Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rep. Riley Moore of West Virginia have introduced a resolution condemning the persecution of Christians in Muslim-majority countries.

The two Republicans also are urging President Trump to use all the diplomatic tools he has at his disposal to protect these persecuted Christians, saying the United States must prioritize stopping religious-based violence and religious-based discrimination across the globe.

“We cannot sit on the sidelines as Christians around the world are being persecuted for declaring Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We must condemn these heinous crimes,” Mr. Hawley said in a news release. “Year after year, the number of Christians murdered by extremists in Nigeria has numbered in the thousands.”

“Millions more have been displaced. We cannot allow this to continue. I urge my colleagues to join me in condemning the persecution of Christians around the world by supporting this resolution,” he said.

The resolution says more Christians have been killed in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world, but that serious problems still exist across Africa and the Middle East, including in Algeria, Libya, and Egypt.

The Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa released a report last year that showed from 2019 to 2023 “more Nigerian Christians were victims of violence than Nigerians holding to other religious affiliations.”

According to the report, almost 17,000 Christians were killed, and over 11,000 had been abducted over that time. Meanwhile, the number of Muslims killed was just over 6,000, and the number of them abducted was just under 8,000.

The resolution from Mr. Hawley and Mr. Moore says hundreds more Christians have been killed in Nigeria this year.

It also cites statistics from Open Doors’ World Watch List 2025 that show “more than 380,000,000 Christians worldwide suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith, with many of these Christians facing persecution in Muslim-majority countries.”

Mr. Moore said the targeting of “our brothers and sisters in Christ” is “unacceptable.”

“Unfortunately, decades of U.S. foreign policy blunders have exacerbated this crisis, with ethno-religious cleansing accelerating in Iraq after our failure to stabilize the country following the 2003 invasion,” Mr. Moore said. “We as lawmakers cannot continue to sit idly by.”

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.