(Minghui.org) Editor's note: Below is Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins's speech, delivered by her aide, Lauren Beebe, on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on July 17, 2014, at the rally marking 15 years of the persecution of Falun Gong.
Congresswoman Jenkins of Kansas currently serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means. As a member of that committee, she serves on both the Trade Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee.
Hello. Thank you all for letting me address you today. I'm here to read a letter of support on behalf of Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, who represents the Second District of Kansas.
The Congressional District I represent is home to the infamous Phelps' family and the Westboro Baptist Church.
You might have heard about them a time or two, because they hold frequent protests, spewing hateful rhetoric on university campuses and picketing soldiers' funerals around the country.
Yet, four miles down the road from Westboro Church's headquarters, in the same city of Topeka Kansas, sits a modest white house that serves as a meeting place for another religious group, the Baha'i, a peaceful religion of Persian origin that asks its practitioners to “Let integrity distinguish thy acts” and to be “fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech.”
We all know America isn't perfect, but the very fact that these religious groups can coexist and worship freely, mere miles away from one another, is the reason you all felt a responsibility to be here today.
We are a pluralistic society, and despite our fierce individualism, we share a common vision of worldwide religious tolerance and respect for the sanctity of human life.
In any corner the world where human expression and spirituality is suppressed through force, the people of this great nation have a responsibility to raise our voices and to speak out.
The atrocities carried out against Falun Gong practitioners in China are reprehensible.
The practice of non-consensual, live organ harvesting is for many of us, the material of nightmares or horror films.
But for hundreds of thousands of Chinese families who have brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, or friends, who are locked away in detention camps for practicing Falun Gong, this nightmare is very real.
It is a regrettable and ironic truth that throughout all of human history, the religions that preach compassion and preach truth above all else, have been met with the sharpest of swords.
Your support for these victims can generate social change; your voices have already reached the shores of China.
And I want you to know that the United States Congress stands behind you, in your efforts to counter the Chinese Communist Party, end the abuses, and change the dangerous rhetoric surrounding the Falun Gong practice.
I have put my name behind legislation that enjoys the support of hundreds of my colleagues, and it will help get truthful and accurate information about Falun Gong to the mainland of China, and to the rest of the world.
We hope, and I know you all hope, for a day when this beautiful religion is met with the grace and compassion it promotes.
Thank you all for being here today. Keep up the fight.
Category: Voices of Support Worldwide
