Katrina Lantos Swett: “Religious freedom is a pivotal human right affirmed by our Nation and international treaties and obligations.”

It offends me that as a result of exercising my right to free speech by writing a book, it has been necessary to take these steps to protect myself from an authoritarian foreign power.

I want to once again reiterate how important it is that the issue of religious freedom not be cast as sort of a nice, feel good, sort of soft thing.

We cannot go back. After what happened to us, after the way we saw our neighbors, neighbors going back generation upon generation, either turn against us or fail to defend us in any meaningful way, we cannot rebuild our lives there.

Congress has an extraordinary role, has had an extraordinary role historically in being the conscience of our nation when it comes to human rights.