Cedar Rapids Bahá’ís Meet with Senator Joni Ernst’s Regional Director, by Steve Bonnett
Reprinted with permission from the Cedar Rapids Bahá’í Newsletter, January 2015
- Nuri Eady, Steve Bonnett, Sam Pritchard, Leif Segen 2. Cathy & Steve Bonnett, Sam Pritchard, Leif Segen, Azam Daugherty
On January 21, 2015, five members of Cedar Rapids Bahá’í community met with Sam Pritchard, Regional Director of Iowa Senator Joni Ernst’s Office, at the Bahá’í Center in Cedar Rapids. The group discussed Senate Resolution 148 and the importance it has for the Bahá’ís in Iran.
Even though the resolution had already passed, Mr. Pritchard seemed extremely interested and empathetic to the plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran. Mr. Pritchard was given The Bahá’í’s in Iran Fact Sheet, a copy of Senate Resolution 148 and a copy of a November 2015 article from the Office of Public Affairs website about the recent incarceration of Bahá’í shop owners in several cities in Iran.
Azam Daugherty, who escaped Iran over 20 years ago, shared personal stories about how she, and family members, had experienced persecution while in Iran. Overall, the meeting went well and Mr. Pritchard asked questions about the history of the Bahá’ís in Cedar Rapids and how long we had resided in Iowa. He offered the services of Senator Ernst’s office if we needed to meet again in the future.
