Democratic Congresswoman Anna Eshoo on ISIS: No President Wants Geno

Christian Post
Aug 29 2014

Democratic Congresswoman Anna Eshoo on ISIS: No President Wants
Genocide During Their Term (CP Video Interview)

The slaughter of Christians taking place today is like a “living
history” for Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-California. Her parents and
grandparents fled the Middle East because they were being persecuted
for their Christian faith, she explained to The Christian Post in a
videophone interview.

Both of Eshoo’s parents emigrated to the United States as children.
Both sets of her grandparents, Armenian and Assyrian Christians, “fled
for their lives because Christians were being slaughtered,” she
explained. What is happening to Christians in Syria and Iraq today
recalled for Eshoo stories told to her by her grandmothers.

“What we are witnessing today, and have been witnessing, began after
the invasion of the U.S. into Iraq, … This is a living history for
me. What is taking place now are the same stories that my grandmothers
have told me of what they witnessed, of what they endured, of the
family members who did not make it because they were slaughtered. So
this is very real to me,” she said.

(Photo: Anna Eshoo’s office)Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-California, and Rep.
Frank Wolf, R-Virginia, meet with the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops, Jan. 28, 2014.

What is taking place needs to be labeled “genocide,” Eshoo added,
because that is what it is, and there is an urgency to immediately
address the crisis.

“I don’t think any president wants genocide not dealt with next to
their name, it matters not whether it is a Republican administration
or a Democratic administration,” she said.

Eshoo has been one of the leading spokespersons in Congress on the
issues of religious freedom and the persecution of Christians in the
Middle East. She supported a resolution passed in the House condemning
ISIS and calling on the State Department to work with the Kurds and
other regional allies to secure safe havens for the displaced
religious and ethnic minorities.

She also co-authored legislation with Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Virginia, to
establish a special envoy in the State Department to focus on the
plight of religious minorities in the Middle East.

She had worked on getting that bill passed since the George W. Bush
administration, she said, but had difficulty getting support in the
Senate and the State Department. It recently passed the Senate with
the help of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, and was signed by President
Obama.

Eshoo emphasized that she would not support using U.S. ground troops
against ISIS, but believes the threat can be dealt with through a
coalition of groups threatened by ISIS, such as the Kurds and the new
Iraqi government.

Watch the interview at

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress