Katie Porter: “I rise to strongly support H. Con. Res. 257, concerning the emancipation of the Iranian Baha'i community. Thousands of…”

“I rise to strongly support H. Con. Res. 257, concerning the emancipation of the Iranian Baha'i community. Thousands of human rights abuses take place around the world on a daily basis. Almost all go unnoticed by the U.S. media. The Baha'is of Iran are one such group. Many in Congress have worked closely with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States to bring attention to this situation. The Baha'i faith was founded in what was Persia in the 1840's and has grown to the largest religious minority in Iran. In the United States today, there are approximately 300,000 Baha'is. More than 90 percent are native born, and many of the remainder are refugees from Iran who have fled persecution. One of these refugees is Firuz Kazemzadeh, who for over 30 years was the elected leader of the Baha'is in the United States, until he stepped down 2 years ago. Dr. Kazemzadeh immigrated to the United States from Iran in the 1950's and became a professor of history at Yale University. He has devoted a great deal of his time and efforts to improving the condition of his fellow Baha'is in Iran. He has quietly, in his way, been a tremendously effective fighter for his fellow Baha'is and has clearly saved many Bahai lives and much Bahai suffering. I would like to specifically commend Dr. Kazemzadeh for his decades of work helping the Baha'is.”