04/10/2014 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

        HJR 32-RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION AND PEACE IN SYRIA                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
9:44:21 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR DYSON reconvened the meeting and announced the                                                                            
consideration of HJR 32. [CSHJR 32(STA) was before the                                                                          
committee.]                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
9:44:33 AM                                                                                                                    
REPRESENTATIVE  DAN SADDLER,  Alaska  State Legislature,  Juneau,                                                               
Alaska,  introduced HJR  32 speaking  as sponsor.  He paraphrased                                                               
the   following   sponsor   statement:   [Original   punctuations                                                               
provided.]                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     Alaskans have  a rich tradition of  willingness to live                                                                    
     and let live  - to respect our mutual  right to believe                                                                    
     and   behave   as   our   conscience   dictates.   This                                                                    
     appreciation  for  our   neighbors  and  their  various                                                                    
     religious,  ethnic  and   cultural  backgrounds  is  an                                                                    
     essential element  of our state character,  and informs                                                                    
     our belief  that there are few  differences that cannot                                                                    
     be resolved peaceably.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     Alaskans  also  have  a   strong  connection  with  and                                                                    
     sympathy for  the residents of what  is sometimes known                                                                    
     as  the Holy  Land  -countries such  as Israel,  Egypt,                                                                    
     Lebanon   and  Syria   that  are   the  birthplace   of                                                                    
     Christianity,   in   which    the   tremendous   events                                                                    
     documented in the Old and New Testament occurred.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Those  of many  faiths  in Alaska  have therefore  been                                                                    
     saddened  and outraged  by the  tragic consequences  of                                                                    
     the  ongoing civil  war in  Syria, which  have included                                                                    
     the  murder   of  innocent  women  and   children,  the                                                                    
     kidnapping   and  massacre   of  Christians,   and  the                                                                    
     systematic destruction of Christian churches.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     Alaskans across  the state pray  for the  protection of                                                                    
     the  Syrian   people,  and  rightly  condemn   acts  of                                                                    
     religious    persecution   perpetrated    against   the                                                                    
     Christian  leaders and  families in  their homeland  of                                                                    
     Syria.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     HJR 32  expresses the solidarity  of the  Alaska people                                                                    
     with the peace-loving people of  Syria in opposition to                                                                    
     the atrocities occurring in that  nation, and urges the                                                                    
     United States  government to  condemn the  violent acts                                                                    
     of   religious  persecution   and   bring  a   peaceful                                                                    
     resolution to these conflicts.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
9:47:00 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  WIELECHOWSKI  asked  which   religious  group  is  being                                                               
persecuted in Syria.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SADDLER replied  it's the  700 thousand  Orthodox                                                               
Christians  and 400  thousand Roman  Catholic Christians  who are                                                               
living in Syria.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the  U.S. has adopted any policy on                                                               
granting asylum to those who are being persecuted.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER said he didn't know.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he  thought it would be appropriate                                                               
for the legislature  to urge the U.S. government  to grant asylum                                                               
if it wasn't doing so already.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER  replied he believes it's  better to solve                                                               
the problem at home than to  address it piece-meal as it comes to                                                               
U.S. shores.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR DYSON commented  that dealing with refugees  in that region                                                               
is a huge issue.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER  noted that Christians in  Syria represent                                                               
5  percent to  8 percent  of  the population  but they  represent                                                               
about 25 percent of the refugees.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI  asked if he  had a  sense of the  number of                                                               
Syrians living  in Alaska  or if any  Syrian refugees  are living                                                               
here.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER said no.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR DYSON noted  that Jewish people and those  who practice the                                                               
Bahai Faith aren't treated well in Syria either.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
9:50:18 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR GIESSEL moved to report CS for HJR 32(STA), labeled 28-                                                                 
LS1532\C, from committee with individual recommendations and                                                                    
attached zero fiscal note(s).                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
9:50:32 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR DYSON announced that without objection CSHJR 32(STA) is                                                                   
reported from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.