Syria’s Changes in Store for Refugees
When Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) flew to Iraq before Christmas in 2016, it didn’t just change his life — it might change millions.
When Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) flew to Iraq before Christmas in 2016, it didn’t just change his life — it might change millions. Seeing starving families in filthy camps, right in the heart of ISIS country, shocked him to the core. Driven out of their villages if they were lucky (and hunted if they weren’t), thousands of Christian refugees huddled together in their sad excuse for tents. America, Chris resolved right then and there, would act.
Two years, 10 hearings, and one new president later, he finally got his wish. Tuesday, after one of the longest paths to passage, New Jersey’s longtime human rights advocate watched as the House sent his Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act to the president’s desk. The moment was a proud one for Smith, who waited seven years for Barack Obama to even acknowledge the crisis. Once he did, the administration barely lifted a finger to offer real relief. But that only meant that Congressman Smith worked harder.
This week, that work paid off. And no one is happier to officially shrug off the indifference of the Obama years than he is. “The future of endangered religious and ethnic minorities targeted by ISIS for genocide will depend on help from the United States. I hope that our efforts will be enough and in time.” Smith said on the House floor. “When genocide or other atrocity crimes are perpetrated, the United States should direct humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery aid to enable these people to survive — especially when they are minorities whose existence as a people is at-risk,” This law, he promised, would ensure “our actions match our words.”
Among other things, the legislation will guarantee that faith-based groups finally get the funding they need to give on-the-ground help. “The surviving religious and ethnic minority communities have begun to receive targeted aid from the United States under the leadership of Vice President Pence, USAID Administrator Green, and Secretary Pompeo. But these communities remain imperiled,” Smith warned. Until recently, relief groups have been operating almost entirely on private donations. In winter, when diseases run rampant, even basic necessities like food, blankets, and medicine are rare.
In some cases, survivors are starting to return home. And what they’re finding is a brutal legacy of torture, carnage, and destruction. Earlier this month, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq found evidence of more than “200 mass graves containing as many as 12,000 victims in northern and western Iraq,” the Washington Times reported. But, Iraqi officials warn, “the number could be even higher.”
The gruesome discovery was just one of the horrors left behind from ISIS’s multi-year rampage. Hospitals and water supplies are “badly damaged.” In places where it is safe to start rebuilding, the work is almost overwhelming. “In areas where the U.S. and coalition allies in Iraq and Syria operated,” there is “significant damage to infrastructure” from the combat campaigns to free cities like Fallujah. Still, Congressman Smith says, there’s always hope. “They are strong, they’re resilient. They love the Lord. They’ve been traumatized by beheadings and rapes, loss of loved ones. Their churches [have] been firebombed, exploded, even booby trapped if they try to go back and yet their faith like persecuted Christians in the First Century [is] stronger than ever.”
It’s a long road ahead, but Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) is relieved survivors aren’t walking it alone. “This bill will send a powerful message to these communities that we haven’t forgotten them. I thank Chairman Smith for his passionate leadership on this issue, and I look forward to the President swiftly signing this legislation into law.”
Originally published here.
Won Mississippi…
Election night may have been November 6, but for Mississippi, the midterms didn’t end until last night. And when they did, Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith took home the last empty seat in the Senate.
It was a high-stakes race with higher-than-normal runoff turnout. But the biggest winner of the night was almost certainly the GOP, which expanded its Senate majority by two seats this election cycle. The 53-47 advantage will be especially important in the make-up of next year’s committees. President Trump, who’d campaigned for Hyde-Smith in the days leading up to the election, tweeted, “Congratulations to Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith on your big WIN in the great state of Mississippi. We are all very proud of you!”
Since Hyde-Smith is finishing out Thad Cochran’s term, she’ll have just two years before facing voters again. When she does, FRC Action PAC is confident that she’ll have a positive record to run on. Since she was appointed to the Senate earlier this year, Hyde-Smith earned a perfect 100 percent on FRC Action’s scorecard. In her brief time, she voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and other good nominees to the judicial and executive branches, defended conscience rights, and tried to protect taxpayers from being forced to subsidize Planned Parenthood. That’s nothing new for Hyde-Smith. In the Mississippi State Senate, she was known for defending important conservative values like the right to life.
We look forward to working with Cindy and the rest of the GOP to keep up the important progress of the Senate!
Originally published here.
Freedom That’s Larger than Light
You’ve heard of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday. But what about Red Wednesday? For the past couple of years, on November 28, the world has taken time out of the holiday season to stop and remember the millions of persecuted Christians around the world. From the Palace of Westminster to the Roman Coliseum, buildings around the globe will turn scarlet to raise awareness about the suffering of the faithful. And for the first time, America is joining in.
Churches like the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Washington, D.C. will be bathed in red – all with the goal of shining a real light on the injustices to believers in other lands. Aid to the Church in Need, the organization sponsoring the event, hopes the day will encourage more people to take a stand for faith and freedom.
And not a moment too soon. Over the last several years, the attacks on Christians have skyrocketed. The number of abuses — from harassment to outright violence — have increased so rapidly that most scholars agree Christians are the most persecuted group in the world. According to the new report from Aid to the Church in Need, the majority of the world’s population — 61 percent — live in countries where the right to religious freedom is “obstructed or denied outright.” Amazingly, that includes 327 million Christians, who live in countries where they face religious persecution — with another 178 million suffering some form of discrimination because of their faith.
The latest reports from Open Doors and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) are just as full of stories of abuse, torture, harassment, and death. It’s noteworthy, Ewelina Ochab writes in Forbes, that in countries where Christians are persecuted, they’re usually a minority group.
“The religious persecution encountered by Christians differs from place to place. It is perpetrated by both state or non-state actors. It involves severe restriction of rights, threats and acts of violence (both single isolated acts or mass violence). The steps that need to be taken to address the atrocities vary from case to case. However, in every case, it is crucial that the case receives as much attention as possible. We must shed light on the atrocities.”
The Trump administration has certainly done its part. From the president and vice president to Secretary Mike Pompeo and Ambassador Sam Brownback, Red Wednesday is just part of a 365-day strategy to raise the banner of international religious freedom across the globe. With the arrival of campaigns like this one, the president may finally have the world partners he needs to make a real difference. The more voices and prayers raised for the persecuted, the greater the hope for true change.
Originally published here.
This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC Action senior writers.
