U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren (IL-14) February 26 delivered a statement on the House floor drawing attention to religious minorities in the Middle East murdered or abducted by the Islamic State for their belief, and the need to repel the group’s sustained attack on religious freedom.
Following are Rep. Hultgren’s prepared remarks:
In the past few weeks, the Islamic State has targeted religious minorities throughout the Middle East, including the Yazidis in Iraq, and the 21 Coptic Christians executed in Libya.
This week, ISIS has abducted more than 200 Assyrian Christians. We pray earnestly for their release, and for comfort for their families.
These murderers want us to tremble at their physical brutality, but an even more sinister violence is at work—a sustained and strategic campaign against religious freedom. This is the God-given freedom to hold any belief—or none at all—without coercion or reprisal.
Global attention is and should be transfixed on those killed for their faith in the Middle East. Yet more than three quarters of the world’s population live under regimes that restrict belief. Our nation’s first freedom is not and should not be bound by geography or nation.
We must defend religious freedom at all times, and in all places—or this violent cycle will continue.
