[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
REVIEW OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IN
PROTECTING INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT
AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
OCTOBER 11, 2017
__________
Serial No. 115-61
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
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Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Trey Gowdy, South Carolina, Chairman
John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland,
Darrell E. Issa, California Ranking Minority Member
Jim Jordan, Ohio Carolyn B. Maloney, New York
Mark Sanford, South Carolina Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of
Justin Amash, Michigan Columbia
Paul A. Gosar, Arizona Wm. Lacy Clay, Missouri
Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts
Blake Farenthold, Texas Jim Cooper, Tennessee
Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia
Thomas Massie, Kentucky Robin L. Kelly, Illinois
Mark Meadows, North Carolina Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan
Ron DeSantis, Florida Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey
Dennis A. Ross, Florida Stacey E. Plaskett, Virgin Islands
Mark Walker, North Carolina Val Butler Demings, Florida
Rod Blum, Iowa Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
Jody B. Hice, Georgia Jamie Raskin, Maryland
Steve Russell, Oklahoma Peter Welch, Vermont
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Matt Cartwright, Pennsylvania
Will Hurd, Texas Mark DeSaulnier, California
Gary J. Palmer, Alabama Jimmy Gomez, California
James Comer, Kentucky
Paul Mitchell, Michigan
Greg Gianforte, Montana
Sheria Clarke, Staff Director
William McKenna General Counsel
Cordell Hull, Senior Counsel
Sharon Casey, Deputy Chief Clerk
David Rapallo, Minority Staff Director
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Subcommittee on National Security
Ron DeSantis, Florida, Chairman
Steve Russell, Oklahoma, Vice Chair Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts,
John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Ranking Minority Member
Justin Amash, Michigan Val Butler Demings, Florida
Paul A. Gosar, Arizona Peter Welch, Vermont
Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Mark DeSaulnier, California
Jody B. Hice, Georgia Jimmy Gomez, California
James Comer, Kentucky Vacancy
Vacancy
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on October 11, 2017................................. 1
WITNESSES
The Honorable Michael G. Kozak, Senior Advisor, Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State
Oral Statement............................................... 5
Written Statement............................................ 8
Ms. Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz, Vice Chair, Commission on
International Religious Freedom
Oral Statement............................................... 12
Written Statement............................................ 14
Thomas F. Farr, Ph.D., President, Religious Freedom Institute,
Director, Religious Freedom Research Project, Georgetown
University, Associate Professor, Walsh School of Foreign
Service, Georgetown University
Oral Statement............................................... 37
Written Statement............................................ 39
Mr. Rob Berschinski, Senior Vice President, Policy, Human Rights
First
Oral Statement............................................... 43
Written Statement............................................ 45
REVIEW OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S ROLE
IN PROTECTING INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
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Wednesday, October 11, 2017
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on National Security,
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
Washington, D.C.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:02 a.m., in
Room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ron DeSantis
[chairman of the subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives DeSantis, Russell, Duncan, Foxx,
Hice, Comer, Lynch, Demings, Welch, and Gomez.
Also Present: Representatives Gowdy and Palmer.
Mr. DeSantis. The Subcommittee on National Security would
come to order.
Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a
recess at any time.
The right to practice your religion freely is one of the
cornerstone freedoms we have in our country. In fact,
demonstrating its importance, freedom of religion is in the
very first amendment of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution.
Other countries take a narrower view of freedom of religion.
Some impose an official religion, while others actively
persecute those practicing a disfavored religion.
We are pleased to have here today witnesses from the State
Department; the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom, an independent, bipartisan government agency charged
with monitoring the religious environment overseas; the
president of Religious Freedom Institute; and a witness from
the nonprofit group Human Rights First.
In the State Department's most recent annual report on
international religious freedom, the Department noted the U.S.
Government promotes religious freedom because countries that
effectively safeguard this human right are more stable,
economically vibrant, and peaceful. The failure of governments
to protect these rights breeds instability, terrorism, and
violence.
Looking at countries with more restrictive religious
practices, one sees that many of them have significant national
security concerns. One commentator, a former high-level State
Department and NSC official, surveyed a number of conflicts in
U.S. history and noted, quote, ``Including World War II, every
major war the United States has fought over the past 70 years
has been against an enemy that also violated religious
freedom.'' As examples, he pointed to Nazi Germany, North
Korea, North Vietnam, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq, as well as
other sub-war conflicts, including the Cold War standoff with
Soviet communism. The subcommittee is interested in hearing
about the correlation between national security risks and
restrictions on the freedom of religion abroad.
We had a hearing on this issue in 2014, and there have been
some developments since then. Just last December, Congress
overwhelmingly passed the Frank Wolf International Religious
Freedom Act.That law amended the 1998 International Religious
Freedom Act, which made clear that international religious
freedom is a national security issue.
The Wolf Act contemplates using a whole-of-government
approach, including our national security agencies, to
encourage religious freedom abroad. One way we can do this is
already enshrined in Federal law: allowing the denial of a visa
to come into the United States for a foreign government
official responsible for particularly severe violations of
religious freedom.
To help Congress and the American people better understand
religious freedom abroad, both the State Department and USCIRF
produce annual reports discussing countries' levels of
religious freedom. By law, State is required to designate
countries of particular concern. State's deadline this year is
in mid-November, and I'm eager to see which countries are
designated.
The report listed countries of particular concern, but it
also listed terrorist entities like the Islamic State, the
Taliban, and Al Shabaab. It goes without saying that those
enemies are hostile to the free exercise of religion and pose
national security risks to the American people.
Looking at the USCIRF list of countries of particular
concern, there are a number of which are potential national
security threats, including China, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan,
Russia, and Syria, among others.
To help the United States' mission to enable religious
freedom worldwide, the International Religious Freedom Act
required the appointment of a Senate-confirmed ambassador.
