Providing for Establishment of Special Envoy

Floor Speech

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise as a cosponsor of H.R. 301, a bill to establish a Special Envoy to promote religious freedom for minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia and to applaud Representative Frank Wolf for his leadership on this timely and important issue.

No one should be made to feel that the practice of their religion is a crime or a source of shame. When people are persecuted in the name of one religion against another, such persecution violates their inalienable right to worship as they choose and promotes political instability. Around the world, many conflicts are rooted in sectarian differences and rivalries. Today in Syria, Christians and other religious minorities are in direct peril and are the target of abuse and persecution as a result of the civil war. On April 22, 2013, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo Boulose Yazigi and the Syriac Archbishop of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim were kidnapped by a faction of rebel extremists while carrying out humanitarian work in the area around the city. To this day they remain missing.

To the extent the United States can promote religious tolerance, we advance the cause of human rights, justice and peace around the globe. This bill creates a special envoy in order to monitor and combat acts of religious intolerance and incitement targeted against religious minorities and to work with foreign governments to address laws that are inherently discriminatory toward religious minority communities.

I encourage my colleagues to support of H.R. 301. By helping protect minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia, we contribute to the safety of minorities all over the world who live in fear for their lives merely because they practice a different religion than those around them.

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