US House of Rep. passes Concurrent Res. 75

United States House of Representatives pass
Concurrent Resolution 75

Resolution which brings Official Recognition to Acts of Genocide in Syria and Iraq passes Following Lobbying Effort by His Grace Bishop Demetrios and Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago

Chicago, IL: His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, Chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, was proud to receive numerous phone calls from members of the United States House of Representatives informing him of passage late this afternoon of House Concurrent Resolution 75.

The passage of this resolution, which officially recognizes the Internationally defined crimes of Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in Syria and Iraq, has been an objective of Bishop Demetrios since late last year when this issue was identified at a biannual gathering of all of the parishes within the Metropolis of Chicago.

Since then, with the blessings of His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago, Bishop Demetrios has reached out to each Representative within the jurisdiction of the Metropolis of Chicago lobbing them to take action. He has had numerous Op-Ed’s during this time in some of the leading newspapers in the United States.

Inspired by a letter earlier this month from California Congresswoman Anna Eshoo thanking him for the attention he has brought this effort, Bishop Demetrios phoned each of the remaining Congressman within the Metropolis of Chicago just this past week to once more lobby them to support this resolution.

Today, the House of Representatives responded by passing Concurrent Resolution 75 unanimously. Now the resolution moves to the United States Senate for action by them.
“While I am proud of the work our Metropolis has done to this point and honored by the responsiveness of the United States Representatives, I also recognize our work is only half completed. I look forward to talking with our 12 United States Senators within the Metropolis of Chicago about the need for passage of this resolution by their political body.” said His Grace Bishop Demetrios.

That work has already begun as Bishop Demetrios had the chance this past Friday to discuss this issue with Presidential Candidate and United States Senator Ted Cruz while he was in Chicago. Senator Cruz thanked Bishop Demetrios for his work on this issue and committed to work on it’s passage in the United States Senate.