President Trump nominated former Senator and current Governor
of Kansas Sam Brownback for the position, and he has had his
confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee just last week.
As this subcommittee discussed during the 2014 hearing, the
ambassador position sat vacant for extended stretches during
the Obama administration. It is important that the Senate move
quickly to confirm Governor Brownback. The world must know that
the United States takes its role seriously as a world leader in
promoting religious freedom.
Testifying today from the State Department is Ambassador
Michael Kozak, Senior Advisor for Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor. Also testifying is Kristina Arriaga, who serves as Vice
Chair on the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom.
Joining us, as well, is Professor Thomas Farr, who is
president of the Religious Freedom Institute, the director of
the Religious Freedom Research Project at Georgetown
University, and associate professor of the practice of religion
at Georgetown School of Foreign Service. Finally, we have Rod
Berschinski, a senior vice president of policy at Human Rights
First.
I want to thank the witnesses for their attendance. I look
forward to your testimony today.
And, at this point, I'd like to recognize the ranking
member of the subcommittee, Mr. Lynch, for his opening
statement.
Mr. Lynch. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to thank you
for holding this hearing to examine the progress of U.S.
Government efforts to promote international religious freedom.
I'd also like to welcome and thank our panel of witnesses
this morning for its willingness to come and help this
committee with its work.
The U.S. framework to address international religious
persecution is based on our shared commitment to advancing
religious freedom as a fundamental and inalienable human right.
It also recognizes that the protection of religious freedom
abroad is critical to our national security. As recently stated
by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson--this is a quote--``Where
religious freedom is not protected, we know that instability,
human rights abuses, and violent extremism have a greater
opportunity to take root,'' close quote.
Similarly, the independent U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom underscores that religious freedom is a vital
element of national security and critical to ensuring a more
peaceful, prosperous, and stable world.
In furtherance of these objectives, the Office of
International Religious Freedom at the State Department
monitors religious persecution and discrimination worldwide and
releases an annual report detailing the status of international
freedom in each country. The office also identifies--and this
is a particular term to the study--countries of particular
concern for subsequent designation by the Secretary of State
given their severe violations of religious freedom.
In announcing the first annual report on religious freedom
issued under the Trump administration in August of 2017,
Secretary Tillerson highlighted the particular threat posed by
the terrorist group known as ISIS as a result of its genocidal
activities targeting Yazidis, Christians, Shia Muslims, and
other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria. This
latest report also notes that 10 nations were rightfully
designated as countries of particular concern--those have been
listed by my colleague, the chairman--in October of 2016,
including, again, North Korea, Iran, China, Saudi Arabia--
excuse me--and Saudi Arabia.
As the State Department continues its work to identify
countries of particular concern for 2017, the Office of
International Religious Freedom should coordinate with the
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Congress has statutorily authorized this bipartisan and
independent commission to conduct its own oversight in this
area and develop policy recommendations to further inform the
State Department's designation process.
Importantly, the Commission has strongly recommended that
the State Department add six countries to its list for 2017 due
to their perpetration and/or tolerance of systematic, ongoing,
and egregious violations of religious freedom.
Chief among these additional countries is Russia. This
year, in fact, marks the first time that the Commission has
recommended Russia as a country of particular concern, in light
of its continued religious freedom violations in the Russian
mainland as well as activities in Ukraine and Crimea. According
to the Commission's 2017 annual report, Russia presents a
unique case in religious persecution, as the sole state to have
not only continually intensified its repression of religious
freedom but also to have expanded its repressive policies to
the territories of a neighboring state by means of military
invasion and occupation.
The repressive policies implemented by the Russian
Government include administrative harassment, arbitrary
imprisonment, and extrajudicial killing, as well as the
enactment of new laws in 2016 that criminalize all non-
government-sanctioned private religious speech.
Moreover, the Russian Supreme Court recently upheld a
Justice Ministry order calling for the liquidation of the
Jehovah's Witnesses denomination and prohibiting its operations
as a so-called extremist organization. Russian security forces
also continue to subject minority Muslim groups to fabricated
terrorism charges, kidnappings, and disappearances.
I strongly believe that the State Department should accept
the Commission's recommendation and add Russia to the
designation list.
Reports of religious persecution and intolerance in Russia
are not at all surprising, considering the impunity with which
the Russian Government continues to conduct itself on the world
stage. In January of 2017, our Nation's intelligence community
issued an unclassified and unprecedented high-confidence
assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an
influence campaign aimed at the 2016 U.S. Presidential
election. This malicious campaign included cyber breaches and
other covert intelligence operations, as well as nefarious
efforts undertaken by Russian Government agencies, state-
sanctioned media, and even paid social-media users to spread
Russian-desired messaging and to interfere in the election.
To date, our committee has not held a hearing to examine
that intelligence-community-wide assessment that Russia
attempted to undermine our national security and compromise the
very foundation of our democratic process.
And, in closing, I just want to say that I am very happy
that the name of Frank Wolf was resurrected in today's hearing.
I had a wonderful part of my tenure serving with Frank Wolf,
and I know he represented the 10th Congressional District in
Virginia. It is great that we're carrying on the work of such a
great champion of religious freedom.
Mr. Chairman, I look forward to discussing these and other
issues with today's witnesses, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
Mr. DeSantis. I thank the ranking member.
I have introduced the witnesses in my opening statement,
but, just for the record, we do have Ambassador Kozak, we have
Kristina Arriaga, we have Dr. Farr, and we have Mr.
Berschinski.
So we appreciate you all being here. Thank you.
Pursuant to committee rules, all witnesses will be sworn in
before they testify. So if you could all please rise, raise
your right hand.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you're about to
give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?
Thank you. Please be seated.
All witnesses answered in the affirmative.
