Wendy Sherman: “Thank you. The adoption of H. Res. 306 would add the powerful voice of the United States Congress to the defense of…”

“Thank you. The adoption of H. Res. 306 would add the powerful voice of the United States Congress to the defense of religious freedom for Christians in present-day Turkey and reinforce the traditional leadership of Congress in defending freedom of faith around the world. I want to identify myself with the comments of the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) on putting this resolution in context by noting the Armenian genocide and how that sets the stage for everything we're talking about here. {time} 2220 H. Res. 306 is urgently needed to address the destruction of Christian religious heritage as a result of the Turkish Government's theft, desecration and disregard of ancient Christian sites and churches, many of them holding great significance to Christian heritage. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom raises the following alarm in its 2001 report: ``The Turkish Government continues to impose serious limitations on freedom of religion or belief, thereby threatening the continued vitality and survival of minority religious communities in Turkey.'' Churches in Turkey have been desecrated. The adoption of H. Res. 306 would support the Christian communities within Turkey that remain vulnerable and are forced to endure restrictions on their right to practice their faith in freedom. For example, and this is just one example, of the over 2,000 Armenian churches that existed in the early 1900s, less than 100 remain standing and fully functioning today.…”