[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2711 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2711

To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious 
                    Freedom, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 30, 2014

  Mr. Durbin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious 
                    Freedom, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``United States Commission on 
International Religious Freedom Reform and Reauthorization Act of 
2014''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION.

    (a) Leadership.--Subsection (d) of section 201 of the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431(d)) is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(d) Election of Chair.--At the first meeting of the Commission 
after May 30 of each year, a majority of the Members of the Commission 
present and voting shall elect the Chair and Vice Chair of the 
Commission, subject to the following requirements:
            ``(1) Initial elections.--At the first meeting of the 
        Commission after May 30, 2015, the Members of the Commission 
        shall elect as Chair a Commissioner appointed by an elected 
        official of the political party that is not the political party 
        of the President, and as Vice Chair a Commissioner appointed by 
        an elected official of the political party of the President.
            ``(2) Future elections.--At the first meeting of the 
        Commission after May 30, 2016, the Members of the Commission 
        shall elect as Chair a Commissioner appointed by an elected 
        official of the political party of the President, and as Vice 
        Chair a Commissioner appointed by an elected official of the 
        political party that is not the political party of the 
        President. Thereafter, positions of Chair and Vice Chair shall 
        continue to rotate on an annual basis between Commissioners 
        appointed by elected officials of each political party.
            ``(3) Term limits.--No Member of the Commission is eligible 
        to be elected as Chair of the Commission for a second term, and 
        no Member of the Commission is eligible to be elected as Vice 
        Chair of the Commission for a second term.''.
    (b) Attendance at Meetings of Ambassador at Large for International 
Religious Freedom.--Subsection (f) of such section (22 U.S.C. 6431(f)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: ``The Ambassador at 
Large shall be given advance notice of all Commission meetings and may 
attend all Commission meetings as a non-voting Member of the 
Commission.''.
    (c) Appointments in Cases of Vacancies.--Subsection (g) of such 
section (22 U.S.C. 6431(g)) is amended by striking the second sentence.

SEC. 3. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

    Section 203(e) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
(22 U.S.C. 6432a) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(e) Views of the Commission.--The Members of the Commission may 
speak in their capacity as private citizens. Statements on behalf of 
the Commission shall be issued in writing over the names of the 
Members. Members of the Commission shall make every effort to reach 
consensus on all statements on behalf of the Commission, including 
testimony, press releases, and articles by Commissioners or Commission 
staff. When a statement supported by all Commissioners is not possible, 
the Commission shall issue a statement only if such statement is 
approved by an affirmative vote of at least six of the nine Members of 
the Commission and each Member of the Commission may include the 
individual or dissenting views of the Member. The Commission shall in 
its written statements clearly describe its statutory authority, 
distinguishing that authority from that of appointed or elected 
officials of the United States Government. Oral statements, where 
practicable, shall include a similar description.''.

SEC. 4. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

    (a) Staff Directors.--Section 204 of the International Religious 
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is amended by striking 
subsections (a), (b), and (c) and inserting the following new 
subsections:
    ``(a) Committee Functions.--Subject to subsection (c), the 
Commission may appoint and fix the pay of such staff personnel as it 
deems desirable. All decisions pertaining to the hiring, firing, and 
fixing of pay of personnel of the Commission shall be by an affirmative 
vote of at least six of the nine Members of the Commission, except 
that--
            ``(1) Members of the Commission appointed by an elected 
        official of the political party of the President, by a majority 
        vote thereof, shall be entitled to appoint, terminate, and fix 
        the pay of a Majority Staff Director and shall have the 
        authority to appoint, terminate, and fix the pay of three 
        professional staff members who shall be responsible to the 
        Members of the Commission of the political party of the 
        President; and
            ``(2) Members of the Commission appointed by an elected 
        official of the political party that is not the political party 
        of the President, by a majority vote thereof, shall be entitled 
        to appoint, terminate, and fix the pay of a Minority Staff 
        Director and shall have the authority to appoint, terminate, 
        and fix the pay of three professional staff members who shall 
        be responsible to the Members of the Commission of the 
        political party that is not the political party of the 
        President.
    ``(b) Staff Appointments and Compensation.--All staff appointments 
shall be made without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and 
subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5 relating to classification of 
positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay 
for the Majority Staff Director, Minority Staff Director, and other 
personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive 
Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
    ``(c) Qualifications of Professional Staff.--The Commission shall 
ensure that the professional staff of the Commission consists of 
persons with expertise in areas relevant to the issue of international 
religious freedom, including foreign affairs, direct experience abroad, 
human rights, and international law.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Subsection (e) of such section (22 
U.S.C. 6432b(e)) is amended by striking ``The Executive Director'' both 
places it appears and inserting ``The Majority Staff Director and the 
Minority Staff Director''.

SEC. 5. REPORT OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Report Publication Date.--Section 205(a) of the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6433(a)) is amended by 
striking ``Not later than May 1 of each year'' and inserting ``Each 
year, not earlier than 30 days after, and not later than 90 days after, 
the publication of the Department of State's Annual Report on 
International Religious Freedom''.
    (b) Consensus on Reports.--Section 205(c) of the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6433(c)) is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(c) Individual or Dissenting Views.--Members of the Commission 
shall make every effort to reach consensus on the report. When a report 
supported by all Commissioners is not possible, the report shall be 
approved by an affirmative vote of at least six of the nine Members of 
the Commission and each Member of the Commission may include the 
individual or dissenting views of the Member.''.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 207(a) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
(22 U.S.C. 6435(a)) is amended by striking ``2014'' and inserting 
``2016''.

SEC. 7. TERMINATION.

    Section 209 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 
U.S.C. 6436) is amended by striking ``September 30, 2014'' and 
inserting ``September 30, 2016''.
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