In order to allow time for discussion, please limit your
testimony to 5 minutes. Your entire written statement will be
made a part of the record. As a reminder, the clock in front of
you shows your remaining time. The light will turn yellow when
you have 30 seconds left and red when your time is up. Please
also remember to press the button to turn your microphone on
before speaking.
And, with that, I would like to recognize Ambassador Kozak
for 5 minutes.
WITNESS STATEMENTS
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE MICHAEL G. KOZAK
Mr. Kozak. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For you and members of
the committee, thank you for holding this hearing to focus
attention on international religious freedom--a cherished
American value, a universal human right, and a Trump
administration foreign policy priority.
As you mentioned, President Trump has nominated Governor
Brownback to be the Ambassador-at-Large for International
Religious Freedom. Amongst his other accomplishments, he's
coauthored two books on the subject and, as Senator, was a key
sponsor of the International Religious Freedom Act. We could
not ask for a more distinguished nominee.
President Trump has stated that the United States looks
forward to a day when people of all faiths--Christians and
Muslims and Jewish and Hindu--can follow their hearts and
worship according to their conscience. Vice President Pence has
said, under President Trump, America will continue to stand for
religious freedom of all people of all faiths across the world.
In August, Secretary Tillerson mentioned that conditions in
many parts of the world are far from ideal. As was mentioned,
he stated that ISIS is clearly responsible for genocide against
Yazidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims and is responsible for
crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
United States efforts to help include our leadership of the
Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. Coalition-backed forces have
liberated more than three-quarters of the territory ISIS once
controlled in Iraq and about two-thirds of the territory it
once controlled in Syria. ISIS has not regained control of any
of this territory due in part to the Coalition's work to
stabilize liberated communities.
But more robust steps must be taken in coming months so
that Iraq's religious minority communities can provide for
their own security. We continue to support the Iraqi
Government's efforts to enhance local government and establish
local security forces.
Stabilization projects in Iraq include minorities ISIS
targeted for genocide. In Sinjar District, a predominantly
Yazidi area, the U.N. Development Programme has completed the
rehabilitation of the Sinouni hospital and primary health
clinic, seven schools, and seven water wellheads and pumps, and
has more projects planned for later this year. In the historic
Christian town of Bartella, trained explosive ordnance disposal
teams have cleared schools, medical facilities, and other key
infrastructure.
These efforts are setting up conditions for displaced
people to voluntarily return to their home. We will ensure
stabilization assistance reaches all liberated areas as quickly
as possible.
Our bureau is working on programs that empower minorities
to advocate on issues such as key pieces of legislation.
Programs also promote stabilization efforts, more equitable and
representative political participation, and access to services
and governance structures. These programs engage the majority
as well as minority communities, recognizing that preservation
of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq cannot be sustained
without support and understanding of their value within
mainstream Iraqi society.
Another global concern is our work to reform discriminatory
laws that deprive many of their ability to exercise their
religious belief. Iran, for example, has 20 individuals
executed in 2016 on charges that included waging war again God.
Members of the Baha'i community are in prison for abiding their
beliefs.
In Saudi Arabia, the government does not recognize the
right of non-Muslims to practice their religion in public and
has used prison sentences, lashings, fines for apostasy,
atheism, blasphemy, and insulting the state's interpretation of
Islam.
In Turkey, non-Sunni Muslims face discrimination and
violence. The United States continues to advocate for the
immediate release of Pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been
wrongfully imprisoned there.
In Bahrain, the government continued to target Shia
clerics, and members of the community were discriminated
against in government employment, education, and the justice
system.
In China, the government tortures, detains, and imprisons
thousands for practicing their religious beliefs.
In Pakistan, two dozen people are on death row or life
imprisonment for blasphemy.
And, in Sudan, the government arrests and intimidates
clergy.
We appreciate the committee raising the connection between
the state of international religious freedom and America's
national security. Our efforts to defend religion, in brief, is
in our national interest. Places where religious freedom is
denied, left unattended, can become full-blown security crises
with effects far beyond their immediate neighborhoods. Mass
migration caused by persecution can be destabilizing. And
resentment borne of discrimination and persecution for one's
faith can create a fertile ground for radicalization to
violence and terrorist recruitment.
In closing, I would note that the International Religious
Freedom Act calls on our government to stand for liberty and
stand with the persecuted, to use and implement appropriate
tools in the United States foreign policy apparatus, including
diplomatic, commercial, charitable, educational, and cultural
channels, to promote respect for religious freedom by all.
We appreciate that these issues have always had strong
bipartisan support, and we want to work closely with Congress
to help persecuted minorities. Thank you again for holding this
hearing to review the U.S. role in protecting international
religious freedom.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Kozak follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. DeSantis. Thank you.
Ms. Arriaga, you're up for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF KRISTINA ARRIAGA DE BUCHOLZ
Ms. Arriaga. Thank you. My name is Kristina Arriaga. I'm
the vice chairwoman of the United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom.
Today, I'd like to offer three observations, which I
explore more fully in my written testimony. Thanks for
accepting it for the record.
Number one, we ignore religious freedom at our own peril.
The U.S. Government must factor into its foreign policy
religious freedom, a foundational human right, a source of
peace, stability, and economic vitality, and a key factor in
countries worldwide. For example, those whose religious freedom
has been violated can become susceptible to extremist
indoctrination, and governments that commit violations or allow
them to occur with impunity often sow the seeds of their own
instability.
Number two, some view religion as competition or as
alternate source of authority. This is dangerous to the United
States. These countries use national security concerns to
justify violating religious freedom, they pit groups against
each other to enhance their own power, they allow violators to
act with impunity, and they incite vigilante groups and others
to violence. However, by exercising control in these ways,
governments in Russia, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan,
for example, create more instability, not enhance authority.
