THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, Ambassador Brownback,
Your Excellencies, and to all of those who
have struggled under religious persecution:
You honor us by your presence, all.
Welcome.
Welcome to the second Ministerial to Advance
Religious Freedom.
And welcome to the largest human rights ministerial
ever held at the United States State Department.
(Applause.)
We gather today as people who believe in freedom
of religion and also the power of faith.
As Vice President of the United States, I
stand for the freedom of religion that animated
the American founding and is enshrined in
our Bill of Rights.
But this is a special day for me as well because,
on a personal level, my faith in Jesus Christ
has brought meaning and purpose to me and
my family every day of my life.
So I’m honored by your presence, and I’m
especially honored to address you today as
Vice President to an American President who
has been a great champion of religious freedom
at home and abroad.
So allow me to begin by bringing greetings
and welcome on behalf of the 45th President
of the United States of America, President
Donald Trump.
(Applause.)
Since the earliest days of our nation, America
has stood for religious freedom.
Our first settlers left their homes and all
they knew for the chance to, as the said,
"Begin the world [all] over again.”
They carved protections for religious liberty
into the founding charters of our nation and
our very earliest laws.
And after our independence was won, the crafters
of America’s Constitution enshrined religious
liberty as the first of our American freedoms.
Our Declaration of Independence proclaims
that our precious liberties are not the gift
of government, but rather they're the unalienable
rights endowed by our Creator.
Americans believe that people should live
by the dictates of their conscience, not the
diktats of government.
And we're proud -- proud that our long tradition
of inspiring other nations to embrace religious
freedom and respect for human rights has ushered
in important improvements in the lives of
people all over the world.
And I want to take this opportunity to thank
-- to thank the distinguished representatives
of the 106 countries who have chosen to be
here today to join us in taking a strong stand
in defense of religious freedom.
Free minds build free markets.
And wherever religious liberty is allowed
to take root, it is prosperity and peace that
ultimately flourish as well.
And as we tell even our closest allies, those
who reject religious freedom are more likely
to breed radicalism and resentment; that it
can sow those seeds of violence and it can
too often cross borders.
And those who deny religious freedom to their
own people often have few qualms denying those
rights to others.
That’s why, under President Trump's leadership,
this administration has taken decisive action
to defend our first freedom at home and abroad.
The President made a bold statement in support
of religious liberty when he appointed a friend
and a lifelong champion of our first freedom
as our Ambassador-at-Large for International
Religious Freedom.
And that man has now traveled the world, and
his good work is evidenced in the historic
turnout today.
Would you all join me in recognizing and thanking
Ambassador Sam Brownback for his work on behalf
of religious liberty around the world?
(Applause.)
Thank you, Sam.
And earlier this year, our administration
built on that progress by appointing Elan
Carr as the Special Envoy for Monitoring and
Combating Anti-Semitism.
And earlier today, as you all heard, Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo announced a new initiative
to create a forum for dialogue about religious
liberty around the world, and we look forward
to working with each of you in the newly instituted
International Religious Freedom Alliance.
And with this renewed focus on religious liberty,
we’ve stood with those who are oppressed
for their religious beliefs around the world,
since the first days of this administration.
Three years ago, an American pastor was arrested
in Turkey and imprisoned for the alleged crime
of “dividing and separating” the nation
simply by spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In one meeting after another with President
Erdoğan, I saw President Trump demand the
release of this good man of faith.
Through two years of imprisonment, we stood
strong.
And in October of last year, through the President's
efforts and by God's great kindness, Pastor
Andrew Brunson came home.
(Applause.)
Pastor Brunson's story of perseverance in
the face of incredible hardship was an inspiration
to people across our country and believers
around the world.
And we express our admiration to him from
the bottom of our hearts, being an example
of faith that is “like gold tested in fire.”
I understand he is with us today.
He is my friend.
So let me just say, Pastor Brunson, welcome
home.
(Applause.)
It is good to be back with you for the second
year in a row.
Last year, it was my great honor to address
the first ministerial, where I announced two
initiatives and, I'm proud to report, have
made great progress.
We announced a new initiative to ensure that
religious freedom and religious pluralism
would prosper across the Middle East: the
Genocide Recovery and Persecution Response
Program.
And to date, I'm proud to report the United
States has provided more than $340 million
in aid to faith and ethnic minority communities
persecuted by ISIS in Iraq and throughout
the region.
Second, at that ministerial, we announced
a new initiative to support those who fight
for religious freedom and those who suffer
from religious persecution: the International
Religious Freedom Fund.
