[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2675 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2675

  To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to support 
                religious freedom in foreign countries.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 29, 2014

  Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Cruz) 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 support 
                religious freedom in foreign countries.

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

SECTION 1. PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS 
              FREEDOM.

    Section 401(b)(2) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 
1998 (22 U.S.C. 6441(b)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Deadline for actions.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), not later than 90 days after the date 
                on which each report is submitted under section 102(b), 
                the President shall take 1 or more of the actions 
                described in section 405(a) or a commensurate action 
                with respect to each foreign country in which the 
                government has engaged in or tolerated violations of 
                religious freedom at any time since the previous such 
                report was submitted.
                    ``(B) Additional prerequisite.--The President may 
                not take any of the actions described in paragraphs (9) 
                through (15) of section 405(a) or a commensurate action 
                until the President certifies that the requirements 
                under sections 403 and 404 have been satisfied.''.

SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO PARTICULARLY SEVERE 
              VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

    (a) Designations of Countries of Particular Concern for Religious 
Freedom.--Section 402(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 
1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``Not later than September 
                        1 of each year, the President shall review'' 
                        and inserting the following: ``Not later than 
                        90 days after the date on which each report is 
                        submitted under section 102(b), the President 
                        shall--
                            ``(i) review''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``or since the date'' and 
                        all that follows through ``longer. The 
                        President shall designate'' and inserting the 
                        following: ``longer; and
                            ``(ii) designate''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``prior to 
                September 1 of the respective year'' and inserting 
                ``before the date on which the report is submitted 
                under section 102(b)''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as 
                clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and moving each 
                clause 2 ems to the right;
                    (B) in the matter preceding clause (i), as 
                redesignated--
                            (i) by striking ``Whenever'' and inserting 
                        the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--Whenever''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``as soon as practicable'' 
                        and inserting ``not later than 120 days'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (A), as redesignated--
                            (i) in clause (i), as redesignated, by 
                        striking ``and'' at the end;
                            (ii) in clause (ii), as redesignated, by 
                        striking the period at the end and inserting 
                        ``; and''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) the actions taken, the purposes of 
                        the actions taken, and evaluation of the 
                        effectiveness of the actions taken.''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Countries recommended by the commission.--If 
                the President does not designate a country as a country 
                of particular concern for religious freedom under 
                paragraph (1)(A) after the Commission has recommended 
                such designation, the President shall submit a report 
                to Congress that contains the reasons for such 
                nondesignation.
                    ``(C) Removal of designation.--A country that is 
                designated as a country of particular concern for 
                religious freedom under paragraph (1)(A) shall retain 
                such designation until the President determines and 
                reports to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
                House of Representatives that the country should no 
                longer be so designated.''.
    (b) Presidential Actions With Respect to Countries of Particular 
Concern for Religious Freedom.--Section 402(c)(5) of the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(c)(5)) is amended--
            (1) in the second sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``must'' and inserting ``shall'';
                    (B) by striking ``he'' and inserting ``the 
                President''; and
                    (C) by inserting ``and include a description of the 
                impact of the designation of such sanction or 
                sanctions'' before the period at the end; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``The President 
        shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
        the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives that explains why the decision was made that 1 
        or more of such sanctions also satisfy the requirements of this 
        subsection.''.

SEC. 3. CONSULTATIONS.

    Section 403(a) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
(22 U.S.C. 6443(a)) is amended by striking ``As soon as practicable'' 
and inserting ``Not later than 90 days''.

SEC. 4. PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER.

    Section 407(a) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
(22 U.S.C. 6447(a)) is amended by inserting ``, for a 180-day period,'' 
after ``may waive''.

SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS.

    Section 409 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 
U.S.C. 6449) is amended by striking ``on the earlier of'' and all that 
follows through ``Upon'' and inserting ``upon''.
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