Number three, hit them where it hurts. No one who violates
human rights in their own country should be granted a visa to
come to this country. The U.S. Government has tools to address
religious freedom violations, including the 1998 IRFA, the 2016
Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, and the Global
Magnitsky Act. However, we must have the political will to use
these tools, and that is sometimes where we can fall short.
Congress plays an indispensable role, including by holding
hearings, passing new legislation, and appropriating ample
funding, exercising oversight, focusing on accountability,
continually creating and refining the tools needed to address
challenges, including accountability for genocide and crimes
against humanity, using your own bully pulpits to highlight
violations, and advocating for those who are persecuted and
detained.
I will end by focusing on two issues dear to my heart:
religious prisoners of conscience and women and religious
freedom.
I hope all members can support prisoners through the Tom
Lantos Commission Defending Freedoms Project, launched in
conjunction with USCIRF and Amnesty International USA. To do
our part, each one of us are advocating for a prisoner as part
of our Religious Prisoner of Conscience Project. I chose Fariba
Kamalabadi, who is in Iran in prison simply because she's a
Baha'i.
Last week, during a USCIRF delegation visit to Turkey,
Commissioner Sandra Jolley and I drove to the remote prison of
Kiriklar to meet with Pastor Andrew Brunson. We were the first
to see him besides his wife, attorney, and the consular
officer. He has been imprisoned on fabricated charges.
This picture--he doesn't look like this anymore. He's lost
over 50 pounds. He has suffered tremendous psychological
pressure. And we must continue to advocate for his immediate
release.
Finally, building lasting peace and security requires the
participation of women. Especially during conflicts, women are
often targeted for violence and discrimination, with religion
or the excuse of religion used to disempower women. In fact, it
is a betrayal of the very foundations of freedom of religion or
belief whenever it's misused to justify inexcusable and harmful
practices, such as female genital mutilation, child brides, and
forced conventions. Unfortunately, this practice has been
exported. In our own country, there are half a million girls at
risk for female genital mutilation.
My written testimony ended by quoting Martin Luther King.
Here, I would like to quote Yogi Berra, who said, ``If you come
to a fork in the road, take it.'' The United States must commit
to travel the road of advocating for international religious
freedom with determination, passion, and commitment.
Thank you very much.
[Prepared statement of Ms. Arriaga follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. DeSantis. Thank you.
Dr. Farr, you're recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF THOMAS F. FARR, PH.D.
Mr. Farr. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
My message to you today is straightforward and hopeful.
Advancing religious freedom more successfully in our foreign
policy can help the victims of religious persecution abroad and
increase the security of the American people. But if we are to
succeed, we will need to change some of our thinking and
strengthen some of our programs at the State Department.
Growing evidence indicates that religious freedom can
undermine religion-related terrorism. The evidence applies to
violence that emanates from any religion, but the primary
threat to U.S. national security and that of most other
nations, especially Muslim-majority nations, is Islamist
terrorism.
Our approach to terrorism as a religious freedom issue has
understandably focused on the minority religious groups
victimized by the terrorists or by governments. The methods
historically used by the State Department to address religious
persecution consist in large part of annual reports and annual
designations of the worst violators. The International
Religious Freedom Act also authorized economic sanctions.
These reports are important. They are vitally important.
They are generally accurate and reliable. But they are entirely
diagnostic in nature. They shine a light on the problem but do
little to solve it.
Unfortunately, economic sanctions are rarely effective.
When they've been tried, they haven't worked. Governments are
unlikely to change their religion policies because of sanctions
alone. Additional policies are needed to supplement the
leverage provided by sanctions or other negative incentives the
United States might impose.
State Department-funded programs are a good place to start,
especially if those programs provide convincing reasons to the
target nations why religious freedom is in their interests.
Under former Religious Freedom Ambassador David Saperstein,
program funding increased to $20 million a year. But even that
amount pales in comparison to other programs intended to
protect American national security.
Unfortunately, the religious freedom programs that do
exist, such as those mentioned by Ambassador Kozak, which are
often splendid programs, are not part of a strategy, certainly
not an all-of-government strategy. They are spread too thin.
They are too ad hoc to have any appreciable impact on Islamist
terrorism or to convince governments that religious freedom is
in their interest.
The unfortunate reality is that our religious freedom
policy has been isolated from the mainstream of U.S. foreign
policy. Until recently, it's been largely overlooked as a means
of promoting stability and national security.
Social scientists at the Religious Freedom Institute, where
I work, are demonstrating something that America's founders
understood instinctively: Religious freedom forms the basis of
other human rights. It's necessary for the success of any
society, especially highly religious societies.
The evidence shows that religious freedom has a causal
impact on social, political, and economic goods, such as long-
term political stability, economic growth, and undermining
religion-related violence. Societies that lack religious
freedom are far more likely to incubate, experience
domestically, and export internationally religion-related
terrorism.
The reverse is also true; societies that protect religious
freedom generally do not incubate or export violence and
terrorism. Several Muslim-majority states in West Africa, for
example, have avoided the violent extremism that plagues other
Muslim states. Each has significant legal protections for
religious freedom of Muslims and non-Muslims. The result is a
stabilizing religious pluralism that discourages religious
extremism.
Let me conclude with some practical recommendations.
Religious freedom policy can advance U.S. national security
by focusing less on rhetorical enunciations and combining
practical incentives with convincing self-interest arguments.
For example, the State Department recently announced the
withholding of $290 million in aid to Egypt because of its
harsh restrictions on religious communities and other human
rights violations. This is a good start but unlikely to change
things on the ground. Egypt is not going to change its
religious freedom policies for $290 million.
The U.S. should also provide the Egyptian Government with
hard evidence that their repressive laws and policies--that
altering their repressive laws and policies will benefit Egypt,
for example, by reducing the violent extremism that is harming
the country's all-important tourist industry.