And since then, we’ve received nearly $5
million in pledges, with donors from several
countries well represented here.
With your support, we’ve provided more than
435 rapid response grants to those persecuted
because of their beliefs, helping more than
1,800 people directly, as well as their families
and fellow believers.
For example, in Sri Lanka, we’ve given much-needed
assistance to the victims of the Easter Sunday
attacks.
And as I said last year, America is proud
to lead this program, but we ask all the nations
gathered here and around the world to join
us in this important fund.
Together, we will champion the cause of liberty
as never before, and I believe that our combined
leadership will make a difference for religious
liberty for generations to come.
So we’ve made progress, but we still have
much work to do.
For, as we gather here today, a stunning 83
percent of the world’s population live in
nations where religious freedom is threatened
or even banned.
The victims of religious persecution face
economic sanctions.
They’re often arrested and imprisoned.
They’re the target of mob violence and state-sanctioned
terror.
And all too often, those whose beliefs run
counter to their rulers face not just persecution
but death.
The list of religious freedom violators is
long; their oppressions span the globe.
Here in our hemisphere, in Nicaragua, Daniel
Ortega and his Vice President and wife Rosario
Murillo continue their assault on faith and
human rights.
Their regime violently suppresses dissent,
assaults opponents, and condones thugs who
repress and intimidate Catholic Church leaders
for defending democracy and religious freedom.
In Venezuela, the dictator Nicolás Maduro
is using his so-called “anti-hate” laws
to prosecute Catholic clergy who speak out
against his brutal regime that has impoverished
millions in this once-prosperous country.
Jewish community leaders report that media
associated with the Maduro regime often cast
coverage of Israel in anti-Semitic tones and
trivialize or even deny the Holocaust.
Nicolás Maduro has brought nothing but misery
to the people of Venezuela.
Nicolás Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate
claim to power, and Nicolás Maduro must go.
(Applause.)
At President Trump’s direction, the United
States was proud to be the first nation on
Earth to recognize Interim President Juan
Guaidó as the legitimate President of Venezuela.
And since then, we're grateful that more than
50 nations have joined us in this cause, including
Greece, just last week, which became the 55th
nation to recognize Interim President Juan
Guaidó.
So we're standing strong for free and democratic
Venezuela.
We're also calling out the persecution of
religious minorities in the greatest state
sponsor of terrorism in the world, the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
The Iranian people enjoy few, if any, freedoms
-- least of all, the freedom of religion.
Christians, Jews, Sunnis, Bahá'ís, and other
religious minorities are denied the most basic
rights enjoyed by the Shia majority.
And believers are routinely fined, flogged,
and arrested in Iran.
Like a story of a courageous Christian pastor
whose daughter is here with us today.
In 2009, Iranian authorities shut down Pastor
Victor Bet Tamraz's church.
But instead of fleeing the country, he continued
to share the good news.
In 2017, the Iranian government sentenced
him to 10 years in prison.
And in 2018, they sentenced his wife to five
years, and later, they charged the couple’s
son to four months in prison for “spreading
Christian propaganda.”
Pastor Bet Tamraz and his family are an inspiration
to freedom-loving people the world over, and
we couldn’t be more honored to have his
daughter Dabrina here with us today.
Please join me in recognizing Dabrina Bet
Tamraz.
(Applause.)
Of course, Iran’s leaders aren’t content
to persecute only their own people.
They routinely export violence and terrorism
throughout the region, including to their
neighbors in Iraq.
To this day, Iranian-backed militias extort
and terrorize the people of the Nineveh plain,
which is still recovering from the days of
ISIS’s brutal reign.
Now, let me be clear: The United States will
not stand idly by while Iranian-backed militias
spread terror.
And today I'm announcing that the United States
has placed sanctions on two leaders of Iranian-backed
militias for all they've done.
We will hold them accountable.
(Applause.)
But the people of the United States of America
have a message to the long-suffering people
of Iran: Even as we stand strong against the
leaders in Tehran, know that we are with you.
We pray for you.
And we urge you to press on with courage in
the cause of freedom and a peaceful and prosperous
future for your people.
So we're standing up to the regime in Tehran.
We’re also standing up for the persecuted
Rohingya people in Burma.
While that conflict has fallen along ethnic
lines, we cannot ignore the rise of militant
Buddhism against Muslim and Christian minorities
that's taken place.
A brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against
the Rohingya has forced more than 700,000
to flee across the border to Bangladesh.
And though the United States has repeatedly
urged the Burmese government to hold accountable
all those responsible, the government has
continued to imprison and harass innocent
men and women.
