WE WON – HR-390 has passed in the HOUSE
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Your post cards and calls to Congress did the job! HR-390, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act, was introduced by our friend Congressman Chris Smith on January 10th of this year, shortly after the 115th Congress began its first session. Within a few weeks the Religious Freedom Coalition began to mail tens of thousands of letters in support of HR-390 to Americans across the country. Each letter contained personalized post card petitions for these Americans to mail to their congressmen and Senators.
Since the first mailing in January, the RFC has mailed hundreds of thousands more letters containing post card petitions to build pressure on Congress. But by May there was still no movement on HR-390; it was being ignored by the Leadership of the House.
It was then that I began to publish the phone number of the House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, and ask supporters of HR-390 to call his office to demand a vote on the bill.
Then on Tuesday, June 6th, I went on USA Radio news, which is heard on more than 500 stations in the United States, to explain the need for HR-390 and ask those listening to call Majority Leader McCarthy’s office, and I gave out his phone number right there on the air.
That very night the House Leadership moved the bill to the floor and passed it with an overwhelming vote!
The bill was placed on the floor for a vote under “rules of suspension.” A motion to suspend the rules can only be called on Mondays and Tuesdays and only be made by the Speaker of the House or their designee, which is usually the Majority Leader. Once the motion to “suspend the rules” is made, debate is limited to 40 minutes, no amendments can be made, and a two-thirds majority of Members present and voting is required to pass the motion.
To my dismay there was no roll call! The chair called for a voice vote and then declared that he had heard two-thirds say “yea”. There were no objections from any member, and HR-390 was on its way to the Senate.
But there is still work to do! Unfortunately, as of right now there is no Senate version of The Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act. In order to take advantage of this momentum, it is urgent you call your Senators at once, insisting they introduce and pass a Senate version of HR-390 right away!
Call (202) 224-3121 and ask the Congressional Switchboard Operator to forward to your Senators’ offices. Explain to the staff member in your Senator’s office why HR-390 is so important:
First, HR-390 will give assistance for victims of genocide
The bill directs the Administration to provide assistance to genocide survivors from Iraqi and Syrian religious and ethnic minority communities. Currently U.S. funds for aid to Iraq and Syria are given through the United Nations and the Iraqi government. Most Christians are not receiving this aid because they are not in the U.N. camps, where they are targeted for violence by Sunni Muslim gangs who control the camps. Christians often do not receive any “official” aid. H.R. 390 will fix that.
Second, HR-390 demands accountability for the perpetrators of genocide
HR-390 directs the Administrion to provide funding and support for entities that are conducting criminal investigations, building Syrian and Iraqi investigative and judicial capacity, collecting evidence, and preserving the chain of evidence for eventual prosecution. HR-390 also directs the Administration to review U.S. criminal codes to allow prosecution of Americans, or non-Americans present here in the United States, who may have been involved in the genocide of Christians or other minorities. This is important because the Obama Administration allowed tens of thousands of Sunni Muslims to enter the United States from Syria and Iraq without proper vetting.
Third, HR-390 will give the victims of genocide priority refugee status
Right now 98% of the refugees admitted to the United States are Sunni Muslims. HR-390 would give priority status to Christian refugees who are the actual
The camps having caravans are the best equipped. Each family in Ashti 2 lives in a small caravan shaped like a boxcar except smaller, and sitting on cinder blocks. A standard size mobile home in the United States is 90 feet long and 16 feet wide and 76 feet long. By contrast the largest caravans in the camps fortunate enough to have them are 21 feet long and 9 ft wide, or about 189 sq. ft. for an average family of four. That is not very much space and few families are fortunate enough to have that much.The program services about 300 displaced Christian families who live in official refugee camps such as Ashti 2. The distribution process is extremely orderly. Our ministry partner keeps a record of each family with infants registered at the camp by name, caravan number, number of children, home town, and previous number of diapers received.
Hundreds of Christians came together in Qaraqosh, Iraq to celebrate Palm Sunday for the first time in three years. They worshiped in a church that had been torched by Islamic State militants.
The bipartisan Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act (H.R. 390), authored by Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), unanimously passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. This legislation will help those who have suffered at the hands of ISIS—and hold perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes to account.
The program is filling the needs of about 300 families. Tight records are kept by our ministry partner. With the help of refugee camp leaders, a list is maintained of every family with a child needing diapers. On that list is the name of the parents; the name of the child or children; the age of the child or children; the village they came from; and the number of the caravan they have been assigned to live in.
Christians wishing to flee the Middle East in search of asylum will not take first priority under the updated version of President Trump’s executive order on travel and refugees, which was signed Monday morning.