Iraq provides another opportunity. Since 2014, the U.S. has
allocated nearly $1.7 billion in humanitarian aid to Iraq, but
most of that aid has not reached the Christian minorities
designated by us as victims of ISIS genocide. This is a U.S.
national security problem as well as a humanitarian problem.
Religious pluralism is a necessary condition for long-term
stability in Iraq. If minorities do not return and stay, Iraq
will likely become a perpetual Shia-Sunni battleground, where
terrorism flourishes.
Success in these efforts will not come easy, Mr. Chairman,
but the long war against Islamist terrorism cannot be won with
law enforcement and military force alone. America needs new
ideas and new combatants to win this war, and religious freedom
should be part of the mix.
Thank you.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Farr follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. DeSantis. Thank you.
Mr. Berschinski, you're recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF ROB BERSCHINSKI
Mr. Berschinski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for
having me here today to testify.
I work in an organization whose mission is to foster
American global leadership on human rights, including religious
freedom, not just as a moral obligation but also as a vital
national interest. I bring this perspective to today's hearing
and hope that it will inform discussion this morning in at
least three ways.
First, it's important to recognize that the U.S.
Government's work to ensure that foreign governments do not
encroach on an individual's rights to freedom of religion and
conscience will be less effective if these efforts are divorced
from work to uphold other fundamental freedoms.
As several have mentioned, a review of the U.S.
Government's list of countries of particular concern bears out
this fact. In no state is religious intolerance an outlier to a
more widespread pattern of abuses. Simply put, repressive
governments tend to seek control over any organized body of
individuals and to view those outside of the government's
direct control as a threat to their power.
Thus, attacks on religion and belief often relate to and
sometimes stand in for attacks on political opposition, human
rights activists and lawyers, as Ms. Arriaga mentioned, on
women, on LGBT people, and on ethic minorities. This fact is
worth bearing in mind as this committee considers the
administration's ability to promote religious liberty and
reduce attacks on religious communities.
As this committee is no doubt aware, the administration's
budget request of $37.6 billion to fund the State Department
and USAID for fiscal year 2018 is roughly 30 percent lower than
that which Congress appropriated for fiscal year 2017. The
request for human-rights-related work, which includes funding
dedicated to international religious freedom, seeks to cut even
deeper. While both the House and Senate to date have largely
rejected these draconian cuts, the fact that they were both
proposed in the first place should raise questions.
The administration deserves credit for nominating a
distinguished public servant for the position of Ambassador-at-
Large for International Religious Freedom. Yet the White House
has yet to announce a nominee for the position of Assistant
Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor or
nominees to lead the Bureaus of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
and Near Eastern Affairs, among others. These are areas of
ongoing gross abuses against religious minorities, and we
deserve to have appropriately credentialed leaders focusing on
them daily.
Secretary of State Tillerson recently wrote that, while he
intends to retain the position of Ambassador-at-Large for
International Religious Freedom and place other envoys under
this position, he did not plan to have the Ambassador-at-Large
report directly to him, which, in my analysis, does not appear
to conform to the Frank Wolf Act.
The Secretary also indicated that he sought to eliminate
other positions working to advance religious tolerance. This
includes the U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation, which was created during the Bush administration
and has since performed a valuable, tangible function: to
increase protections for believers and nonbelievers alike.
Additionally, the administration has elected, through its
various travel bans and recent decision to cap the number of
refugee admissions at an all-time low, to take steps that will
be seen by audiences around the world as not in keeping with
America's leadership role in promoting religious freedom and
protecting the most vulnerable.
This brings me to my second point, which is that among the
greatest challenges to religious freedom today is that foreign
governments are acting in the name of countering terrorism to
repress their citizens.
As we have seen from countries as diverse as Azerbaijan,
Bahrain, China, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Tajikistan,
governments are increasingly conflating peaceful religious
expression with terrorist activity in order to justify
repression. Not only do such laws and policies regularly
threaten religious communities and other peaceful civic
organizations, they often have the effect of advancing the very
radicalization that they are ostensibly meant to confront.
In the Middle East, these actions contribute to the
heightened sectarian nature of the wars in Syria, Iraq, and
Yemen. Countries including Azerbaijan, China, and Tajikistan
have moved aggressively against members of peaceful political
opposition groups and religious communities, often justifying
their actions on dubious counterterrorism grounds. And, as was
mentioned, in Russia, recently amended anti-extremism laws have
established a legal framework that allows the state to curtail
essentially all forms of peaceful dissent as well as disfavored
religious speech and practice.
Concluding with a third point, I'd like to touch on an
issue that deals with rising anti-Semitism in Europe, a trend
that the U.S. Government should do more to address head-on.
Examples of anti-Jewish violence from members of Muslim
communities in France and elsewhere, as well as recurring
credible allegations of anti-Semitic statements by members of
the U.K.'s Labour Party, demonstrate that this is not a trend
confined to a certain sector of European society or the
political spectrum.
That said, in countries ranging from France to Germany to
Hungary to Poland, right-wing populist parties and governments
are increasingly trafficking in and turning a blind eye to
anti-Semitic rhetoric. They are thus engendering climates
increasingly conducive to violence.
In instances in which these parties have come to power, as
in Hungary and Poland, they have embarked on a multifaceted
effort to undermine the rule of law, weaken governmental checks
and balances, and impair civil society. As these values
underpin transatlantic security and prosperity, this should
alarm us all.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Berschinski follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. DeSantis. Thank you.
The chair notes the presence of our colleague, the
gentleman from Alabama, Mr. Palmer. I ask unanimous consent
that Mr. Palmer be allowed to fully participate in today's
hearing.
And, without objection, it's so ordered.
The chair also had noted the presence of the full committee
chairman, but I think he will grace us with his presence
shortly.