Like a young Rohingya woman who is here with
us today.
When she was just 18 years old, she was thrown
in jail for the simple crime of being the
daughter of a political activist who dared
to challenge the old military regime.
For seven years, she and her family endured
deplorable conditions, but they never lost
faith in the freedom that was their birthright.
Eventually, she was released.
And since then, she’s gone on to earn a
law degree and a master's of laws from the
University of California-Berkeley.
Now, she's a leading advocate of empowering
women and girls all over the world.
She's an inspiring woman, and we're honored
to have her with us today.
Please join me in recognizing Wai Wai Nu.
Thank you for your example and your leadership.
(Applause.)
The United States has urged the Burmese government
to hold accountable those responsible and
make it clear that these mass atrocities must
never happen again.
But, so far, our words of admonition have
seemed to fall on deaf ears.
And that's why this week, the United States
of America placed visa sanctions on Burma’s
top two military leaders -- the commander
in chief and his deputy -- as well as two
commanders of light infantry brigades.
We will hold them accountable.
(Applause.)
So we’re standing up to the malign regime
in Iran and pressing for accountability in
Burma, but the United States has also spoken
out against religious persecution in the People’s
Republic of China.
And we do so again today.
China’s oppression of Tibetan Buddhists
goes back decades.
As part of its efforts to oppress Tibetan
Buddhism, back in 1995, Chinese authorities
captured the legitimate Panchen Lama, then
just a 6-year-old boy, and neither he nor
his family have been heard from in the 24
years since.
And in Xinjiang, the Communist Party has imprisoned
more than a million Chinese Muslims, including
Uighurs, in internment camps where they endure
around-the-clock brainwashing.
Survivors of the camps have described their
experiences as a deliberate attempt by Beijing
to strangle Uighur culture and stamp out the
Muslim faith.
Religious persecution in China has also targeted
the Christian faith.
But in one of the greatest ironies in the
history of Christianity, in today’s Communist
China, we actually see the fastest growth
in the Christian faith that we have ever seen
anywhere on Earth in the last 2,000 years.
Just 70 years ago, when the Communist Party
took power, there were fewer than half a million
Chinese Christians.
Yet today, just two generations later, faith
in Jesus Christ has reached as many as 130
million Chinese Christians.
The truth is, faith is breaking out all across
China -- even in the streets of Hong Kong.
As the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai told
me earlier this month, when young people encounter
police in the streets during the protest marches
that have drawn millions, he said those young
people often sing songs of worship and praise.
As he said, they sing, “Hallelujah to the
Lord.”
Chinese authorities may ban the sale of Christian
Bibles, but that hasn’t stopped China from
publishing more Christian Bibles than any
other country on Earth.
Chinese authorities may ban the construction
of Christian churches, but that hasn’t prevented
China from building more Christian churches
than any other country in the world.
China’s experience is just more evidence
of a time-worn truth: The pathway through
persecution lies in the faith and resilience
of the persecuted.
Like that of a pastor of a large, unregistered
church in Guizhou, China.
On December 9, 2015, Pastor Su Tianfu was
placed under house arrest after Chinese law
enforcement raided the Living Stone Church.
Later, he and his fellow co-pastor were charged
a fine of up to a million dollars for collecting
illegal donations from their church parishioners.
And just last year, he was sentenced to one
year in prison.
His courage in the face of such relentless
persecution is an inspiration to freedom-loving
people all over the world.
And we’re honored to have with us today
his courageous wife, who has been with him
every step of the way.
So join me in recognizing Manping Ouyang.
We are honored that you are with us today.
And we are inspired by your faith.
(Applause.)
The United States is engaged in ongoing negotiations
and discussions over our trading relationship
with China.
And those will continue.
But whatever comes of our negotiations with
Beijing, you can be assured, the American
people will always stand in solidarity with
the people of all faiths in the People’s
Republic of China.
And we will pray for the day that they can
live out their faith freely, without fear
of persecution.
But for all of the challenges that believers
face in China, the treatment of people of
faith in North Korea is much worse.
As the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights reported, and I quote, “The violations
of human rights in the DPRK…constitute crimes
against humanity…the gravity, scale, and
nature of which has no parallel in the contemporary
world.”
Open Doors has identified North Korea as the
world’s worst persecutor of Christians for
the past 18 years.
The North Korean regime formally demands that
its officials act to, in their words, “wipe
out the seed of [Christian] reactionaries.”
And possession of a Bible is a capital offense.
So you can be confident, as President Trump
continues to pursue the denuclearization of
North Korea and a lasting peace, the United
States will continue to stand for the freedom
of religion of all people of all faiths on
the Korean Peninsula.
