E58 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks January 9, 2009 

I am proud to recognize Marshall’s achievements and wish him and his wife, Karen, 

along with their daughters, Morgan Alyssa and 

Elsa Breanne, well as they pursue new endeavors. 

f 

IRAQ’S STRUGGLING CHRISTIAN 

COMMUNITY 

HON. FRANK R. WOLF OF VIRGINIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, January 9, 2009 

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to 

share with our colleagues a letter I sent yesterday to Secretary Rice regarding the plight 

of Iraq’s struggling Christian community. 

It is my hope that people of faith throughout 

the country contact both the incoming and outgoing administrations and urge immediate action to protect this ancient community, some of 

whom still speak Aramaic, the language of 

Jesus. 

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

Washington, DC, January 8, 2009. 

Hon. CONDOLEEZZA RICE, 

Secretary of State, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR SECRETARY RICE: Millions around the 

world just celebrated Christmas. In churches 

and homes throughout our own country children learned of Mary, Joseph, a census, a 

stable—of Nazareth and Bethlehem and other 

far away places. These lands of old that are 

found throughout the Bible are still home to 

ancient Christian communities with deep 

spiritual and cultural roots. In fact, with the 

exception of Israel, the Bible contains more 

references to the cities, regions and nations 

of ancient Iraq than any other country. 

The patriarch Abraham came from a city 

in Iraq called Ur. Isaac’s bride, came from 

northwest Iraq. Jacob spent 20 years in Iraq 

and his sons (the 12 tribes of Israel) were 

born in northwest Iraq. A remarkable spiritual revival as told in the book of Jonah occurred in Nineveh. The events of the book of 

Esther took place in Iraq as did the account 

of Daniel in the Lion’s Den. 

Tragically Iraq’s ancient Christian community is facing extinction on this administration’s watch. According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

(USCIRF), Iraq’s Christian population has 

fallen from as many as 1.4 million in 2003 to 

between 500,000 and 700,000 at present. 

USCIRF also reports that ‘‘while Christians 

and other religious minorities represented 

only approximately 3 percent of the pre-2003 

Iraqi population, they constitute approximately 15 and 20 percent of registered Iraqi 

refugees in Jordan and Syria, respectively, 

and Christians account for 35 and 64 percent, 

respectively, of all registered Iraqi refugees 

in Lebanon and Turkey.’’ 

It is critical to note, as the figures above 

indicate, that the violence and intimidation 

that Iraq’s Christians and other ethno-religious communities have faced is targeted. In 

July 2008, the U.S. Conference of Catholic 

Bishops Migration & Refugee Services said 

this about the minority religious communities: ‘‘These groups, whose home has been 

what is now Iraq for many centuries, are literally being obliterated—not because they 

are fleeing generalized violence but because 

they are being specifically and viciously victimized by Islamic extremists and, in some 

cases, common criminals.’’ 

We need a comprehensive policy or even a 

point person at the embassy in Baghdad to 

address the unique situation of these defenseless minorities. An article in Christianity Today by Philip Jenkins described 

what was happening this way: ‘‘What we are 

seeing then is the death of one of the world’s 

greatest Christian enterprises.’’ 

I urge you, in your final days as Secretary 

of State, to take dramatic action on behalf 

of this hurting population and a good starting point is the recent recommendations put 

forward by USCIRF. I respectfully request a 

response from you, rather than the assistant 

secretary for Legislative Affairs. 

Best wishes. 

Sincerely, 

FRANK R. WOLF, 

f 

Member of Congress. 

IN MEMORY OF MARY JAMES 

HON. IKE SKELTON OF MISSOURI

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, January 9, 2009 

Mr. SKELTON. Madam Speaker, it is with 

deep sorrow that I inform the House of the 

death of Mrs. Mary L. James. 

Mary, who was born in West Plains, MO, 

was a graduate of Harrisonville, MO, High 

School and the University of Missouri, where 

she received a bachelor of science degree in 

education. Mary also earned a master’s of 

public administration degree from the University of Kansas. 

Through the years, Mary dedicated her life 

to education, health care, and to the betterment of her community and her state. She 

was a teacher, a volunteer, and lived her 

whole life surrounded by or working in the 

news business. In 1999, Missouri Governor 

Mel Carnahan appointed Mary as a member 

of the University of Missouri Board of Curators, and she became the board’s president in 

2005. 

