Gus Bilirakis: “I offer congratulations again to Chairman Engel and Ranking Member McCaul for this very important Turkey sanctions bill.…”

“I offer congratulations again to Chairman Engel and Ranking Member McCaul for this very important Turkey sanctions bill. Mr. Speaker, for nearly 13 years, I have felt like I have been one of the lone voices in the wilderness decrying the actions of Turkey as it systematically denies its citizens basic human rights by invading and occupying an EU country, the Republic of Cyprus; stripping religious minorities of their religious freedom; persecuting journalists and academics for writing about the Armenian genocide; and invading and provoking hostilities on a daily basis in the Eastern Mediterranean. As co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Caucus, I am especially grateful for this PACT Act calling for the administration to outline how it will assist religious and ethnic minorities affected by war crimes perpetrated by Prime Minister Erdogan. Additionally, in my role as co-chair of the Hellenic Caucus, I have called for the administration to halt the delivery of F-35s to Turkey, given its purchase of Russia's S-400 missile defense system. I am pleased this bill goes further and imposes 231 sanctions for Turkey's intransigence. I urge support of this legislation so that we can send a unified, bipartisan message to Turkey that, if you want to be considered a strategic ally of the United States, a true ally, you have to act like one. Mr.…”