I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5974 

To require the Secretary of State to submit an annual report to Congress 

regarding efforts to restore or repair Christian property in the Arab 

Republic of Egypt that was burned, damaged, or otherwise destroyed 

during the sectarian violence in August 2013, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 

Mr. TROTT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of State to submit an annual report 

to Congress regarding efforts to restore or repair Christian property in the Arab Republic of Egypt that was 

burned, damaged, or otherwise destroyed during the sectarian violence in August 2013, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coptic Churches Ac5 countability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) In August 2013, Islamist-led mobs, burned 

2 and destroyed various Christian religious properties 

3 and properties owned by Christians in the Arab Re4 public of Egypt, following the removal of the govern5 ment led by the Muslim Brotherhood. 

6 (2) The succeeding government announced that 

7 the army would rebuild the churches damaged dur8 ing that sectarian violence at government expense. 

9 President Sisi, then the Minister of Defense of 

10 Egypt, ordered the engineering department of the 

11 Egyptian armed forces ‘‘to swiftly repair all the af12 fected churches, in recognition of the historical and 

13 national role played by our Coptic brothers’’ during 

14 that period of sectarian violence. 

15 (3) In January 2015, President Sisi was the 

16 first Egyptian President to make an appearance at 

17 a Coptic Christian Christmas liturgy. 

18 (4) On January 6, 2016, President Sisi, speak19 ing at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt, while 

20 attending the Christmas liturgy, said, referring to 

21 the August 2013 sectarian violence, ‘‘We have taken 

22 too long to fix and renovate the churches that were 

23 burned . . . this year everything will be fixed. Please 

24 accept our apologies for what happened . . . God 

25 willing . . . by next year there won’t be a single 


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1 house or church that is not restored. We will never 

2 forget the honorable, respectful, and great stance 

3 you and the Pope took during this period.’’. 

4 (5) The Egyptian military has restored 26 of 

5 the 78 churches and other Christian buildings dam6 aged during the August 2013 sectarian violence. Pri7 vate citizens have restored an additional 23 damaged 

8 buildings. A total of 29 buildings in 24 locations 

9 have yet to be restored as of September 6, 2016. 

10 (6) In August 2016, Egypt passed a new law 

11 with respect to church construction that imposes sig12 nificant burdens on the ability to build a church. 

13 (7) In general, government approval for build14 ing or repairing churches has served as a justifica15 tion for sectarian violence targeting Christians in 

16 Egypt. 

17 (8) In El-‘Our, Minya, on March 27, 2015, doz18 ens of villagers protested the building of the new 

19 church in honor of the Egyptian Christians be20 headed by Da’esh militants in Libya in February 

21 2015. President Sisi had approved the construction 

22 of that church in response to calls by Coptic Ortho23 dox Church leaders. A Coptic Orthodox clergyman 

24 from the region stated that protestors besieged the 

25 existing village church with the pastor and some of 


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1 his family inside. According to a prominent human 

2 rights group, the protestors were armed, threw 

3 Molotov cocktails at the church, and set fire to a 

4 Christian-owned vehicle. Protestors also threw bricks 

5 at the house of another Christian victim. 

6 (9) Egyptian government officials frequently 

7 participate in informal reconciliation sessions to ad8 dress such incidents of sectarian violence or tension, 

9 saying that such sessions prevented further violence. 

10 According to human rights groups, however, the ses11 sions have regularly led to outcomes unfavorable to 

12 religious minorities and precluded recourse to the ju13 dicial system by such minorities. 

14 (10) St. Mark brought Christianity to Egypt, 

15 where the Coptic Christians have been the indige16 nous people of Egypt for over 2,000 years. 

17 (11) The Coptic Church represents the largest 

18 Christian community in the Middle East. 

19 (12) United States diplomatic leadership con20 tributes meaningfully and materially to the inter21 national protection of religious minorities and their 

22 faith-based practices and places of worship. 

23 (13) The International Religious Freedom Act 

24 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) states that ‘‘it 

25 shall be the policy of the United States to condemn 


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1 violations of religious freedom, and to promote, and 

2 to assist other governments in the promotion of, the 

3 fundamental right to freedom of religion.’’. 

4 (14) Religious freedom is an essential corner5 stone of democracy that promotes respect for indi6 vidual liberty and contributes to greater stability, 

7 and is a priority value for the United States to pro8 mote in its engagement with other countries. 

9 SEC. 3. REPORT. 

10 (a) REPORT ON PROGRESS OF RESTORATION.—Not 

11 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

12 this Act, and annually thereafter until 2021, the Secretary 

13 of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

14 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

15 Foreign Relations of the Senate a report describing— 

16 (1) the progress made in restoring or repairing 

17 burned, damaged, or otherwise destroyed Christian 

18 religious property and properties owned by Chris19 tians in the Arab Republic of Egypt during the sec20 tarian violence in August 2013, including a descrip21 tion of any discussion between officials of the De22 partment of State and representatives of Egypt, oc23 curring on or after the date of the submission of the 

24 most recent report, regarding the restoration or reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Sep 13, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5974.IH H5974

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1 pair of such Christian religious property or property 

2 owned by Christians; 

3 (2) the implementation of the law described in 

4 section 2(6), including the number of permits issued 

5 for the construction of Christian churches pursuant 

6 to such law; and 

7 (3) the nature and extent of Egyptian laws and 

8 policies regarding the construction of Christian 

9 churches or places of worship. 

10 (b) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION IN ANNUAL COUN11 TRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES AND

12 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORTS.—The 

13 Secretary of State shall ensure that each Country Report 

14 on Human Rights Practices for Egypt required under sec15 tions 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act 

16 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)) and each Re17 port on International Religious Freedom required under 

18 section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act 

19 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)) submitted after the date of 

20 the enactment of this Act contains— 

21 (1) a summary of the information described in 

22 subsection (a)(1); and 

23 (2) a list of each Christian church, place of 

24 worship, or other Christian religious property (such 

25 as a monastery, Christian school or hospital, monuVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Sep 13, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5974.IH H5974

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1 ment, relic, or holy site) and each item of property 

2 (such as artwork, manuscripts, vestments, vessels, or 

3 other artifacts) belonging to a Christian church that 

4 was burned, damaged, or otherwise destroyed during 

5 the sectarian violence in August 2013. 

Æ 


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