[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2466 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2466

To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the 
  desecration of cemeteries among the many forms of violations of the 
                      right to religious freedom.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 11, 2014

 Mr. Cardin (for himself and Mr. Risch) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the 
  desecration of cemeteries among the many forms of violations of the 
                      right to religious freedom.

    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) Cemeteries are sacred sites that are of great 
        spiritual, cultural, and historical significance to many 
        religious and ethnic groups.
            (2) Congress is committed to protecting and preserving the 
        heritage and sacred sites of national, religious, and ethnic 
        groups, which include cemeteries in the United States and 
        abroad.
            (3) Cemeteries around the world have, and continue to be, 
        defaced or destroyed as a direct result of their affiliation 
        with a particular religious or spiritual group.
            (4) Such attacks constitute an assault on the fundamental 
        right to freedom of religion, and are especially egregious when 
        sponsored or tolerated by the local or national governments in 
        the countries in which such offenses occur.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT OF 1998.

    Section 2(a)(4) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
(22 U.S.C. 6401(a)(4)) is amended by inserting ``desecration of 
cemeteries,'' after ``confiscations of property,''.
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