III
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 22
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 25 (legislative day, January 5), 2011
Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Levin, Mr. Casey, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mrs. Boxer, and Mr. Kyl) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
January 31, 2011
Committee discharged; considered and agreed to
RESOLUTION
Condemning the New Year’s Day attack on the Coptic Christian community in Alexandria, Egypt and urging the Government of Egypt to fully investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous act.
Whereas Coptic Christians are a native Egyptian population and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria was founded by the Evangelist Saint Mark the Apostle in approximately 42 A.D. and is the oldest Christian church in Africa;
Whereas Copts in Egypt constitute the largest Christian community in the Middle East and the largest Christian minority group in the region;
Whereas Coptic Christians account for at least 9 percent of Egypt’s population of 80,000,000 and number more than 3,000,000 outside of Egypt, including 1,000,000 in the United States;
Whereas, on New Year’s Day 2011, a suicide bomber targeting Coptic Christians blew himself up in front of the Saint George and Bishop Peter Church in Alexandria, Egypt, killing at least 21 people and injuring almost 100 others;
Whereas President Barack Obama and other world leaders
have condemned the attack and called for its perpetrators to be brought
to justice for this barbaric and heinous act
;
Whereas the head of Egypt's Coptic Christian community, Pope Shenouda III, has called on President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak to increase security for the Coptic Christian community and to reach agreements over the building and repairing of churches, including the adoption of a single law applicable to both churches and mosques; and
Whereas the freedom of religion is central to the ability of people to live together and must be upheld by the laws and practices of every democratic nation: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
condemns the New Year’s Day 2011 attack on the Saint George and Bishop Peter Church in Alexandria, Egypt;
expresses its deep condolences to the Coptic Christian community who suffered from this attack and lost their loved ones and to all Egyptians who have suffered from terrorist attacks;
calls on President Hosni Mubarak and the Government of Egypt to continue to fully investigate the bomb attack and to lawfully prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous act;
calls on President Hosni Mubarak and the Government of Egypt to continue to enhance security for the Coptic Christian community and to work to ensure in law and practice religious freedom and equality of treatment for all people in Egypt;
calls on the President to work with the Government of Egypt to identify the perpetrators of the New Year's Day attack; and
calls on the Secretary of State to address the issues of religious freedom and equality of treatment for all people in Egypt with the Government of Egypt.