[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 388 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 388

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
   government discrimination in Germany based on religion or belief.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 17, 1999

Mr. Salmon (for himself, Mr. Payne, Mr. Gilman, Ms. Millender-McDonald, 
Mr. Scarborough, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Maloney of Connecticut, Mr. Rothman, Mr. 
 Foley, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Rogan, Mr. Pastor, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, 
   Mr. Evans, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Ney, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. 
Metcalf, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Davis of Virginia, Mr. Ford, Mr. 
 Becerra, Mr. Engel, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Sabo, Mr. Abercrombie, 
Mr. Forbes, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Weller, Mr. Horn, Ms. Pryce of Ohio, Mrs. 
 Meek of Florida, Mr. Towns, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Cummings, 
Mr. Owens, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Ms. Waters, Mrs. 
Capps, Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Meeks 
of New York, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Davis of Illinois, and Mr. 
 Watt of North Carolina) submitted the following resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
   government discrimination in Germany based on religion or belief.

Whereas government discrimination in Germany against individuals and groups 
        based on religion or belief violates Germany's obligations under the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on 
        Civil and Political Rights, and the Helsinki Accords, which provide that 
        member states must ``recognize and respect the freedom of the individual 
        to profess and practice alone or in community with others, religion or 
        belief acting in accordance with the dictates of his own conscience'';
Whereas the 1993 through 1998 State Department Country Reports on Human Rights 
        Practices in Germany have disclosed acts of Federal, State, and local 
        government discrimination in Germany against members of minority 
        religious groups, including Charismatic Christians, Muslims, Jehovah's 
        Witnesses, and Scientologists;
Whereas State Department Human Rights Reports on Germany have also disclosed 
        acts of government discrimination against American citizens because of 
        their religious beliefs;
Whereas State Department Human Rights Reports on Germany have disclosed 
        discrimination based on religion or belief in Germany in such forms as 
        exclusion from government employment and political parties; the use of 
        ``sect-filters'' (required declarations that a person or company is not 
        affiliated with a particular religious groups) by government, 
        businesses, sports clubs, and other organizations; government-approved 
        boycotts and discrimination against businesses; and the prevention of 
        artists from performing or displaying their works;
Whereas United Nations reports have disclosed discrimination based on religion 
        or belief in Germany, and a 1997 report by the United Nations Special 
        Rapporteur for Religious Intolerance concluded that the Government of 
        Germany ``must implement a strategy to prevent intolerance in the field 
        of religion and belief'';
Whereas the 1998 report of the State Department's Advisory Committee on 
        Religious Freedom Abroad warned that unless the work of the German 
        Government's Parliamentary Inquiry Commission on ``so-called sects and 
        psycho-groups,'' which investigated dozens of religious groups, 
        including Mormons and other minority Christian groups, ``focuses [its] 
        work on investigating illegal acts, [it] runs the risk of denying 
        individuals the right to freedom of religion or belief,'' and the 
        Committee specifically reported that ``members of the Church of 
        Scientology and of a Christian charismatic church have been subject to 
        intense scrutiny by the Commission, and several members have suffered 
        harassment, discrimination, and threats of violence''; and
Whereas in 1997, a United States immigration court judge granted a German woman 
        asylum in the United States, finding that she had a well-founded fear of 
        persecution based on her religious beliefs if she returned to Germany: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) urges the Government of Germany to uphold its 
        commitments to ``take effective measures to prevent and 
        eliminate discrimination against individuals or communities on 
        the grounds of religion or belief'' and ``foster a climate of 
        mutual tolerance and respect between believers of different 
        communities'' as required by the Organization on Security and 
        Cooperation in Europe's Vienna Concluding Document of 1989;
            (2) urges the Government of Germany to enter into a 
        constructive dialogue with minority groups subject to 
        government discrimination based on religion or belief;
            (3) continues to hold the Government of Germany responsible 
        for protecting the right of freedom of religion or belief of 
        United States citizens who are living, performing, doing 
        business, or traveling in Germany; and
            (4) calls upon the President to assert the concern of the 
        United States Government to the Government of Germany regarding 
        government discrimination in Germany based on religion or 
        belief.
                                 <all>