00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 32                                                                     
01 Urging the United States government to take decisive and concrete action to require the                                 
02 release of Mother Pelagia Sayaf, the orphans she cares for, and Bishops Youhanna                                        
03 Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi; and urging the United States government to condemn                                           
04 violent acts of religious persecution and bring a peaceful resolution to the conflicts in                               
05 Syria.                                                                                                                  
06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
07       WHEREAS thousands of Alaskans have strong spiritual and historical bonds with the                               
08 people of Syria and the Holy Land; and                                                                                  
09       WHEREAS thousands of Alaskans are members of the Orthodox Christian Church, a                                   
10 faith that has been in Alaska since 1794, and are members of the same faith as those of the                             
11 Orthodox Church in Syria and the Holy Land; and                                                                         
12       WHEREAS thousands of Alaskans are Roman Catholic Christians and have been                                       
13 called by Pope Francis in his Christmas prayer to pray for the suffering people of Syria and to                         
14 work toward peace; and                                                                                                  
15       WHEREAS thousands of Alaskans are Protestant Christians who have a deep concern                                 

01 for and pray for the people of Syria, as expressed in articles concerning Syria by the Voice of                         
02 the Martyrs, a nonprofit interdenominational Christian organization; and                                                
03       WHEREAS Alaskans are saddened and outraged by the crimes against humanity in                                    
04 Syria, including such atrocities as the murder of innocent women and children, the massacre                             
05 of Christians in jihadi attacks, the burning and desecration of over 90 Christian churches, the                         
06 kidnapping of Bishops Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, the recent abduction of Mother                                
07 Pelagia Sayaf and the orphan children she cares for at Saint Tecla monastery, the forced                                
08 conversion of peaceful Syrians to Islam or death to those who do not convert, and the                                   
09 dislocation of hundreds of thousands of Christians from their homeland; and                                             
10       WHEREAS Syria has been the beloved homeland of Christian people, beginning with                                 
11 the presence of Jesus Christ in 33 A.D., and the Christian Church in Damascus and                                       
12 throughout Syria is expressly mentioned in the New Testament; and                                                       
13       WHEREAS, although many western governments and the mass media demonstrate an                                    
14 indifference to the impending demise of Christian people in the land of the birth of                                    
15 Christianity and the crimes against the Syrian people, Alaskans take a courageous stand for                             
16 peace and protection for the Syrian people against terrorism;                                                           
17       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                        
18 government to take decisive and concrete action to require the release of Mother Pelagia, the                           
19 orphans she cares for, and Bishops Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi; and be it                                        
20       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
21 government to condemn violent acts of religious persecution and bring a peaceful resolution                             
22 to the conflicts in Syria.                                                                                              
23       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
24 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
25 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John F. Kerry, United States Secretary of State;                            
26 General Martin E. Dempsey, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Honorable Robert                                     
27 Menendez, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; the Honorable Barbara                                
28 Mikulski, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations; the Honorable Dave Camp,                                
29 Chair of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee; the Honorable Bob Corker, ranking                                     
30 member, U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and                                    
31 the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                             

01 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the                              
02 United States Senate.