[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1140 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1140

Recognizing the 10th Anniversary of the International Religious Freedom 
                              Act of 1998.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 23, 2008

 Mr. Franks of Arizona (for himself, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Pitts, 
     Mr. McIntyre, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. 
 Rohrabacher, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Towns, Mr. Wamp, Mr. Duncan, 
Mr. Barrett of South Carolina, Mr. Kline of Minnesota, Mrs. Blackburn, 
  Mr. Broun of Georgia, Mr. Pence, Mr. King of Iowa, Mr. Herger, Mr. 
Akin, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, and Mr. Tiahrt) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the 10th Anniversary of the International Religious Freedom 
                              Act of 1998.

Whereas, October 27, 2008, marks the ten-year anniversary of the International 
        Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), which recognizes the fundamental 
        importance of religious freedom within United States historical 
        experience and establishes it as a top priority in United States foreign 
        policy;
Whereas the right to religious freedom is a universal human right articulated in 
        numerous international instruments, including the Universal Declaration 
        of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and 
        Political Rights, and the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination 
        of all Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or 
        Belief;
Whereas Article 18 of the UDHR recognizes that ``Everyone has the right to 
        freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. This right includes 
        freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or 
        in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his 
        religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance'';
Whereas every government has a responsibility under its international human 
        rights commitments to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens and 
        to pursue justice for all;
Whereas according to research published by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public 
        Life, there is a strong correlation between religious freedom and 
        respect for human freedom;
Whereas research published by the Pew Forum indicates that other human rights 
        are negatively affected when religious freedom is not protected, and 
        when religious participation is protected equitably for people of all 
        beliefs in societies throughout the world, human freedom increases and 
        conflict decreases;
Whereas according to the recent publication Religious Freedom in the World, 
        surveying the situation of religious freedom in countries and 
        territories that make up 95 percent of the world's population, 
        approximately 40 percent of the world's population live in countries or 
        territories that are ``partly free'' and approximately one-third live in 
        countries or territories that are ``unfree'' based on an assessment of 
        whether individual's are denied the right to practice their religion or 
        belief when the denial is because of their religious beliefs or those of 
        the persecutors;
Whereas since the IRFA was adopted, greater support for this human right in the 
        United States influenced the following foreign policy decisions, 
        including--

    (1) the United States Government played a key role in bringing about 
the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in December 2004 ending the North-South 
civil war and providing greater religious freedom in the South;

    (2) the Department of State denied, pursuant to section 212(a)(2)(g) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the IRFA, the Chief 
Minister of Gujarat State in India, Narendra Modi, a visa to enter the 
United States as a result of his direct involvement in the persecution of 
Muslims, finding that any foreign government official who ``was responsible 
for or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of 
religious freedom'' is ineligible for a visa to the United States;

    (3) the United States Government worked with foreign governments that 
affirm and protect religious freedom to develop multilateral initiatives to 
combat violations of religious freedom and promote the right to religious 
freedom abroad, and initiatives were undertaken on North Korea and Burma at 
the United Nations and on combating anti Semitism and religious intolerance 
in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe through the 
creation of three special representatives to the Chairman-in-Office to 
protect religious freedom;

    (4) the United States Government worked to secure the release of a 
number of individuals imprisoned as a result of their religious beliefs, 
such as prominent Uyghur human rights advocate Rebiya Kadeer, and Tibetan 
Buddhist nuns Ngawang Sangdrol and Phuntsog Nyidron, among others;

    (5) the Department of Homeland Security appointed the first Senior 
Refugee and Asylum Policy Advisor to resolve problems in United States 
immigration law relating to expedited removal, a process implemented in 
1997 to ``expeditiously remove'' certain improperly documented aliens 
without a hearing, to ensure that legitimate asylum seekers are not put at 
risk of being returned to countries where they may face persecution, 
particularly religious persecution; and

    (6) in response to protections in the IRFA for those individuals 
seeking asylum for fear of persecution, the United States Court of Appeals 
for the Fifth Circuit issued an order to vacate its August 2005 ruling in 
Li v. Gonzales, clarifying that China's control over registered churches, 
and its prosecution of individuals for engaging in ``unauthorized'' 
religious activity, are clearly in violation of international law with 
regard to freedom of religion or belief, and that Li, a Chinese man who had 
been arrested, beaten, fired, and charged with the ``crime'' of organizing 
an unregistered house church in China, should not be removed from the 
United States;

Whereas, ten years since the passage of the IRFA, the right to religious freedom 
        remains under increasing assault in many countries around the world;
Whereas while some governments have made significant improvements in respect for 
        the right to religious freedom, new situations of grave concern have 
        arisen, including--

