[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1837]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           SYRIAN CHRISTIANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, last week the Drudge Report featured an 
article with a striking headline, ``The World's Most Ancient Christian 
Communities Are Being Destroyed--and No One Cares.'' This sentiment was 
expressed in no uncertain terms yesterday at an event in my district at 
St. John the Beloved in McLean, Virginia.
  People from around the Greater Washington, D.C., area gathered to 
hear directly from five senior Syrian Christian leaders, part of a 
delegation from the war-ravaged country and the first of its kind that 
I know of to visit the U.S. since the hostilities began. These men will 
speak at The Heritage Foundation at 1 p.m. today and will meet with 
Members of Congress tomorrow. Their story and that of their communities 
bears telling not only to policymakers, but to the American church at 
large, for they represent the very cradle of Christendom. They spoke 
movingly of their identity as Syrian Christians with ancient roots 
predating the apostle Paul.
  Today these communities face violence, kidnapping, sexual assault, 
displacement, and more. According to the Barnabus Fund, which is 
hosting this delegation, an estimated 600,000 Christians in Syria have 
already fled the country or lost their lives. Of course, general 
violence plagues Syria, but this ancient Christian community finds 
itself targeted by Islamist elements in the country, including a 
significant number of foreign jihadists who have flocked to the 
battlefield.
  Several messages emerged at the talk yesterday, but one held 
particular relevance for the faith community in America. These Syrian 
Christian leaders made a plea for engagement from the church in the 
West. Specifically, they sought for American churches to ``adopt'' 
specific Syrian churches--to commit to praying on their behalf and 
advocating for them when possible. The need is great, but so too is the 
opportunity.
  The plight of Christians in Syria, while horrific, is in some 
respects a similar story. Time and again, Syrian Christians remark that 
they fear their fate that befell their brethren in Iraq, where hundreds 
of thousands fled after being targeted by rival Islamist groups. Today, 
Iraq's Christian population has fallen from as many as 1.4 million in 
2003 to roughly 200,000 today. In fact, throughout the Middle East, 
Christian communities are increasingly under siege and imperiled. 
Christianity is at risk of being ripped from the very fabric of the 
Middle East when, for centuries, it has been part of the rich tapestry 
of that region.
  Will we permit it to happen on our watch? Will we answer their pleas 
for help, or will their cries fall on deaf ears? I pray it is not too 
late.

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