As Adopted by the House

130th General Assembly
Regular Session
2013-2014
H. R. No. 439


Representatives Pelanda, Clyde 

Cosponsors: Representatives Adams, R., Amstutz, Antonio, Baker, Barborak, Barnes, Beck, Bishoff, Blair, Blessing, Boose, Boyce, Brenner, Brown, Buchy, Budish, Burkley, Butler, Carney, Celebrezze, Cera, Conditt, Curtin, Derickson, Dovilla, Driehaus, Duffey, Fedor, Foley, Gerberry, Gonzales, Green, Grossman, Hackett, Hagan, C., Hagan, R., Hall, Hayes, Heard, Henne, Hill, Hottinger, Huffman, Johnson, Kunze, Landis, Letson, Lundy, Lynch, Mallory, McClain, McGregor, Milkovich, Patterson, Perales, Pillich, Redfern, Reece, Rogers, Romanchuk, Rosenberger, Ruhl, Schuring, Sears, Sheehy, Slaby, Smith, Sprague, Stebelton, Stinziano, Sykes, Terhar, Wachtmann, Williams, Winburn, Young 

A RESOLUTION
To condemn flagrant breaches of international human 1
rights laws, to express support for the provision 2
of United States assistance to Nigeria in safely 3
returning the more than 200 female students 4
abducted by the terrorist group Boko Haram, and to 5
urge the President of the United States to take 6
action to prevent the execution of Meriam Ibrahim 7
by the government of Sudan.8


BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       WHEREAS, On April 14, 2014, more than 200 teenage female 9
students were forcefully abducted from their dormitories at the 10
Chibok Government Girls Secondary School in northeast Nigeria by 11
the terrorist group known as Boko Haram; and12

        WHEREAS, Boko Haram claims full responsibility for this 13
heinous abduction and is threatening to sell the girls into sexual 14
slavery; and15

        WHEREAS, Boko Haram, which means "Western education is evil," 16
rejects Western culture, including the education of women and 17
girls. Boko Haram attempts to stifle the education of young 18
Nigerian women by inciting fear and violence; and19

        WHEREAS, It has been reported that an additional eleven girls 20
were kidnapped from their villages on May 12, 2014, in the 21
northeastern province of Borno by men armed with AK-47s; and22

        WHEREAS, The international community continues to express 23
outrage about the abduction of these young girls. President Obama 24
has therefore pledged military and law enforcement advisors to 25
Nigeria to support its efforts to find and free the girls, which 26
Nigeria has accepted; and27

       WHEREAS, Meriam Ibrahim, a citizen of Sudan, has been 28
sentenced by the government of Sudan to 100 lashes and death by 29
hanging for her religious beliefs. According to Sudan's Public 30
Order Criminal Code, Meriam is guilty of both adultery and 31
apostasy for marrying a Christian man and turning away from Islam; 32
and33

       WHEREAS, Meriam Ibrahim is married to Daniel Wani, a resident 34
of New Hampshire and a citizen of the United States. Meriam and 35
Daniel's son, a United States citizen, currently is imprisoned 36
with his mother; and37

       WHEREAS, The First Amendment of the United States 38
Constitution is a universal declaration of the American people 39
that freedom of religion is an unalienable right based solely on 40
the humanity of people; now therefore be it41

        RESOLVED, That we, the members of the House of 42
Representatives of the 130th General Assembly of the State of 43
Ohio, urge the President of the United States both to continue to 44
support the efforts of the Nigerian government to safely return 45
the abducted girls to their families and to act swiftly and 46
decisively to save Meriam Ibrahim from execution by the government 47
of Sudan; and be it further48

        RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives send 49
duly authenticated copies of this resolution to the President of 50
the United States, the members of the Ohio Congressional 51
delegation, and the news media of Ohio.52