[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 440 Received in Senate (RDS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 440


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 29, 2011

                                Received

                           December 17, 2011

                          Read the first time

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
   To provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to Promote 
 Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South 
                             Central Asia.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Seven Baha'i leaders in Iran have been wrongfully 
        imprisoned since 2008.
            (2) In May 2010, suspected terrorists attacked two mosques 
        in Pakistan belonging to the Ahmaddiya minority Muslim sect, 
        killing at least 80 people. Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim, 
        but Pakistani law does not recognize them as such.
            (3) Said Musa, an Afghan Christian convert, was arrested in 
        May 2010 on charges of apostasy, a crime which can carry the 
        death sentence, and was released in February 2011 only after 
        sustained international pressure.
            (4) On October 31, 2010, gunmen laid siege on Our Lady of 
        Salvation Church in Baghdad, Iraq killing at least 52 police 
        and worshipers, including two priests, making it the worst 
        massacre of Iraqi Christians since 2003.
            (5) Iraq's ancient and once vibrant Christian population 
        that numbered an estimated 1,500,000 out of a total population 
        in Iraq of 30,000,000 in 2003 has been reduced by at least one 
        half, due in significant part to Christians fleeing the 
        violence.
            (6) In November 2010, a Pakistani court sentenced Aasia 
        Bibi, a Christian mother of five, to death under the country's 
        blashphemy law for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
            (7) On New Year's Eve 2010, 23 people were killed when a 
        suicide bomber attacked a Coptic Christian church in 
        Alexandria, Egypt.
            (8) On March 2, 2011, Pakistani Federal Minorities Minister 
        Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian member of the Cabinet, who 
        was outspoken in his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws 
        was assassinated by extremists.
            (9) The Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
        Freedom Report stated that many religious minority groups in 
        Uzbekistan ``faced heavy fines and/or short jail terms for 
        violations of restrictive religion laws''.
            (10) The Special Envoy for Anti-Semitism, Hannah Rosenthal, 
        has noted that Holocaust glorification ``is especially virulent 
        in the Middle East media''.
            (11) A number of countries in the Middle East have recently 
        undergone popular revolutions which in some countries have left 
        security vacuums making religious minorities especially 
        vulnerable to violent attacks, such as--
                    (A) in March 2011, the Shahedin Church in Helwan 
                province, Egypt, was torched, leading to protests which 
                spurred sectarian clashes in the streets of Cairo;
                    (B) on March 20, 2011, a group of Salafists in 
                Upper Egypt cut off a Christian man's ear and burned 
                his home and car; and
                    (C) news reports from April 2011 indicate that 
                Salafi organizations in Egypt have been implicated in 
                the destruction of Sufi shrines across the country 
                fueling violent conflict.
            (12) Many of these ancient faith communities are being 
        forced to flee the lands which they have inhabited for 
        centuries.
            (13) The United States Commission on International 
        Religious Freedom has recommended that Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, 
        Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan be designated by the 
        Department of State as Countries of Particular Concern in 
        accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 
        1998.
            (14) The situation on the ground in the region continues to 
        develop rapidly and the United States Government needs an 
        individual who can respond in kind and focus on the critical 
        situation of religious minorities in these countries.

SEC. 2. SPECIAL ENVOY TO PROMOTE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS 
              MINORITIES IN THE NEAR EAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA.

    (a) Appointment.--The President shall appoint a Special Envoy to 
Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and 
South Central Asia (in this Act referred to as the ``Special Envoy'') 
within the Department of State.
    (b) Qualifications.--The Special Envoy should be a person of 
recognized distinction in the field of human rights and religious 
freedom and with expertise in the Near East and South Central Asia 
regions. The Special Envoy shall have the rank of ambassador and shall 
hold the office at the pleasure of the President.
    (c) Prohibition.--The person appointed as Special Envoy may not 
hold any other position of Federal employment for the period of time 
during which the person holds the position of Special Envoy.

SEC. 3. DUTIES.

    (a) In General.--The Special Envoy shall carry out the following 
duties:
            (1) Promote the right of religious freedom of religious 
        minorities in the countries of the Near East and the countries 
        of South Central Asia, denounce the violation of such right, 
        and recommend appropriate responses by the United States 
        Government when such right is violated.
            (2) Monitor and combat acts of religious intolerance and 
        incitement targeted against religious minorities in the 
        countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central 
        Asia.
            (3) Work to ensure that the unique needs of religious 
        minority communities in the countries of the Near East and the 
        countries of South Central Asia are addressed, including the 
        economic and security needs of such communities to the extent 
        that such needs are directly tied to religious-based 
        discrimination and persecution.
            (4) Work with foreign governments of the countries of the 
        Near East and the countries of South Central Asia to address 
        laws that are inherently discriminatory toward religious 
        minority communities in such countries.
            (5) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of that 
        portion of the report required by sections 116(d) and 502B(b) 
        of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 
        2304(b)) relating to the nature and extent of religious freedom 
        of religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and 
        the countries of South Central Asia.
            (6) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of that 
        portion of the report required by section 102(b) of the 
        International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)) 
        relating to the nature and extent of religious freedom of 
        religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and the 
        countries of South Central Asia.
    (b) Coordination.--In carrying out the duties under subsection (a), 
the Special Envoy shall, to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate 
with the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the Department 
of State, the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, 
the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and 
other relevant Federal agencies and officials.

SEC. 4. DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION.

    Subject to the direction of the President and the Secretary of 
State, the Special Envoy is authorized to represent the United States 
in matters and cases relevant to religious freedom in the countries of 
the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia in--
            (1) contacts with foreign governments, intergovernmental 
        organizations, and specialized agencies of the United Nations, 
        the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, and 
        other international organizations of which the United States is 
        a member; and
            (2) multilateral conferences and meetings relevant to 
        religious freedom in the countries of the Near East and the 
        countries of South Central Asia.

SEC. 5. PRIORITY COUNTRIES AND CONSULTATION.

    (a) Priority Countries.--In carrying out this Act, the Special 
Envoy shall give priority to programs, projects, and activities for 
Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
    (b) Consultation.--The Special Envoy shall consult with domestic 
and international nongovernmental organizations and multilateral 
organizations and institutions, as the Special Envoy considers 
appropriate to fulfill the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 6. FUNDING.

    (a) In General.--Of the amounts made available for ``Diplomatic and 
Consular Programs'' for fiscal years 2011 through 2015, $1,000,000 is 
authorized to be appropriated for each such fiscal year for the hiring 
of staff, for the conduct of investigations, and for necessary travel 
to carry out the provisions of this Act.
    (b) Funding Offset.--To offset the costs to be incurred by the 
Department of State for the hiring of staff, for the conduct of 
investigations, and for necessary travel to carry out the provisions of 
this Act for fiscal years 2011 through 2015, the Secretary of State 
shall eliminate such positions within the Department of State, unless 
otherwise authorized or required by law, as the Secretary determines to 
be necessary to fully offset such costs.
    (c) Limitation.--No additional funds are authorized to be 
appropriated for ``Diplomatic and Consular Programs'' to carry out this 
Act.

SEC. 7. SUNSET.

    This Act shall cease to be effective beginning on October 1, 2015.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 29, 2011.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.