Ed Royce: “I have an amendment to the preamble at the desk. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk…”

“I have an amendment to the preamble at the desk. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: Strike the preamble and insert the following: Whereas Iraq is currently embroiled in a political and religious insurrection stemming from an Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL)-led offensive that began in the Anbar province and has spread to key locations such as Mosul, Tikrit, and Samarra and continues to engulf the region in violence and instability; Whereas ISIL is a transnational Sunni insurgency whose ideological and organizational roots lie in both al Qaeda in Iraq and the Syria-based Jabhat al Nursa and has a stated mission of establishing an Islamic state and a caliphate across the Levant through violence against Shiites, non- Muslims, and unsupportive Sunnis; Whereas Iraq's population is approximately 31,300,000 with 97 percent identifying themselves as Muslim and the approximately 3 percent of religious minorities groups comprising of Christians, Yezidis, Sabean-Mandaeans, Bahais, Shabaks, Kakais, and Jews; Whereas the Iraqi Christian population is estimated to be between 400,000 and 850,000 with two-thirds being Chaldean, one-fifth Assyrian, and the remainder consisting of Syriacs, Protestants, Armenians, and Anglicans; Whereas the Iraqi constitution provides for religious freedom by stating-- (1) ``no law may be enacted that contradicts the principles of democracy''; (2) ``no law may be enacted that contradicts…”