{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2010-12-22-pt1-PgE2241-4", "2010-12-22", 111, 2, null, null, "STATEMENT OF CONCERN ABOUT UNJUST IMPRISONMENT OF BAHA'I RELIGIOUS MINORITY IN IRAN", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E2241", "E2242", "[{\"name\": \"Danny K. Davis\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"111\", \"type\": \"HRES\", \"number\": \"175\"}]", "156 Cong. Rec. E2241", "Congressional Record, Volume 156 Issue 173 (Wednesday, December 22, 2010)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 173 (Wednesday, December 22, 2010)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Pages E2241-E2242]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n  STATEMENT OF CONCERN ABOUT UNJUST IMPRISONMENT OF BAHA'I RELIGIOUS\n                            MINORITY IN IRAN\n\n                                 ______\n\n                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS\n\n                              of illinois\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                      Wednesday, December 22, 2010\n\n  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express both my\ndeep concern and the deep concern of some of my constituents about the\nunjust imprisonment of several members of a religious minority in Iran.\nIn particular, I wish to speak of the member of the Baha'i faith who\nhave been persecuted and imprisoned in Iran. My home district in\nChicago has a rich diversity of people from all backgrounds and faiths,\nand I am fortunate to have Baha'is as part of this rich diversity. The\nBaha'i faith is a peaceful religion that teaches the oneness of\nhumanity and that all forms of prejudice should be eliminated.\n  Some of you will recall that in 2009 I was one of the co-sponsors to\nHouse Resolution 175. That resolution condemned the Government of Iran\nfor its state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its\ncontinued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights. H.\nRes. 175 passed with 407 ``aye'' votes on October 22, 2009. However,\nsome of my constituents have informed me that the persecution and\nsuppression of the Baha'i faith in Iran persist with no relief in\nsight.\n  In 2009 the international press reported that seven Baha'I leaders in\nIran were unjustly arrested and held in prison without knowing the\ncharges for their arrest for approximately 20 months.\n  The unjust prosecution of these seven particular Baha'is was\ncondemned by international leaders and drawn into our national\nawareness for a short time. Those seven Baha'is are real people with\nfamilies, who continue to suffer injustice because of their peaceful\nreligious beliefs. The more disturbing fact is that those seven Baha'i\nleaders are merely the ones that made the headlines. There are\napproximately 48 additional Baha'is currently imprisoned in Iran.\nApproximately 132 Baha'is have been arrested and released on bail to\nawait trial, and another 92 Baha'is have been sentenced to\nimprisonment. In the last decade, hundreds of Baha'is have been\nprosecuted and imprisoned for their religious beliefs. But that is not\nthe only degradation that Baha'is in Iran must face. Baha'is have been\ndismissed from their jobs, expelled from universities, and deprived of\ntheir property and pensions, all because of their religious beliefs.\n  Our national consciousness would not be so aware of this unjust and\nunfair treatment if it had not been for yet another unjust prosecution\nof a young American journalist, Roxana Saberi, in 2009. While Roxana\nshared a prison cell with two of the female Baha'i leaders in Evin\nprison, she was astounded by the tranquility of her Baha'i cell mates\neven as they faced harsh conditions and uncertainty about their future.\nFortunately, Roxana was freed from prison and has returned safely to\nthe United States; however, those seven Baha'i leaders remain in prison\nand were sentenced to 10 years of confinement in one of the most\ndreadful prisons in Iran.\n  In short, the Baha'i faith teaches tolerance, patience, peace and\nself-investigation of the truth. Yet, Baha'is are singled out and\nmarked from persecution and ridicule from the class room to the court\nroom and from the lunch room to the laboratory. We have our own history\nof unjust treatment in this country and the grievous and slow healing\nwounds from such pernicious and repugnant conduct can still be felt\ntoday. However, the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion in\nour great country have contributed greatly to the healing of our\nsociety.\n  I believe each and every human being has a fundamental right to\nfreedom of religion that should not be curtailed or circumscribed by\nthe coincidence of one's citizenship in a particular nation. The\nfreedom in our country to choose how to peacefully worship God is\nsomething many of us take for granted. We need only consider the unjust\nand inhumane treatment of Baha'is in Iran to realize that this freedom\nis not available to everyone in the world.\n  I agree with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she\ncondemned the sentencing of the Baha'i leaders and stated that the\n``United States is committed to defending religious freedom around the\nworld, and we have not forgotten the Baha'i community in Iran.''\n  I speak to you today as a reminder that religious persecution remains\na fact of life in our\n\n[[Page E2242]]\n\nworld and that the plight of the Baha'is in Iran is a poignant example\nof injustice. On behalf of my Baha'i constituents, I ask that you lend\nyour voice to mine, so that we may create a chorus of diverse voices\nagainst the type of blatant religious persecution that we are\nwitnessing in the unjust treatment of Baha'is in Iran.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2010-12-22-pt1-PgE2241-4"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.34364801831543446, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}