Connie Mack: “last week, as many of our friends and colleagues began the Jewish New Year with the Yom Kippur day of atonement--in…”

“last week, as many of our friends and colleagues began the Jewish New Year with the Yom Kippur day of atonement--in freedom and in peace--millions of men and women elsewhere in the world were suffering for their faith. Mr. President, I believe that our freedom to pray is not complete until all people are free to pray. I am told of some specific examples which make me appreciate my freedom and move me to come to the floor today. In Pakistan, a young man faces a death sentence based on trumped-up blasphemy charges. In Laos, ten courageous men and women of faith serve out harsh prison sentences for the crime of meeting for Bible study, an act which many of us take part in regularly. In China, millions of Catholics and Protestants are forced to worship in secret, paying the price of prison, fines, and even torture if they are discovered. Muslims and Tibetan monks in China suffer a similar fate. In the Sudan, Christians and animists are sold into slavery or brutally murdered by an extremist Muslim government. These things ought not to be, and I believe that silence is no longer an option. We must act, and we must act wisely. For this reason, I join my colleague from Oklahoma, Senator Nickles, in introducing S. 1868, the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.”