[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 262 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 262

  Expressing the sense of Congress regarding Saudi Arabia's policies 
relating to religious practice and tolerance, including Saudi Arabia's 
 commitment to revise Saudi textbooks to remove intolerant and violent 
                              references.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 15, 2007

   Mr. Israel (for himself, Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Weiner) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of Congress regarding Saudi Arabia's policies 
relating to religious practice and tolerance, including Saudi Arabia's 
 commitment to revise Saudi textbooks to remove intolerant and violent 
                              references.

Whereas, in September 2004, the Secretary of State, as the President's designee, 
        designated Saudi Arabia as a ``country of particular concern'' (CPC) 
        under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et 
        seq.) for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of 
        religious freedom;
Whereas, in July 2006, as a result of bilateral discussions mandated by Saudi 
        Arabia's CPC designation, the Secretary of State identified and 
        announced, and the Government of Saudi Arabia confirmed, policies that 
        the Government of Saudi Arabia was ``pursuing and will continue to 
        pursue for the purpose of promoting greater freedom for religious 
        practice and increased tolerance for religious groups'';
Whereas as a result of the Government of Saudi Arabia confirming such policies, 
        the Secretary of State, as the President's designee, continued to waive 
        the application of actions under section 405(a) of the International 
        Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as authorized by section 407 of such Act;
Whereas such policies include a comprehensive review and revision of educational 
        materials and other literature sent outside Saudi Arabia to ensure that 
        all intolerant references are removed, including, when possible, 
        attempting to retrieve previously distributed materials that contain 
        intolerant references;
Whereas such policies include revising Saudi textbooks to remove intolerant 
        references that disparage Muslims or non-Muslims or that promote hatred 
        toward other religions or religious groups;
Whereas the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 
        (Public Law 110-53) requires the President to report to Congress on 
        progress made by the Government of Saudi Arabia ``to facilitate 
        political, economic, and social reforms, including greater religious 
        freedom ...'';
Whereas members of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom 
        (USCIRF) traveled to Saudi Arabia in May and June of 2007, and found 
        that the Government of Saudi Arabia has made insubstantial progress 
        toward implementing its July 2006 policies relating to religious 
        practice and tolerance, and has not been transparent in the 
        implementation of such policies;
Whereas USCIRF found that the Government of Saudi Arabia permits the public 
        practice of only one interpretation of Islam in Saudi Arabia and 
        requires public behavior to conform to this interpretation, thereby 
        violating standards of universal human rights and resulting in 
        discrimination and human rights violations against members of indigenous 
        Muslim communities who follow other interpretations of Islam, such as 
        Shi'as, Ismailis, and nonconforming Sunnis;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia's harsh enforcement of its interpretation 
        of Islam adversely affects the human rights of women in Saudi Arabia, 
        including freedoms of speech, movement, association, and religion, 
        freedom from coercion, access to education, and full equality before the 
        law;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia's harsh enforcement of its interpretation 
        of Islam also adversely affects the human rights of both Muslim and non-
        Muslim expatriate workers;
Whereas between two million and three million non-Muslim workers, including 
        Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and others, reside in Saudi Arabia for 
        temporary employment;
Whereas labor contracts in Saudi Arabia often include provisions requiring 
        expatriate workers to conform to Saudi religious customs and traditions, 
        thereby violating the expatriate workers' human rights;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia's Commission to Promote Virtue and 
        Prevent Vice exercises largely unchecked power to curtail the freedoms 
        of speech, assembly, and association, and the courts in Saudi Arabia 
        offer neither due process to protect the individual nor effective 
        remedies for violations of such rights;
Whereas official school textbooks in Saudi Arabia have previously included 
        language encouraging violence that adversely affects the interests of 
        the United States;
Whereas several studies, including studies by Saudi experts, point to serious 
        concerns that language encouraging violence toward others misguides 
        students into believing that in order to safeguard their religion, they 
        must violently repress, and even physically eliminate, the ``other'';
Whereas a 2006 report by the Center for Religious Freedom and the Gulf Institute 
        analyzing several Saudi textbooks from the 2005-2006 school year found 
        that ``a ninth grade Saudi textbook on Hadith teaches teenagers in 
        apocalyptic terms that violence towards Jews, Christians and other 
        unbelievers is sanctioned by God'';
Whereas such textbook states, ``the hour [of judgment] will not come until the 
        Muslims fight the Jews and kill them'';
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia claimed publicly that it revised its 
        textbooks and removed language that promotes intolerance and encourages 
        violence;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia, despite repeated requests by the 
        Secretary of State and Members of Congress over a period of several 
