IV
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 515
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the
persecution of Christians worldwide.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 2, 1996
Mr. WOLF (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr.
TOWNS, and Mr. HEFLEY) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on International Relations
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with
respect to the persecution of Christians worldwide.
Whereas the worldwide persecution and martyrdom of Chris-
tians has increased and intensified to such an extent that
more Christians have died for their faith in the 20th cen-
tury than in all prior 19 centuries combined;
Whereas in many places throughout the world, Christians are
restricted in or forbidden from practicing their faith, vic-
timized by a ‘‘religious apartheid’’ that subjects them to
inhumane, humiliating treatment, and are imprisoned,
tortured, enslaved, and killed;
Whereas in some countries proselytism is forbidden, and ex-
tremist elements persist unchecked by the government in
•HRES 515 IH
their campaigns to eradicate Christians and force conver-
sions through intimidation, rape, and forced marriage;
Whereas in several Islamic countries conversion to Christian-
ity from Islam is a crime punishable by death;
Whereas the militant Muslim Government of Sudan is waging
a jihad (religious war) against the Christian southern
part of the country, enforcing Shari’a (Islamic law)
against non-Muslim African Sudanese, torturing, starv-
ing, killing, and displacing over 1,000,000 people, and
enslaving tens of thousands of women and children.
Today in Sudan, a human being can be bought for as lit-
tle as $15;
Whereas Christians in China have experienced the worst per-
secution since the pre-Deng period in the 1970’s. There
are more documented cases of Christians in prison or in
some form of detention in China than in any other coun-
try. Both Evangelical Protestant house church groups
and Roman Catholics have been targeted and named ‘‘a
principal threat to political stability’’ by the Central
Committee of China’s Communist party. In recent
months, in separate incidents 3 Chinese Christian leaders
were beaten to death by Chinese authorities simply for
their religious activities;
Whereas an Islamic court in Kuwait has denied religious lib-
erty to a convert from Islam to Christianity, and the
judge recommended that he be put to death;
Whereas 3 Christian leaders in Iran were kidnapped and
murdered during 1994 as part of a crackdown on the
Iranian Christian community;
•HRES 515 IH
Whereas severe persecution of Christians is also occurring in
North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, and certain countries in
the Middle East, to name merely a few;
Whereas religious liberty is a universal right explicitly recog-
nized in numerous international agreements, including
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
Whereas Pope John Paul II recently sounded a call against
regimes that ‘‘practice discrimination against Jews,
Christians, and other religious groups, going even so far
as to refuse them the right to meet in private for pray-
er,’’ declaring that ‘‘this is an intolerable and unjustifi-
able violation not only of all the norms of current inter-
national law, but of the most fundamental human free-
dom, that of practicing one’s faith openly,’’ stating that
this is for human beings ‘‘their reason for living’’;
Whereas the National Association of Evangelicals in January
1996 issued a ‘‘Statement of Conscience and Call to Ac-
tion,’’ subsequently commended or endorsed by the
Southern Baptist Convention, the Executive Council of
the Episcopal Church, and the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church, United States of America. They
pledged to end their ‘‘silence in the face of the suffering
of all those persecuted for their religious faith’’ and ‘‘to
do what is in our power to the end that the Government
of the United States will take appropriate action to com-
bat the intolerable religious persecution now victimizing
fellow believers and those of other faiths’’;
Whereas the World Evangelical Fellowship has declared Sep-
tember 29, 1996, and each annual last Sunday in Sep-
tember, as an international day of prayer on behalf of
persecuted Christians. That day will be observed by nu-
•HRES 515 IH
merous churches and human rights groups around the
world;
Whereas the United States of America since its founding has
been a harbor of refuge and freedom to worship for be-
lievers from John Winthrop to Roger Williams to William
Penn, and a haven for the oppressed, and has guaranteed
freedom of worship in this country for people of all
faiths;
Whereas, unfortunately, the United States has in many in-
stances failed to raise forcefully the issue of anti-Chris-
tian and other religious persecution at international con-
ventions and in bilateral relations with offending coun-
tries; and
Whereas, however, in the past the United States has force-
fully taken up the cause of other persecuted religious mi-
norities, and the United States has the ability to inter-
vene in a similar manner for persecuted Christians
throughout the world: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) unequivocally condemns the egregious
human rights abuses and denials of religious liberty
to Christians around the world, and calls upon the
responsible regimes to cease such abuses;
(2) strongly recommends that the President ex-
pand and invigorate United States international ad-
vocacy on behalf of persecuted Christians, and initi-
ate a thorough examination of all United States poli-
cies that affect persecuted Christians;
•HRES 515 IH
(3) encourages the President to proceed as ex-
peditiously as possible in appointing a White House
special advisor on religious persecution; and
(4) applauds the actions of the World Evan-
gelical Fellowship in declaring an annual inter-
national day of prayer on behalf of persecuted Chris-
tians.
Æ