Conference Programs

June 11 Congressional Briefing

3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Congressional Briefing in Longworth House Office Building 1539
Gendered Persecution: Targets of Forced Conversion
Program Participants

Moderator: Karmella Borashan - Director at Susek Evangelistic Association; Representative of Assyrian International Council

• Stephen Schneck, Ph.D – Commissioner, US Commission on International Religious Freedom
• US Representative  Jim McGovern (D-MA)
• US Representative  Brad Sherman (D-CA)
• Jamileh Naso – Co-founder & Executive Director, Canadian Yazidi Association 
• Joseph Janssen - Advocacy Officer with Jubilee Campaign Netherlands
•  Sonja Dahlmans - Author of Coptic Solidarity’s latest report, Hidden Crimes Public Deception: The Epidemic of Abductions and Forced Disappearance of Coptic Women and Girls.

June 12 Policy Day - Cannon Caucus Room, US House of Representatives

9:30 AM - Welcome

Caroline Doss JD - President, Coptic Solidarity

Session: Indigenous Minorities of the Middle East
Moderator: Gary Lane - International News Director and Senior International Correspondent for CBN News

• Karmella Borashan - Director at Susek Evangelistic Association; Representative of Assyrian International Council
• Jamileh Naso - Co-founder & President, Canadian Yazidi Association
• Hilary Miller - Policy Analyst, US Commission on International Religious Freedom

Speaker: Former Congressman Frank R. Wolf

Speaker: US Representative French Hill (R-AR)

Session: Foreign Influence in US Policy
Moderator: Lindsay Rodriguez  - Director of Developmetn & Advocacy

• Raed Jarrar - Advocacy Director, Democracy for the Arab World Now 
• Dan Auble - Senior Researcher, OpenSecrets
• Aram Hamparian - Executive Director, Armenian National Committee of America
• Mark Basta -  Research Associate, Coptic Solidarity

Speaker: US Representative Michael Lalwer (R-NY)

 Lunch Provided

Speaker: Lindsay Rodriguez - Director of Developmetn & Advocacy

Session: Crisis for Christians in Syria
Moderator: Nina Shea - Hudson Institute Senior Fellow & Director of its Center for Religious Freedom; former Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (1999-2012) 

• David Schenker - Taube Senior Fellow & Director, Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
• Bassam Ishak - Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) Representatives

• Ashuriena Abraham - MENA Co-Chair for the First Freedom Foundation Global Youth Summit; Representative of Assyrian International Council
• Ryan Mauro - Investigative Researcher, Capital Research Center

Interview with Sonja Dahlmans & Joseph Janssen 

• Sonja Dahlmans - author of Coptic Solidarity’s report, Hidden Crimes Public Deception: The Epidemic of Abductions and Forced Disappearance of Coptic Women and Girls.
• Joseph Janssen- Advocacy Officer with Jubilee Campaign Netherlands

Speaker: Candace Lukasik, Ph.D. - Faculty Leave Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University

Session: Regional Focus on North Africa
Moderator: Hulda Fahmi - Communications Associate, Jubilee Campaign

• Rachid Hammami - Author & Host of With Clarity Weekly TV Program
• Nasredeen Abdulbari - Senior Peace Fellow, PILPG; Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; former Minister of Justice (Sudan), Washington Institute for a New Sudan

Speaker: Raymond Ibrahim - Author, Public Speaker, and Middle East & Islam specialist

4:30 PM End