        years, has failed to make a complete set of its current textbooks 
        available to support its claim that such language has been eliminated;
Whereas, in June 2007, during its visit to Saudi Arabia, USCIRF found evidence 
        that intolerant and inflammatory text remains in textbooks provided by 
        the Government of Saudi Arabia;
Whereas Saudi textbooks are used outside Saudi Arabia, including in the United 
        States;
Whereas the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA), with campuses in Alexandria and 
        Fairfax, Virginia, is the only school in the United States that operates 
        with the direct authority of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia;
Whereas the ISA operates on two northern Virginia properties owned or leased by 
        the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, with property being leased by ``the 
        Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia d/b/a (doing business as) the Islamic 
        Saudi Academy'';
Whereas Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States is the chairman of the 
        ISA's board of directors, which, according to the ISA's Web site, 
        ``oversees the educational and administrative operation'' and ``provides 
        direction and guidance to every aspect of'' the ISA's operations;
Whereas the ISA is funded by the Government of Saudi Arabia, and, on numerous 
        occasions, officials from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia have spoken 
        to the press on the ISA's behalf, including in response to inquiries 
        about the ISA's curriculum;
Whereas the ISA uses the Government of Saudi Arabia's ``curriculum, syllabus, 
        and materials'' in the portion of its programming taught in Arabic;
Whereas USCIRF has recommended that the Secretary of State open diplomatic talks 
        with the Government of Saudi Arabia in order to obtain official Saudi 
        textbooks used at the ISA; and
Whereas USCIRF recommends that the ISA should be closed until the official Saudi 
        textbooks used at the ISA are made available for comprehensive public 
        examination and are found to be consistent with the Government of Saudi 
        Arabia's commitment to revise such textbooks to remove intolerant and 
        violent references: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Secretary of State, as the President's designee, 
        should continue to designate Saudi Arabia as a ``country of 
        particular concern'' under the International Religious Freedom 
        Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) for engaging in 
        systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious 
        freedom;
            (2) the Secretary of State should create a formal mechanism 
        to monitor implementation of the Government of Saudi Arabia's 
        July 2006 policies relating to religious practice and tolerance 
        as part of every meeting of the United States-Saudi Arabia 
        Strategic Dialogue, and ensure that United States 
        representatives to each relevant working group of such 
        Strategic Dialogue, after each session, or at least every six 
        months, submit to Congress a report on their findings;
            (3) the Secretary of State should submit to Congress a 
        report on progress by the Government of Saudi Arabia toward 
        implementing its July 2006 policies relating to religious 
        practice and tolerance, including--
                    (A) the transparency of the Government of Saudi 
                Arabia toward the implementation of such policies; and
                    (B) any benchmarks or timetables established for 
                implementation of such policies;
            (4) the Secretary of State should immediately begin 
        diplomatic discussions with the Government of Saudi Arabia with 
        the goals of--
                    (A) having the Government of Saudi Arabia close the 
                Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) until such time as the 
                official Saudi textbooks used at the ISA are made 
                available for comprehensive public examination in the 
                United States; and
                    (B) ensuring a verifiable prohibition of any scheme 
                aimed at continuing funding by the Government of Saudi 
                Arabia to the ISA through other indirect means;
            (5) the Secretary of State should conclude such discussions 
        not later than 90 days after the date of the adoption of this 
        concurrent resolution, and, while the discussions are ongoing, 
        the Secretary should also be preparing to take action under 
        title II of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 
        (22 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.) (relating to authorities relating to 
        the regulation of foreign missions), if such action becomes 
        necessary; and
            (6) at the conclusion of the 90-day period, the Secretary 
        of State should submit to Congress a report on the results of 
        such discussions, including--
                    (A) if the Secretary secured the release of the 
                Saudi textbooks used at the ISA for comprehensive 
                public examination, and if the Secretary has determined 
                that such textbooks contain language encouraging 
                violence, what actions the Secretary plans to take in 
                response under applicable United States laws, including 
                under title II of the State Department Basic 
                Authorities Act of 1956; and
                    (B) if the Secretary did not secure the release of 
                the Saudi textbooks, what actions the Secretary plans 
                to take under title II of the State Department Basic 
                Authorities Act of 1956 to close the ISA on the grounds 
                that the nondiplomatic activities of the ISA cannot be 
                conducted by and through an embassy, and because 
                significant concerns remain about whether what is being 
                taught at the ISA promotes religious intolerance and 
                may adversely affect the interests of the United 
                States.
                                 <all>