Mary also served organizations affiliated 

with the University of Missouri, which she so 

dearly loved, including the Chancellor’s Fund 

for Excellence, the Advisory and Development 

Committee within the College of Education, 

and the Griffith’s Leadership Society for 

Women. Mary was also a member of the Jefferson Club. In 2005, the Alumni Alliance recognized Mary for Outstanding Alumni Service 

to the University of Missouri System. 

Mary also worked as the executive director 

of the Cass Medical Center Foundation, on 

the board of the Healthcare Foundation of 

Greater Kansas City, and on the board of the 

Cass Medical Foundation. In 2006, she was 

recognized by the University of Missouri as a 

Distinguished Friend to the School of Nursing 

because of her commitment to health care and 

to the University. 

Mary also served as a member of the 

Harrisonville Park Board, including time as 

chairman. During her tenure on the park 

board, she advocated for a community sales 

tax that led to building a pool and maintenance facility for the city of Harrisonville, she 

wrote a grant and raised funds to build an outdoor theater, and she helped plan for a community center. Mary was a member of the 

Harrisonville Chamber of Commerce, the 

Harrisonville United Methodist Church, Chapter G.R. PEO, Delta Gamma, and the University of Missouri Alumni Association. 

Mary’s family had been prominent in the 

Missouri newspaper business. Her parents, 

the late J.W. Brown, Jr., and Wanda A. 

Brown, were publishers of the Cass County 

Democrat-Missourian in Harrisonville. Her father served as Missouri Press Association 

President. She worked for 26 years as the 

human resources manager for Cass County 

Publishing, volunteering extensively in her 

spare time. 

In 1971, Mary married Bill James, who himself has been a prominent figure in the Missouri newspaper business and is a former 

president of the Missouri Press Association. 

Bill is now the publisher of the Daily Star-Journal in Warrensburg, Missouri. 

Mary, who is survived by Bill, by her two 

sons and their wives, by one granddaughter, 

by her mother, and by her sister, will be remembered fondly by all who had the privilege 

of knowing her, including me. She has led an 

exemplary life, which ought to serve as a 

model for young people in Missouri and 

throughout our nation. I know members of the 

Congress will join me in paying tribute the life 

of Mary James and in extending condolences 

to her family and friends. 

f 

INTRODUCTION OF THE KALAUPAPA MEMORIAL ACT OF 2009 

HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO OF HAWAII

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, January 9, 2009 

Ms. HIRONO. Madam Speaker, I rise today 

to introduce a bill to authorize establishment of 

a memorial at Kalaupapa National Historical 

Park on the island of Molokai, Hawaii, to 

honor the memory and sacrifices of the some 

8,000 Hansen’s disease patients who were 

forcibly relocated to the Kalaupapa peninsula 

between 1866 and 1969. I want to thank my 

friend and colleague Congressman NEIL ABERCROMBIE for cosponsoring this legislation. 

I had hoped to see this bill become law last 

year. The 110th Congress version of the bill 

(H.R. 3332) passed the House in February 

2008. It was approved by the Senate Energy 

and Natural Resources Committee in June 

2008. Unfortunately, despite heroic efforts by 

Senators AKAKA, INOUYE, and BINGAMAN, the 

bill did not come before the full Senate for a 

vote. 

The policy of exiling persons with the disease that was then known as leprosy began 

under the Kingdom of Hawaii and continued 

under the governments of the Republic of Hawaii, the Territory of Hawaii, and the State of 

Hawaii. Children, mothers, and fathers were 

forcibly separated and sent to the isolated peninsula of Kalaupapa, which for most of its 

history could only be accessed by water or via 

a steep mule trail. Children born to parents at 

Kalaupapa were taken away from their mothers and sent to orphanages or to other family 

members outside of Kalaupapa. Hawaii’s isolation laws for people with Hansen’s disease 

were not repealed until 1969, even though 

medications to control the disease had been 

available since the late 1940s. 

While most of us know about the sacrifices 

of Father Damien, who dedicated his life to 

care for those exiled to Kalaupapa, fewer 

know of the courage and sacrifices of the patients who were torn from their families and 

left to make a life in this isolated area. It is important that their lives be remembered. 


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