[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 20536-20537]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      PROTECTING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, here in the United States we cherish and 
protect religious freedom. Citizens of this great Nation exercise this 
freedom in many places--in their homes, in their workplaces and many 
more. But no place is more commonly the location of reflection and 
prayer than the house of worship--be it the church or synagogue, mosque 
or temple. The houses of God are infused with sanctity--not because of 
their architecture or their art or even holy books housed in them--they 
are sacred because it is where we men and women go to connect to 
something larger than themselves. We go there to seek comfort and 
peace. This is, of course, not only true of houses of worship in this 
country, but throughout the world. It is thus with a heavy heart that I 
come to the floor today to describe and to deplore the desecration of 
synagogues that was perpetrated earlier this week in Gaza.
  After painful deliberations in Israel's Cabinet, the government of 
Israel decided to leave standing nineteen synagogues in its twenty-one 
communities throughout the Gaza Strip rather than lending a hand to 
their destruction. Despite official Israeli requests to protect the 
sanctity and security of the holy sites after it courageously withdrew 
from Gaza, the Palestinian Authority rejected out of hand any 
responsibility and refused to protect the structures from arsonists and 
looters. In fact, a Palestinian police officer, tasked with keeping the 
peace, shirked his responsibility and allowed the mobs to torch the 
synagogues, claiming, ``The people have a right to do what they're 
doing.''
  Those acts should offend all people of good conscience. We know too 
well that where houses of God are desecrated, threats to man's liberty 
and life are soon found. As a nation founded by those seeking freedom 
from religious persecution, we know that governments must actively 
protect their citizens' religious freedom. And they have a sacred 
obligation to protect buildings not because they are made of stone, 
glass and wood but out of respect for the worship of God that occurs 
inside them.
  Houses of worship, central fixtures in any community, are places 
where people gather to serve and worship God,

[[Page 20537]]

seek his counsel, and share common religious experiences. As an 
American who strongly values religious freedom, I am appalled by the 
actions of Palestinians who desecrated holy sites and I deplore the 
total abdication of leadership demonstrated by the Palestinian 
Authority.
  [On this day in 1963,] a bomb exploded at the Sixteenth Street 
Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. And it took until 2001, almost 40 
years later, but, we prosecuted and convicted a man responsible. It 
pains me as I think of such horrific acts occurring and I am proud that 
in America we not only have the right to worship freely but where we 
fully prosecute perpetrators of such crimes to the fullest extent.
  The lawlessness in the streets of Gaza, the lack of human rights, and 
the disrespect shown to holy sites by the Palestinian Authority is in 
marked, stark contrast to the way Israel has treated mosques and 
Christian holy sites. Following the torching of synagogues in Gaza, 
Israel increased security at Arab mosques. We need no further proof of 
the difference between lawful, civilized nations and those that have no 
place in the family of nations. A government that fails to honor 
religious sites and, worse, lacks the ability to restrain its citizens 
from committing such heinous acts demonstrates it is not yet a partner 
to peace and not yet interested in normal relations with our great 
friend, the State of Israel.
  Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President of the Union of 
Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America said, ``The destruction of a 
synagogue is akin to a knife being thrust into our very being. When 
synagogues are destroyed, with either the connivance or lack of action 
of a governing authority, we can only ask, what kind of government is 
this?''
  All Americans of good will, of all faiths, ethnicities and 
nationalities feel such pain. I commend and join President Bush who 
yesterday condemned the desecration of the synagogues in Gaza and hope 
that all Members of this great body do the same.

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