3.0.0 5846 2023-01-11T13:25:10Z 2023-01-11T13:25:10Z House H HR 2014-12-10 113 From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. SMITH of New Jersey:H.R. 5846.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.[Page H9045]]]> hsgo00 Oversight and Accountability Committee House Standing Referred to 2014-12-10T15:03:25Z hsba00 Financial Services Committee House Standing Referred to 2014-12-10T15:03:20Z hsfa00 Foreign Affairs Committee House Standing Referred to 2014-12-10T15:03:15Z 2014-12-10 Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. IntroReferral H11100 2 House floor actions hsgo00 Oversight and Accountability Committee 2014-12-10 Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. IntroReferral H11100 2 House floor actions hsba00 Financial Services Committee 2014-12-10 Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. IntroReferral H11100 2 House floor actions hsfa00 Foreign Affairs Committee 2014-12-10 Introduced in House IntroReferral Intro-H 9 Library of Congress 2014-12-10 Introduced in House IntroReferral 1000 9 Library of Congress S000522 Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4] CHRISTOPHER SMITH R NJ H. 4 N International Affairs Advisory bodies Africa Asia Congressional oversight Department of State Detention of persons Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad Employment discrimination and employee rights Executive agency funding and structure Federal officials Foreign aid and international relief Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management Government information and archives Government studies and investigations Government trust funds Higher education Human rights International law and treaties Internet and video services Internet, web applications, social media Lawyers and legal services Nigeria Pakistan Religion Sanctions Teaching, teachers, curricula Vietnam International Affairs 00 2014-12-10 Introduced in House 2015-02-04T21:26:55Z Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2014 - Amends the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) to locate the Office on International Religious Freedom in the Office of the Secretary of State.

Directs the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom to seek to coordinate religious freedom policies and religious engagement strategies across all U.S. programs, projects, and activities.

Specifies additional foreign government actions violating religious freedom for the Ambassador's Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, including a Special Watch List of countries or violent nonstate actors that have engaged in or tolerated such violations but do not yet meet the criteria for designation as countries of particular concern for religious freedom.

Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to direct the Secretary to develop a curriculum for, and the Director of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center to begin, mandatory training on religious freedom for all Foreign Service officers.

Amends the IRFA to require the Commission on International Religious Freedom to compile and make publicly available regularly updated lists of persons imprisoned, detained, disappeared, placed under house arrest, tortured, or subject to forced renunciations of faith by: (1) a foreign government recommended for designation as a country of particular concern for religions freedom, or (2) a violent nonstate actor.

Makes it a primary responsibility of the Commission to make annual recommendations on such countries and violent nonstate actors as well as specific policy responses or actions that may be taken regarding them.

Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to establish within the National Security Council a permanent Interagency Policy Committee on Religious Freedom and Engagement headed by a presidentially appointed Senior Director for Global Religion Engagement and International Religious Freedom Promotion, who shall develop and coordinate religious freedom policies and religion engagement strategies throughout the executive branch.

Amends the IRFA to revise requirements, including reporting requirements, for presidential actions with respect to country and violent nonstate actor designations, in particular those countries on the Special Watch List.

Declares the sense of Congress that:

  • ongoing and persistent waivers for designated countries, especially those engaging in particularly severe violations of religious freedom, do not fulfill IRFA purposes;
  • the President, the Secretary of State, and other executive branch officials, in consultation with Congress, should seek to find ways to address existing violations, on a country-by-country basis, through specified actions; and
  • the country of particular concern for religious freedom designation should apply also to violent nonstate actors.

Repeals the automatic termination of a presidential designation after two years.

Makes funds available for FY2016-FY2021 for the Human Rights and Democracy Fund.

Establishes in the State Department the Religious Freedom Defense Fund, to be administered by the Ambassador at Large.

Authorizes the President to exercise specified authority to sanction persons responsible for committing particularly severe violations of international religious freedom.

Declares the sense of Congress about: (1) adoption of codes of conduct by U.S. institutions of higher education outside the United States, and (2) national security strategy to promote religious freedom through U.S. foreign policy.

Directs the Comptroller General to report to the appropriate congressional committees on whether Nigeria, Pakistan, and Vietnam meet the criteria for designation as countries of particular concern for religious freedom.

]]> Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2014 Display Title Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2014 Official Title as Introduced To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to improve the ability of the United States to protect religious freedom globally through enhanced diplomacy, training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance efforts, and through stronger and more timely and flexible political responses to religious freedom violations worldwide, and for other purposes. Introduced in House IH Short Titles as Introduced Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2014 Introduced in House 2014-12-10T05:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-113hr5846ih/xml/BILLS-113hr5846ih.xml 2014-12-10 Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.