congress.
Mr. WALKER. Thank you, Congressman Collins. I appreciate you raising
this issue and bringing it to the House floor. It is one of a growing
concern internationally, that we have seen organizations like Boko
Haram and others who have done great damage to those, really, to the
least of these.
[[Page H5457]]
Mr. Speaker, our Nation was founded on the right to believe and to
live according to one's beliefs, and our commitment to allow people to
live out their religious values without fear of discrimination is
really the cornerstone that developed our country into a force for
freedom; but this liberty isn't just an American right. It should be a
foundational element for all people groups.
Who would have ever thought that we would be in a position to
reference the United Nations? This right is so universal that it was
included as article 18 of the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
Article 18 recognizes that the right of all people to freedom of
thought, conscience, and religion--this right includes freedom to
change his religion or belief, freedom to manifest his belief in
teaching, practice, worship, and observance.
However, members of the very institution that is supposed to
subscribe to this declaration proactively seek out and punish
individuals in groups for their very own religious beliefs.
In violation of international law--and his inherent human rights--
Iran is currently imprisoning a gentleman by the name of Saeed Abedini
for the mere fact of being a Christian, a man who was working with
children who had little hope, if any.
I have communicated on multiple occasions with his wife, Naghmeh,
whose children have pleaded and begged this administration and Iran to
be able to release.
In fact, in 2012, the history, during a visit to Tehran to meet with
his family to talk about helping out with orphanages and building board
members, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard arrested Saeed for his
Christian faith.
Without any due process, Saeed was summarily given a sentence of 8
years. Throughout Saeed's imprisonment, he has spent weeks in solitary
confinement. The prison guards have allowed other prisoners to come and
beat him. He is denied medical treatment for infections that resulted
from beatings because he is labeled an infidel.
I am more than proud that this House unanimously passed H. Res. 233,
that demands the immediate release of Pastor Saeed, along with former
U.S. marine, Amir Hekmati, and Washington Post journalist, Jason
Rezaian; but we need to do more. We need to return Pastor Saeed to his
home family now.
As I was thinking about this whole process and speaking about it, I
actually thought back to the original Mayflower Compact, so I looked it
up. The words--it is amazing--still ring true, Mr. Speaker.
Allow me remind us just for a moment of those words. It reads:
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten,
the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by
the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland,
King, Defender of the Faith, etc., Having undertaken for the
Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the
Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first
Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these
Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and
one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a
civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and
Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by
Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and
equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers,
from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and
convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we
promise all due Submission and Obedience.
IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at
Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our
Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland,
the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.
Ronald Reagan--in closing--said it best. He said:
The most essential element of our defense of freedom is our
insistence on speaking out for the cause of religious
liberty.
That is why we are here today, and I hope and am proud to stand with
Representative Collins in continuing to stand for those who cannot
stand for themselves.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate those words, and
I think it is not just in faraway places. We are also dealing with this
kind of issue in this hemisphere as well.
Just a little closer to home, southern Mexico even has experienced
growing religious tensions over the past year. In a country in which 90
percent of Mexico's population identifies as Catholic, the Mexican
Constitution even has long protected freedom of worship.
There is growing hostilities against Protestantism. In fact, the
highlands of southern Mexico have a history of sectarian violence. Just
a few decades ago, conflict led to hundreds of deaths and the
displacement of 30,000 Protestants.
Right now, the conflict has arisen once again. Protestants have had
their lands seized, utilities cuts, and appeals for government
assistance has fallen on deaf ears. There are also reports of violence,
death threats, and forcible expulsions of hundreds of victims from
communities in recent years.
You don't have to go all over the world to see that we have this rise
of religious intolerance around. That is a basic right, as Congressman
Walker stated. Even in the U.N., it is one of those rights that is laid
out in article 18, that everyone has the right to freedom of thought,
conscience, and religion.
A right includes freedom to change his religion or belief in freedom,
either alone or in a community with others or in public or private, to
manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and
observation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to my dear friend from California,
Representative Vargas, for more, as we have been hearing from our
friends.
It is all over, and we need to continue to shine this light.
Mr. VARGAS. Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to thank Mr. Franks from
Arizona and Mr. Walker from North Carolina and especially you,
Representative Collins, for your remarks and your leadership on this
issue. Thank you.
I would also like to conclude my remarks today by highlighting a few
other key issues. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees,
there are more than 50 million refugees around the world, half of which
are women and children.
Religion is a key factor in humanitarian crises worldwide, as we saw
earlier this year, with a record number of refugees attempting to cross
the Mediterranean to seek asylum.
{time} 1715
In this Congress, I have also introduced legislation--the Protecting
Religious Minorities Persecution by ISIS Act of 2015--to address the
plight of religious minorities in ISIS-held territories.
Additionally, there are far too many people imprisoned for religious
belief and religious freedom advocacy. We heard already about Mr. Saeed
Abedini.
