{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=400005", "<span class=\"kicker\">Crux article on ISIS genocide</span>U.S. Congressman urges action to save Iraqi Christians", "2016-12-23", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "ERBIL, Iraq - American foreign policy in Iraq has had its share of missteps, and one quiet casualty of this policy has been the country\u2019s ever smaller Christian population.\r\nNow Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organization Subcommittee, and of the bi-partisan Helsinki Commission, is asking questions - not just in Washington, but in Iraq itself.\r\nIn one of the horrible ironies of American foreign policy here, Christians in Iraq were targeted for genocide by ISIS, but not for assistance from the U.S. government or the U.N. In fact, Christian leaders in the region have repeatedly stated that they risk extinction, with their population still inside Iraq having declined by almost 90 percent in just over a decade.\r\nStill, unlike the governments of Poland and Hungary, the U.S. and U.N. bureaucracies have clung stubbornly to the idea that only individuals should be helped and the endangered Christian communities have not received meaningful American or U.N aid - especially in Erbil, where most now live as displaced persons.\r\nPrior to coming to Iraq, Smith had held hearings on the issue in Washington, hearing from experts including Steve Rasche, an American attorney who works at the Archdiocese of Erbil, and Carl Anderson, CEO of the Knights of Columbus, which has donated millions of dollars to the Archdiocese of Erbil and others assisting Christians in the region.\r\nIn visiting Erbil, Smith wanted to see what was happening first hand. And he brought two messages: he wanted the U.S. government and the UN to start helping the Christians, and he wanted to know why they were not doing so already.\r\n\u201cThe president has not stepped up to assist for the last three years, but he could step up before he gets out of office,\u201d Smith told\u00a0Crux. \u201cMy hope for the new government, my fondest hope,\u201d Smith added \u201cis that it provide immediate life saving aid to the displaced Christian community in Erbil.\u201d\r\nAbout half of the Christians remaining in Iraq now live in Erbil, where the Chaldean Archdiocese provides care for as many as 70,000 who have been displaced.\r\nDuring his visit, Congressman Smith was hosted by the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil and met with several families who had been displaced by ISIS, as well as with bishops from the Chaldean and Syriac Catholic, and the Syriac Orthodox Church. The Congressman also had meetings with UN, U.S. And NGO leaders there and visited the Ashti 2 center: the largest Christian camp for those displaced , which houses 6,000 people.\r\nAt the camp, he met with displaced families and also their priest, Father Emmanuel, who directly negotiated with ISIS as it invaded.\r\nResponding to some in the international community who attempt to downplay what Christians endured by claiming they could pay a tax to be left unmolested, Emmanuel told Smith that such stories are simply untrue because it was never a real option, and that the Christians rightly saw any such talk from ISIS as a trap. In fact, even when suggested by ISIS the option never materialized, and almost every Christian from these villages who wasn\u2019t killed or captured, fled.\r\nNews stories\u00a0indicated that the few elderly souls who remained were repeatedly robbed in the name of the \u201ctax\u201d and then forcibly converted to Islam anyway.\r\nAnd\u00a0no Christian services\u00a0have been\u00a0celebrated in Qaraqosh - the largest Christian town - for more than two years.\r\nThe stories Smith heard were of total loss, but also of defiance, survival and deep faith.\r\nOne Christian family told of being evicted from Mosul, and fleeing to Qaraqosh, only to have to flee again when ISIS came there. And when Smith asked if their faith had been diminished or strengthened, every family said in unison that their suffering had made their faith even stronger.\r\nIn addition to discussions of the homes lost, and villages captured, Mr. Smith was also shown pictures of the destroyed homes, booby traps and desecrated churches and graves in the newly liberated areas of Nineveh from which many of the displaced originally came.\r\nThe pictures made clear how far away the dream of returning home remains for those displaced and how much money and security will be needed if any are ever to return at all.\r\nChaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, who had invited the congressman, welcomed his visit and told\u00a0Crux\u00a0that he hoped it would help usher in better solutions for the Christian community in Iraq.\r\n\u201cThere are lobbies in Washington making decisions on behalf of Christians here, and those decisions have an effect,\u201d he told\u00a0Crux. In addition to humanitarian assistance, the emphasis must be on \u201cequal rights\u201d for non-majority groups like the Christians, and \u201can end to corruption in both the areas of the country controlled by the Baghdad government, and those controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government.\u201d\r\nSyriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Boutros Moushe also told Congresman Smith that the problem wasn\u2019t just ISIS. \u201cThey looted and burned our houses and were responsible for what happened. These evil intentions still exist,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need the international community\u2019s assistance to bring trust again.\u201d\r\nMany throughout the day openly expressed hope that President-elect Trump would be more open to helping them than President Obama had been.\r\nAnd, while happy to share their concerns, that an American Congressman would focus on the plight of Christians was a rare ray of hope for a besieged community that has generally felt ignored by Washington. And they were grateful.\r\nSyriac Orthodox Archbishop Nicodemus of Mosul commended Congressman Smith in words that summed the feeling up well: \u201cI am so excited, this is the first time an American [official] has come just to ask about Christians,\u201d he said.This article was published Dec. 23, 2016 at:\r\nhttps://cruxnow.com/global-church/2016/12/23/u-s-congressman-urges-action-save-iraqi-christians/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=400005"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5097497962415218, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}