(Applause.)
The United States stands with all victims
of religious persecution.
And the America people have them in our hearts
and in our prayers, whether it be North Korea,
China, Burma, Iran, or all around the world.
But today, I’d also like to draw attention
to four men who have faced down enormous pressure
to stay true to their faith and whose release,
even now after a long captivity, would help
restore the reputation of the countries that
have detained them.
In Eritrea, the 90-year-old patriarch of the
Orthodox Church, Abune Antonios, continues
an already 12-year-long house arrest because
he refuses to ex-communicate critics of the
government in his church.
In Mauritania, the blogger Mohamed Cheikh
Mkhaïtir, is still being held for criticizing
the government’s use of Islam to justify
discrimination.
In Pakistan, Professor Junaid Hafeez remains
in solitary confinement on unsubstantiated
charges of blasphemy.
And in Saudi Arabia, blogger Raif Badawi is
still in prison for the alleged crime of “criticizing
Islam through electronic means.”
All four of these men have stood in defense
of religious liberty, in the exercise of their
faith, despite unimaginable pressure.
And the American people stand with them.
And so, today, the United States of America
calls upon the governments of Eritrea, Mauritania,
Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia to respect the
rights of conscience of these men, and let
these men go.
(Applause.)
While religious freedom is always in danger
in authoritarian regimes, threats to religious
minorities, sadly, are not confined to autocracies
or dictatorships.
The truth is, they can and do arise in free
societies, as well, not from government persecution,
but from prejudice.
In Europe, where religious freedom was born
as a principle and is enshrined in law, anti-Semitism
is on the rise.
In France and Germany, things have gotten
so bad that Jewish religious leaders have
warned their followers not to wear kippahs
in public for fear that they could be violently
attacked.
And attacks on Jews, even on aged Holocaust
survivors, are growing at an alarming rate.
Regrettably, the world's oldest hatred has
even found a voice in the halls of our United
States Congress.
So let me say it clearly: Anti-Semitism is
not just wrong; it’s evil.
And anti-Semitism must be confronted and denounced
wherever and whenever it arises, and it must
be universally condemned.
(Applause.)
I met just this last week with Rabbi Yisroel
Goldstein from Chabad of Poway, the California
synagogue that was the scene of a tragic shooting
in April of this year.
He was still wearing the bandage from a wound
he suffered during the attack.
His courage was incredible.
And while I was there, I also met the hero
who chased the assailant out of the synagogue.
And meeting him only confirmed in me in an
old truth that faith inspires heroes.
That’s why faith always triumphs.
But to all of the victims of persecution who
are here with us today, know this: The American
people are with you.
We are with you.
The people of the United States are inspired
by your testimony and by your strength.
And it steels our resolve to stand for religious
liberty in the years ahead.
The American people will always cherish religious
freedom.
And we will always stand with people across
the world who take a stand for their faith.
We’ve gathered here, 106 nations strong,
because we believe in the freedom of conscience,
the right of all people to live out their
lives according to their deeply held religious
beliefs.
We’re here today because we are, and will
forever remain, dedicated to the principle
that we are endowed by our Creator with certain
unalienable rights, and among them are life,
and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
These are not the birthright of Americans;
they -- they're the birthright of the human
race.
And I promise you, under this President, we
will always respect the sovereignty and diverse
cultures of every nation in the world, but
as we do, America will continue to aspire
to be that city on a hill that John Winthrop
wrote about so long ago.
We'll always continue to stand for the freedom
to live, to work, and worship according to
the dictates of your conscience.
And freedom of religion will always be an
American anthem.
And so, today, I thank you for being present
here today, for the many nations represented
here, and for your solidarity with us and
your determination in your nations to advance
the cause of religious liberty.
I leave here today with renewed confidence
as I see all of you.
And, properly, I close with faith -- faith
that we will make progress on behalf of religious
liberty in the years ahead.
You know, inscribed on the Liberty Bell, which
was given to the United States of America
by France shortly after we won our independence,
are ancient words.
It reads: “Proclaim liberty throughout all
the land [and] unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
Americans and liberty-loving people throughout
the world and throughout our history have
done this.
And I believe with all of my heart that as
each of us in all of the nations represented
here renews our commitment to proclaim liberty
throughout all our lands, that all faiths
and freedom itself will flourish, for “where
the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
So thank you all.
Thank you for your stand.
And may God bless all who yearn for freedom
and labor beneath persecution for their faith.
May God bless all of your nations.
And may God continue to bless the United States
of America.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