I would also like to take a moment to focus on the issue of prisoners
of conscience around the world by highlighting the plight of Behnam
Irani of Iran, as detailed in the U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom's Defending Freedom Project Prisoner's List: Behnam
Irani is an evangelical Christian leader from Iran who led a 300-member
church of Iran in Karaj, a city less than 15 minutes outside the
capital of Tehran. In 2011, Irani was sentenced to 6 years'
imprisonment for his Christian activities after a raid on a house
church in Karaj. In September 2014, Mr. Irani was hit with 18
additional charges, including Mofsed-e-filarz, which means ``spreading
corruption on Earth,'' a crime punishable by death. However, in October
2014, this charge was dropped and Irani was sentenced instead to 6
years' imprisonment due to his alleged acting against national security
and forming a group to overthrow the government. In total, Pastor Irani
is expected to serve a total of 12 years in prison and is, therefore,
due for release in 2023. Mr. Irani has faced numerous health problems
while in prison, including severe bleeding due to stomach ulcers and
colon complications. Mr. Irani is married and has a daughter and a son.
Lastly, I would like to bring a spotlight to the increase in anti-
Semitism in Europe. According to numerous reports, there has been an
increase of anti-Semitic acts in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium,
Austria, Italy, and Germany between 2013 and 2014.
These include violent acts and attacks with an anti-Jewish
motivation. Earlier this year, the world saw four Jewish patrons being
murdered during an attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, France.
[[Page H5458]]
We must continue to partner with and support Jewish communities
around the world to mitigate these anti-Semitic attacks.
With that, I again would like to thank my Republican colleagues and
all of my colleagues for their support on this issue. Again, I would
like to thank, in particular, my colleague and friend from Georgia (Mr.
Collins).
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Thank you for being here, Congressman Vargas.
I think there are many things that we can stand for. Nothing, I
think, more basic to our liberties not only here in our country, but
around the world, is just standing for, as Congressman Walker just
said, those who can't stand for themselves, who are right now being
persecuted simply for the act of a conscious belief, the act of having
a faith that others disagree with.
I think that is why we are here tonight, Mr. Speaker, to talk about
this in terms of things that we can do and things that we can
highlight.
One of the issues that is concerning to me--and it is going to be
debated in this Chamber later--is, when we are dealing with countries
who have--and we have talked about this today with Iran--dealing with
countries who encourage religious persecution. They have issues with
this. And we yet enter into agreements without discussing those.
My concern is, in matters of trade and business, all international
leaders come to our President, our Ambassadors, our State Department,
our government officials. Whenever they come and trade in business--and
they want to do business because this is the market that everybody
wants--then this is our time to bring this up.
It is in those times that we bring up the persecution. It is in those
times that we bring up the five that are held in Iran. It is in those
times that we stand for them while they are shackled and cannot stand
for themselves.
We have to get over this ridiculous notion that we shouldn't bring up
religious liberty in certain contexts because we don't want to offend
anyone.
We are worried about causing offense while men, women, girls, and
boys are being raped, killed, crucified, and losing their lives. No
American faces a barbaric State-sponsored death sentence simply because
he or she believes a different religion than a neighbor.
Mr. Speaker, this is part of the freedom that we have. It is a part
of the freedom that has been given to us by those who have passed
before us.
I have always believed that we stand on the freedoms in this country
today of the Constitution and the charters that have gone before us and
not only what they did to sign their names to the Declaration of
Independence, to sign their names to the Constitution, but to say that
we will fight for those rights and those men and women who have died
over the years, to say these are worth fighting for.
There have even been issues in our own country of intolerance. And
what we have to understand, from my perspective even as an Air Force
chaplain, is there have been more discussions on what is right and how
we are going to stand up for what we believe.
As an Air Force chaplain, I am there not only from my faith
background that I have, but for all, whether they have a hard-and-fast
faith, a faith that is just being developed or they have no faith at
all.
That is what a chaplain is there for, is to present encouragement and
to preserve the religious freedoms and protections that we have.
If we back up on that, if we back up on the basic freedoms such as
religious liberty, freedom of conscience, these things that we take for
granted, this human rights issue in our country, then what else are we
going to back up on? If we start messing with the fundamental pillars,
where will it end?
The light that shines brightest here is the one that shines brightest
across the seas. We cannot let this issue continue to just become dull
to us by simply reading headlines on a page, maybe saying a prayer for
those in need, or believing that a book of martyrs is something that
used to happen and not anymore.
Today there are those around the world who are simply dying or being
persecuted because of their own conscience, because of their belief
that they hold. That is wrong.
It is time for us to use all of our resources here in the freest
country in the world, to say: We are not going to stand for it. We need
to make this the light.
I thank Congressman Vargas again and those who have come in to be a
part of this, to make sure that this light is not dim. It is something
that will continue to shine brightly.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________