On the recordJuly 23, 2015
Thank you for being here, Congressman Vargas. I think there are many things that we can stand for. Nothing, I think, more basic to our liberties not only here in our country, but around the world, is just standing for, as Congressman Walker just said, those who can't stand for themselves, who are right now being persecuted simply for the act of a conscious belief, the act of having a faith that others disagree with. I think that is why we are here tonight, Mr. Speaker, to talk about this in terms of things that we can do and things that we can highlight. One of the issues that is concerning to me--and it is going to be debated in this Chamber later--is, when we are dealing with countries who have--and we have talked about this today with Iran--dealing with countries who encourage religious persecution. They have issues with this. And we yet enter into agreements without discussing those. My concern is, in matters of trade and business, all international leaders come to our President, our Ambassadors, our State Department, our government officials. Whenever they come and trade in business--and they want to do business because this is the market that everybody wants--then this is our time to bring this up. It is in those times that we bring up the persecution. It is in those times that we bring up the five that are held in Iran. It is in those times that we stand for them while they are shackled and cannot stand for themselves.…
