- Secretary of State, MikePompeo, was clearly pleased

with the growth of thisyear's Ministerial,

with hundreds more in attendancecompared to last year.

He says it's proof positivethat religious freedom

is important to billionsof people the world over.

And that's why he's announcedan important next step.

- We will create

The InternationalReligious Freedom Alliance.

- [Eric Philips] Secretaryof State, Mike Pompeo,

said he hopes the Alliancewill bring like-minded

countries together, outsideof this annual conference.

- It will provide a spacefor the work that we do here

to flourish throughout the year.

- [Eric Philips] Pompeowent through a litany

of documented cases ofreligious persecution,

even pointing to this veryconference and those who were

denied the chance to behere, like some from Cuba.

- Last weekend the Cubangovernment prevented them

from boarding their flightsto travel to Washington, DC,

to express their religious freedom.

Such is the thuggish, intolerant nature

of the current regime in Havana.

- [Eric Philips] But he calledChina the worst offender

of religious freedom.

- It is truly the stain of the century.

- [Eric Philips] Noting, since 2017,

the Chinese government hasdetained more than one million

Muslims and other minorities.

- The Chinese Communistparty demands control over

the lives of the Chinesepeople and their souls.

- Thank you, Mr. President.

- Thank you very much, thank you.

- Thank you for theopportunity to see you,

I am Ista from Nigeria.

- [Eric Philips] From the Oval Office,

the President heardfirsthand some of the stories

of religious persecution.

- I escaped from Boko Haram.

Thank you for the opportunity to meet you.

- That's tough stuff, right?

- It is.

- That's a tough thing.

Thank you.

- I can call myself aMuslim in the United States

of America, but not in Pakistan.

(foreign language)

Otherwise I would be punished.

- So I'm honored by your presence.

- [Eric Philips] VicePresident, Mike Pence,

greeted the Ministerial onbehalf of the President,

saying the White Houseis taking punitive steps

in the fight for religious freedom.

- Today I'm announcingthat the United States

has placed sanctions on twoleaders of Iranian-backed

militias, for all they've done.

We will hold them accountable.

- I hope good peopleeverywhere will see that

our movement is just getting started.

- Pompeo also noted that he'saware that Communist China

discouraged other countries from coming

to this year's Ministerial,and he said to those who came

in spite of the pressure, "We salute you."

But to those who bowed to thepressure and did not come,

he says, "We took note."

In Washington, Eric Philips, CBN.