[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10787]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, today I wish to speak about the issue of 
international religious freedom.
  Sadly, in recent months, the nightly news has reported far too many 
stories of innocent people around the world who have been intentionally 
targeted in acts of horrible violence simply because of their desire to 
worship in a way their consciences dictate.
  Recently, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association held the first 
``World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians'' in Washington, 
where participants from 130 countries gathered together, many of whom 
have faced brutal persecution in their home country because of their 
faith.
  As I am sure my colleagues and most Americans know, Rev. Billy Graham 
has touched the lives of millions of people in the United States and 
around the world. He has counseled Presidents and Prime Ministers and 
has been called America's pastor. As a fellow North Carolinian, I am 
proud call both Billy Graham and his son Franklin my friends.
  As the son of a Presbyterian minister, these recent events reminded 
me of a letter written by my late father, David Burr, to my 
grandparents. On Thanksgiving Day 1964, writing from South Korea, my 
dad wrote a letter about a special worship service held in a tiny 
chapel on the side of a hill, just within sight of the 38th Parallel 
dividing North and South Korea. With rifles in tow, my father and his 
friends made their way through the snow and into the chapel. To their 
surprise, the man standing up front to conduct the worship was not 
their usual Protestant or Catholic chaplain, but a young Jewish rabbi 
and a veteran of the previous war.
  In his letter, my father wrote about the beautiful lesson he had 
heard that day where the scripture reading was from Hosea chapter 6, 
which says, ``The voice of God cried unto His people, What shall I do 
with you? For your goodness is as the morning cloud, and as the dew 
that goes early away. For I desire goodness, not promises; I desire the 
knowledge of God and not your bargains.'' My father, deeply moved by 
the message, then went on to write about the rabbi's powerful 
benediction prayer that closed the worship: ``He that enjoys anything 
without thanksgiving is as though he robbed God.''
  Every July Fourth, our country gives thanks for the freedoms we are 
privileged to have as Americans and celebrates the birth of our Nation. 
Indeed, the freedoms we enjoy are immortalized in our Declaration of 
Independence: ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit 
of Happiness.''
  The Founding Fathers understood that these unalienable rights, 
including the freedom to worship, was a fundamental human right endowed 
by our Creator.
  As I read from my father's letter, I can see he realized this, too. 
``All the way back to the barracks,'' he wrote, ``I knew that I was one 
who was stealing from God, for every day I am enjoying the times that 
were so full and wonderful there at home. Every day, though we are cold 
and discouraged, my heart is warm with your prayers and thoughts of 
you, and I have not been thanking God. I have not been fair, for God 
has walked with me all these years and I have never thought to say 
thank you to Him.''
  I share this story today because I believe that, if we as Americans 
are thankful for these unalienable rights endowed by our Creator, we 
should also stand up for the millions across the world who are robbed 
of these same fundamental human rights--and sometimes lose their lives 
because of it. As Members of the U.S. Senate, we especially should not 
forget this.
  As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I think about North 
Korea, I think about Iran, and I think about all the different regions 
around the world where terrorist activity poses a real threat to our 
national security. Today I also think about places like North Korea, 
Iran, and so many other countries not just in a national security 
capacity alone, but about the people who are suffering under political 
systems that deny their fundamental right to freely worship as they 
choose.
  The rabbi's lesson of Hosea chapter 6 that day was about a passage 
where strength, courage, and hope by the great Hand above were poured 
into those who were lonesome, afraid, and discouraged. At the end of my 
dad's letter, he asked my grandfather, ``Please, dad, put the 
benediction of the rabbi over your desk for that is the quickest way 
you can bring me home.'' If so, by keeping international religious 
freedom as a foreign policy priority, I believe that is the quickest 
way we can bring persecuted people hope.
  As my father did in his letter, I close by repeating the rabbi's 
benediction: ``He that enjoys anything without thanksgiving is as 
though he robbed God.'' I urge my colleagues: Let's remember to be 
thankful for the God-given freedoms we enjoy in the United States and 
to shine a light on the dark corners of the world. Let's not forget in 
this Congress how we can help the millions who are robbed of these 
fundamental rights.
  Thank you.

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