The chair now recognizes myself for 5 minutes.
Dr. Farr and Ambassador Kozak, you both touched on some of
the discrimination against people in places like Iran and Saudi
Arabia. Mr. Berschinski had mentioned how sometimes the
oppressing people based on religion can be a proxy for just
political disagreements, but in Iran and Saudi Arabia the root
of the discrimination is just based on a sharia-based society.
I mean, the law is being applied to where, if you're not of
that particular persuasion, you are disfavored, correct?
Mr. Kozak. Yes. I mean, I think both are true, that you're
disfavored because you're not of that persuasion, but it's also
people who want to maintain political power make themselves the
interpreters of what is the applicable religious doctrine. So
they play off each other to a very bad effect.
Mr. Farr. Couldn't agree more. This is religious
persecution, plain and simple. It's motivated by a religious
view that certain religious opinions and groups are not
acceptable. Ms. Arriaga has talked about these Baha'i in Iran,
these women who have been in prison for 10 years for nothing
more than being Baha'i. That's religious persecution par
excellence, if I can put it that way.
Mr. DeSantis. So what--because you had mentioned some of
the countries in Africa that don't have the same problems. What
is the distinction between those?
Because I noted, you know, the President of Egypt, el-Sisi,
he gave a speech in front of some of the Islamic clerics, and
he said, look, you can't have a faith that views its role to be
at war with people who disagree with you. So he was, I think,
trying to chart a course where, you know, you can have an
Islamic-based society that doesn't necessarily do that.
But what separates the Irans from the countries that, even
though they have Muslim majorities, are not trying to
discriminate against non---and it's not just non-Muslims. I
mean, you've got to be this certain type of Muslim if you're in
Iran.
Mr. Farr. Precisely so. And I think the answer lies in the
history of these countries, but it also, in these seven West
African countries, has to do with the fact that they've
discovered this works. I mean, it produces more economic
growth, it produces more political civility, people are killing
each other less, people are freer.
So some of this is just practical. And what I've called for
is for us to be a little bit more down to Earth in the way that
we can convince governments that it's in their interest to
allow greater religious freedom or at least religious
tolerance. Move away from some of these crackdowns.
Each government is tough--and you named the two toughest,
frankly, other than North Korea: Iran and Saudi Arabia. They
are very, very difficult. But it doesn't mean we should not be
really trying to make the self-interest argument to them,
particularly in Iran, where you have, it seems to me, a large
number of younger Iranian citizens who are generally pro-
American. They are open to some of these messages, but if they
speak out, they're going to get hurt. We need to address those
problems too.
Mr. DeSantis. Well, I hope that--I mean, the practical
point you make about the experience clearly is lost on the
ruling elites in Iran. But, hopefully, throughout Iranian
society, where I think you do have people who are much more
pro-Western in terms of some of their values, that that could
be an impetus to eventually go in a different direction with
that society. Because, I mean, it's a totalitarian state.
What about the suspension of the visas for people who are
denying religious freedom? Ms. Arriaga, you mentioned it. It's
in the law. I mean, my view is we ought to enforce that. I
mean, if we're not going to enforce this stuff, then why are we
even passing it?
What has been done to do that? I mean, I think if we
followed the law, it'd be very difficult for people from Iran
and Saudi Arabia to get visas to come here, but yet that
happens.
Ms. Arriaga. We need to have a more comprehensive way to
keep those lists. We know for a fact that there are thousands
of the children of human rights violators around the world that
come here to go to school and go to college here, and the Wolf
Act precisely is asking for a more comprehensive list of
violators as well as a more comprehensive list of conscience
prisoners. So making sure that we have the correct information
is a good place to begin.
Mr. DeSantis. Ambassador Kozak, what's the answer?
Mr. Kozak. Yes. No, we've found that the visa denial is a
very effective tool, whether it's for human rights violations
generally or religious freedom violations in particular.
One of the complications of making lists is that there are
multiple bases for denying people visas, and the consular
officers tend to take the easiest one. So if you have someone
who has committed extrajudicial killings or torture, they're
banned anyway as part of the Immigration and Nationality Act,
so they don't need to go to the question of did they do this
for religious reasons or did they do this for human rights
reasons. So it makes compilation of lists a little bit
complicated.
But it's a very effective tool, and we've deployed it, I
think, to great effect in a number of places.
Mr. DeSantis. Thank you. My time is up, and I will
recognize the ranking member for 5 minutes.
Mr. Lynch. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Let's take this from sort of a 30,000-foot level. I know
that President Trump has recommended a 30-percent cut in the
State Department budget. That's for the State Department and
also USAID. Let me put it in the words of a Republican Senator,
Lindsey Graham. He described that move, cutting the budget by
30 percent, as, quote, ``radical and reckless.''
Ms. Arriaga, your feelings on that?
Ms. Arriaga. The United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom makes recommendations to the State
Department, but we do not take a position on its budget. I'm
sure Ambassador Kozak will be happy to answer that question.
Mr. Lynch. Mr. Kozak, she just threw you under the bus, but
go ahead.
Mr. Kozak. I support the President's budget request----
Mr. Lynch. Oh, do you?
Mr. Kozak. --as any administration----
Mr. Lynch. Okay.
Mr. Kozak. --witness would. But----
Mr. Lynch. Mr. Berschinski, how about you?
Mr. Berschinski. So, as I mentioned a little bit in my
testimony, I think, overall, the budget cuts are pretty
reckless. I think that they were made out of the gate, without
appropriate understanding of the nature of diplomacy, the
number of complex issues the State Department and USAID are
working through. I think ultimately they're going to harm our
ability to promote human rights and religious liberty as well.
Mr. Lynch. Fair enough.
