McCotter Sends Letter to Bush Urging Action to Protect Iraqi Christian Minorities
November 12, 2008
Press Release
Right Side News
Washington, DC - Today, Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Chairman of Republican House Policy Committee and member of Financial Services Committee, along with several colleagues, sent a letter to President Bush drawing attention to the plight of religious minorities in Iraq and released the following statement:
"We are distressed by the mass flight of besieged and marginalized religious minorities from Iraq. Since 2003, over half the Christian and Yizidi and some ninety percent of the Mandean communities of Iraq have fled. We urge the Bush administration to establish policies and guidelines specifically designed to preserve the presence of small religious minorities in Iraq and serve as a blueprint for the next administration.
"Statistics show violence in Iraq has dramatically fallen. We fervently hope this continues. However, we cannot declare complete success while Christian and other religious minorities are being driven out and their communities eradicated."
The recommendations in the letter include, but are not limited to, ensuring electoral fairness for Christian Chaldean/Assyrian/Syriac people and other small minorities, building Iraq's capacity for self-policing, providing humanitarian aid for refugees displaced by violence and ethno-religious cleansing, ensuring their villages and areas obtain a fair share of aid for essential infrastructure and reconstruction, and providing them opportunities for higher education.
A copy of the letter is attached. 
iraqs_religious_minorities_letter_pdf 12/11/2008,10:10 101.16 Kb
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Jameson Cunningham November 12, 2008
202-225-8171-o
202-288-2147-c
