[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2037 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2037

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2015

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Reauthorization Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 201 of the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended by inserting 
before the period at the end the following: ``, which shall be an 
independent Federal Government advisory body''.
    (b) Selection.--Subparagraph (A) of section 201(b)(2) of the 
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431(b)(2)) is 
amended by inserting at the end the following new sentence: ``The 
Commission as a whole shall also have expertise on the variety of 
faiths practiced around the world.''.
    (c) Membership.--Subsection (b)(3) of section 201 of the 
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended 
by striking ``The appointments required by paragraph (1) shall be made 
not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.'' 
and inserting the following: ``An appointment required by subparagraph 
(B) of paragraph (1) should be made within 90 days of a vacancy on the 
Commission.''.
    (d) Vacancies.--Subsection (g) of section 201 of the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended by striking 
the second sentence.

SEC. 3. TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.

    Subsection (a) of section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 
(22 U.S.C. 4028) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1),
                    (A) by striking ``and the director'' and inserting 
                ``the director''; and
                    (B) inserting ``and members of the United States 
                Commission on International Religious Freedom,'' after 
                ``Training Center,''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by striking ``and the various'' and inserting 
                ``the various''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``, the relationship between 
                religious freedom and security, and the role of 
                religious freedom in United States foreign policy'' 
                after ``violations of religious freedom''.

SEC. 4. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 204 of the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is amended in the 
second sentence, by inserting ``voting'' after ``nine''.
    (b) Compensation.--Subsection (b) of section 204 of the 
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is 
amended by inserting ``voting members of the'' after ``The''.
    (c) Security Clearances.--Subsection (e) of section 204 of the 
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``The 
Department of State is encouraged to allow Commissioners and Commission 
staff with the appropriate security clearance access to classified 
information, in order to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of 
their positions.''.
    (d) Application of Antidiscrimination Laws.--Subsection (g) of 
section 204 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 
U.S.C. 6432b) is amended by inserting ``, including discrimination on 
the basis of religion'' after ``employment discrimination''.

SEC. 5. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND DISCLOSURE.

    Paragraph (2) of section 208(d)(2) of the International Religious 
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6435a(d)(2)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(H) Intern, fellowship, and volunteer programs 
                that are primarily of educational benefit to the 
                intern, fellow, or volunteer. Sponsoring private 
                parties may provide compensation and benefits to 
                interns, fellows, and volunteers, provided that no 
                conflict of interest arises. The number, duration, and 
                funding source of any such internship, fellowship, or 
                volunteer programs shall be described in the annual 
                financial report required by subsection (e).''.

SEC. 6. EXTENSION AND TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

    The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a) of section 207 (22 U.S.C. 6435), by 
        striking ``2015'' and inserting ``2021''; and
            (2) in section 209 (22 U.S.C. 6436), by striking 
        ``September 30, 2015'' and inserting ``September 30, 2021''.
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