So, Ms. Arriaga and Mr. Berschinski, you both bring up the
situation of Russia in your written remarks. As you've both
noted, last year, new Russian laws effectively criminalized all
private religious speech not sanctioned, not approved by the
Russian Government--sort of a government filter on religious
speech.
Also, the Jehovah's Witnesses were banned in the North
Caucasus. Particularly in Chechnya and Dagestan, security
forces continue to carry out arrests and kidnappings of people
suspected of any link to, quote, ``nontraditional Islam,'' as
defined by the government.
So, Mr. Berschinski, do you think that Russia's repression
of the religious rights of its own people and those of
neighboring countries is something that should be of particular
concern to the United States?
Mr. Berschinski. I do.
And I wouldn't limit it to just repression on religious
grounds. In addition to all the things you mentioned, the
Russian Government is involved in a widespread focus on
repressing any actor or organization that can pose a challenge
to state control.
So we see that in terms of journalists and opposition
politicians murdered and imprisoned. We see it in terms of
broad-based attacks on NGOs working on human rights and
religious freedom, certainly, but also on issues of health and
the environment, forcing dozens to close, many more tarred as
foreign agents, as traitors, harassed, raided, and so on.
We see a media landscape that at one point had a fairly
free and fair media environment that's now essentially a
propaganda machine directed and controlled by the Kremlin. We
see it in terms of what should be described as pogroms against
gay people in Chechnya, detaining them illegally, abusing them,
and, in some cases, murdering them.
So we see this repression across the board right now in
Russia. And I think that we can draw a tie between the
repression that the Russian Government is enacting at home and
its behavior abroad, some of which was mentioned earlier in
terms of the invasion of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea, the
attacks on the Tatar Muslim minority population there, as we
all know, the Russian Government's involvement in Syria and the
Russian Government's involvement in both the U.S. Presidential
election and what seem to be continuing efforts to raise
societal tensions in the United States and in countries across
Europe.
I think this is a continuing threat, and I feel that there
is reason for the U.S. population to be concerned, because the
repression at home is tied to some of these behaviors abroad.
Mr. Lynch. Thank you.
Ms. Arriaga, in the most recent report that I have on the
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, they talk
about what's going on in eastern Ukraine and also in Crimea. We
don't hear a lot about that. What is going on? That report
seems to lay out some very repressive activity.
Ms. Arriaga. Yeah. USCIRF continues to receive weekly
reports of Putin's thugs acting with impunity. The Jehovah's
Witnesses have even produced, for instance, videos, information
being planted in their houses of worship. And, unfortunately,
in Ukraine and Crimea, we have received reports of people being
arrested arbitrarily and also being executed without a trial.
John Ruskay, a fellow commissioner, has adopted a Muslim
political prisoner from Russia. He was accused of studying
pacifist Islam. His name is Bagir Kazikhanov. And we are
advocating for individuals, humanizing the story and also
highlighting what's going on in Crimea and the Ukraine.
Mr. Lynch. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My time has expired.
Thank you for your courtesy.
Mr. DeSantis. Thank you.
The chair now recognizes Chairman Foxx for 5 minutes.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you
for convening this hearing.
Ambassador Kozak, I believe the freedom-defending world can
do more to prevent atrocity crimes if it can deter severe
violations of religious freedom earlier on. The Frank Wolf Act
amends the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act in several
ways, including by creating the designating persons list and
sanctioning mechanisms for non-state actors.
Could you elaborate on how this provision of the act could
be used to address violations of religious freedom,
particularly those committed by Burmese security forces, non-
state actors, and other nationalist groups and individuals
against the Rohingya minority facing ethic cleansing?
Mr. Kozak. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
The act does give us some additional tools in being able
to--I mean, obviously, we have spoken out against non-state
actors who've committed these gross violations, as Secretary
Tillerson did with respect to the genocidal acts of ISIS in
Iraq, and we have been able to speak out against individuals.
But I think this will give us an opportunity or an impetus to
put them together more methodically.
The Rohingya situation today is just appalling. The attacks
with security forces and also societal attacks have resulted,
at this point, in half of the people in Rakhine State, half of
the Rohingya, leaving and living across the border in terrible
conditions--murders, rapes, just every manner of atrocity
committed against them.
We have, as I think you know, been trying for years to find
some way to throttle back people's behavior in this respect and
have appealed to the government, appealed to the Burmese
military to stop it. But it's a little bit what the chairman
said: People in power--sometimes the argument as to what's in
the best interest of the country doesn't resonate with them
because it's not in their best interest in terms of maintaining
their own power. And trying to find the right combination of
carrots and sticks to persuade them to do otherwise is
difficult.
But it's something that's got to be done. It's something
we've spent an awful lot of time and energy on, trying to find
the right combination of programs, diplomatic activity, advice,
pressure. And hopefully we will find a way to throttle it back,
because it's a terrible situation that's getting worse.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you.
Ms. Arriaga, I note in your testimony you highlighted how
religion has been used to disempower women and that women and
girls are often victims of religious freedom violations,
extremism, and discriminatory personal status laws.
Could you discuss the complexities and synergies between
the rights of women and girls, freedom of religion, and what
religious freedom advocates have been doing to address the
issue?
Ms. Arriaga. Thank you, Madam Chair.
We at the Commission have issued a brand-new report
precisely on the synergies between religious freedom and
women's rights. We find that countries that fully respect
religious freedom also ban child brides, they also allow
communities to reject harmful practices such as female genital
mutilation. Women who are divorced are not forced into poverty.
Women are not forced to convert to the religion of the person
they're marrying. Marriages are recognized.
It's been, unfortunately, our experience that women's
rights and religious freedom advocates were not working
together. They thought that rights were pitted against each
other. However, after we issued this report, we have met with a
number of academics at Oxford, we have met a number of
parliamentarians through the International Panel of
Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief, and we have
found there has been a great reception. We think we can double
the advocates for religious freedom if we take in advocates for
women's rights as well.
