Juan Vargas: “Again, I would like to thank Mr. Franks from Arizona and Mr. Walker from North Carolina and especially you…”

“Again, I would like to thank Mr. Franks from Arizona and Mr. Walker from North Carolina and especially you, Representative Collins, for your remarks and your leadership on this issue. Thank you. I would also like to conclude my remarks today by highlighting a few other key issues. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 50 million refugees around the world, half of which are women and children. Religion is a key factor in humanitarian crises worldwide, as we saw earlier this year, with a record number of refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean to seek asylum. {time} 1715 In this Congress, I have also introduced legislation--the Protecting Religious Minorities Persecution by ISIS Act of 2015--to address the plight of religious minorities in ISIS-held territories. Additionally, there are far too many people imprisoned for religious belief and religious freedom advocacy. We heard already about Mr. Saeed Abedini. I would also like to take a moment to focus on the issue of prisoners of conscience around the world by highlighting the plight of Behnam Irani of Iran, as detailed in the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's Defending Freedom Project Prisoner's List: Behnam Irani is an evangelical Christian leader from Iran who led a 300-member church of Iran in Karaj, a city less than 15 minutes outside the capital of Tehran.…”