    (1) governments are increasingly limiting the space for open discussion 
and peaceful practice of religious beliefs that differ from the beliefs of 
the majority by promoting religious defamation resolutions at the United 
Nations Human Rights Council and enforcing national laws against blasphemy 
and apostasy, and this has exacerbated societal intolerance for the 
religious freedom rights of individuals;

    (2) the association of nationalism with specific religions, such as 
Hindu extremism in India, has led to a significant increase in attacks on 
minority and unrecognized religious communities throughout the world, and 
oftentimes majority religious communities collaborate with local officials 
and the perpetrators are given impunity by the government;

    (3) the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute exposed 
translations of extremist literature, largely funded by the government of 
Saudi Arabia, found in mosques and schools throughout the world, including 
in the United States, that propagates incitement to religious hatred and 
intolerance;

    (4) since September 11, 2001, countries around the world, including 
Uzbekistan and China among others, have justified restrictions on religious 
freedom by accusing peaceful practitioners of some religious communities of 
terrorist activities;

    (5) governments, such as Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth 
of Independent States, often legitimize discrimination against religious 
minorities by passing restrictive legislation containing onerous 
registration requirements and unbalanced treatment for such minority 
religious groups; and

    (6) the promotion of religious freedom has increasingly become a 
critical national security factor in United States foreign policy as 
respect for this right often serves as a litmus test for assessing and 
identifying ways to prevent and respond to the threat of religiously 
motivated terrorism from extremists throughout the world;

Whereas, in order to establish the internationally recognized right to freedom 
        of religion as a top priority in United States foreign policy, the IRFA 
        established the position of National Security Advisor on International 
        Religious Freedom, but this position has never been filled, limiting 
        coordination between the Office of the President and other agencies 
        handling religious freedom;
Whereas the IRFA also called upon the United States Government to fund programs 
        throughout the world that promote cultural respect and develop legal 
        protections for this international norm, called upon United States 
        embassies in countries the governments of which engage in severe 
        violations of religious freedom to develop strategies to promote this 
        international norm, and called for instruction to be provided at all 
        levels of the foreign service in the field of internationally recognized 
        human rights, including religious freedom, but it appears that these 
        directives have never been prioritized nor adequately implemented;
Whereas, in February 2005, the United States Commission on International 
        Religious Freedom, in a comprehensive study on the treatment of asylum 
        seekers in the United States, identified serious flaws undermining the 
        integrity of the system, yet most of the findings and recommendations 
        from this study, authorized by the IRFA, have not yet been addressed by 
        the Department of Homeland Security; and
Whereas the United States recognizes the need for additional domestic and 
        international attention and action to promote and protect the 
        fundamental freedom of religious liberty: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the tenth anniversary of the signing of the 
        International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) and the 
        fundamental importance of religious freedom within United 
        States historical experience and United States foreign policy;
            (2) urges all Member States of the United Nations to 
        respect their obligations to protect Article 18 of the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its entirety and 
        without subjecting it to national law or interpretations 
        inconsistent with the object and purpose of the Declaration;
            (3) calls upon the President and successive administrations 
        to--
                    (A) appoint a National Security Advisor on 
                International Religious Freedom to coordinate United 
                States foreign policy on religious freedom between the 
                Office of the President and other relevant agencies;
                    (B) continue to promote respect for the 
                internationally recognized right to freedom of religion 
                and fundamental human rights in all multilateral and 
                bilateral fora; and
                    (C) address the findings and recommendations of the 
                United States Commission on International Religious 
                Freedom in its study, authorized by the IRFA, on the 
                treatment of asylum-seekers in the United States, in 
                order to ensure the United States remains a refuge for 
                those individuals who have been persecuted on the basis 
                of religion or belief; and
            (4) calls upon the Secretary of State to--
                    (A) continue to ensure that no foreign government 
                official receives a visa to enter the United States if 
                that official has been directly involved in 
                particularly severe violations of religious freedom;
                    (B) ensure that religious freedom is a key 
                component of dialogue with all countries on the list of 
                countries of particular concern (CPC) or where concerns 
                exist, and to work with United States Ambassadors 
                serving in these countries to develop strategies to 
                promote cultural respect and develop legal protections 
                for this international norm;
                    (C) ensure that the funding of programs to promote 
                respect for the international right to religious 
                freedom is made a priority of United States foreign 
                assistance, and to ensure that training on the 
                international right to religious freedom and other 
                human rights is required in all foreign service officer 
                training; and
                    (D) develop strategies to address new situations of 
                grave concern related to respect for the right to 
                freedom of religion.
                                 <all>