Ultimately, human rights are interdependent, and to take
one out of the equation arbitrarily or artificially hurts the
rights of everyone else. And every single human right should be
considered in tandem as cooperating and collaborating with each
other.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you very much.
I yield back.
Mr. DeSantis. The gentlewoman yields back.
The chair now recognizes Mr. Gomez for 5 minutes.
Mr. Gomez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
When I was sworn into Congress, I said that one of my main
duties was to fight for my constituents, no matter where they
were from, no matter what God they worshipped, no matter the
color of their skin; if they came here, they believed in our
values, contributed to our country, that they deserved a place
here in the United States of America.
And freedom of religion and freedom of expression are the
bedrock freedoms on which our country was founded. It is these
freedoms that should give us the authority and ability to do
what we can to promote these freedoms with people around the
world. It is the moral authority upon which our ability to
promote international religious freedom rests.
Unfortunately, religious freedom under this administration
means nothing more than giving certain groups the license to
discriminate against people of color, Muslims, people of a non-
Christian faith, and the LGBT community. It is deeply
disturbing to me that some people have used religious freedom
as their basis to fire people who don't share the same
religious beliefs or who are LGBTQ. Where I come from, that is
just discrimination, plain and simple. There is no need to
dress it up.
I believe that this administration's repeated attempt at a
Muslim ban, the normalization of racism by this Department of
Justice, and the brazen attacks on the LGBT community undermine
our moral authority and undermine our ability to promote
religious freedom abroad.
Quick question. Last week, Attorney General Sessions issued
a directive to all Federal agencies which included the
following guidance: ``To the greatest extent practicable and
permitted by law, religious observance and practice should be
reasonably accommodated in all government activity.'' The Human
Rights Campaign, a national LGBT rights group, called these
guidelines a, quote, ``all-out assault on civil rights'' and a,
quote, ``sweeping license to discriminate.''
Mr. Berschinski, do you believe that the rolling back of
regulations protecting LGBT groups in the name of religion
promotes religious freedom?
Mr. Berschinski. Thank you, Congressman.
What I would say in response to that is that I think that
the protections for religious freedom that are enshrined in the
First Amendment do not and should not give broad license to
discriminate against any class of people.
So, with the understanding that some of the memoranda that
the Department of Justice has put out are long and complex,
just came out and have yet to be fully analyzed, I would say
that I would hope that the Department of Justice would act
fully in keeping with that spirit.
Mr. Gomez. Thank you.
Commissioner Arriaga, you've mentioned that some people use
discrimination against other religions as a way to promote
their own self-interest. Have you seen any of that here in our
country recently?
You don't have to answer that question.
Let me ask you one other question. The United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom does not review
repression of religious freedoms in the United States. How
would the banning of a particular religious group affect your
analysis of religious freedoms in this country?
Ms. Arriaga. I'm sorry. Could you repeat the question,
please?
Mr. Gomez. How would the banning of a particular religious
group affect your analysis of religious freedom in this
country?
Ms. Arriaga. Mr. Gomez, my name is Kristina Arriaga. As a
fellow Latino, I think I know a little bit of what you're
talking about in terms of discrimination.
The United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom advocates for all religions in every single country. We
find that banning one religion or granting preference to one or
the other is generally not in accordance with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18.
Mr. Gomez. Great.
Mr. Berschinski, according to a recent report by the
Council on American-Islamic Relations,there has been a, quote,
``91-percent increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes during the
first half of the year compared to the same period in 2016.''
Would a 91-percent increase in a foreign country over a 6-month
period raise concerns for you?
Mr. Berschinski. Yes, absolutely, it would.
Mr. Gomez. Thank you so much.
One of the things that I'm trying to highlight is that our
ability to promote religion freedom abroad rests on how people
view how we promote that same freedom in our own country.
Anything that undermines it makes our ability less so and
weakens our ability to protect religious freedom of individuals
in other countries.
Mr. Chair, I yield back.
Mr. DeSantis. The gentleman yields back.
The chair now recognizes the vice chairman, Mr. Russell,
for 5 minutes.
Mr. Russell. I thank the chairman.
And I also thank the chairman for holding this important
hearing. I think it's vital not only to, obviously, how we
treat all human beings, but also it intertwines in so much of
our foreign policy and our relations around the globe in making
sure that these differences and these pretexts do not become a
thing that divide and ultimately result in the slaughtering of
thousands of innocent people, which seems to be the trend of
history.
Mr. Chairman, I guess I would like to speak a little bit
about-- you know, having extensively traveled the globe and
fought in several different places around it, while some of our
colleagues may imagine that we have such religious oppression
in this country, this is one of the greatest nations that we
have as far as religious tolerance. Differences in religious
opinion? Sure. Protected by the First Amendment? Also.
But those opinions being forced upon religious groups to
force them to violate their rights of conscience, which are
also protected in the First Amendment, we can't use one group's
pretext or agendas to violate the religious beliefs of another
group. And in that, I think the United States does very well.
As I look at this list of the CPC recommendation nations,
there's a trend that I find kind of interesting. Sixty percent
on the recommended list are Asian countries. And we often focus
on, you know, the habitual troublemakers, you know, that we
become accustomed to, but we're seeing 60 percent in Asia, 25
percent in Africa, and 15 percent in the Middle East. And I
find that intriguing because oftentimes we don't make the type
of investments in Asia, and yet this is where we're seeing a,
just on the CPC list, interesting trend.
Along that line, too, on the Tier 2 countries, two key
allies of the United States are on this list, one a NATO ally,
which is of particular concern.
And, Ms. Arriaga, you intrigued me with your visa
restriction but extend that to the education piece, which I
think would be useful.
But, as I try to walk through that, one of the successful
programs that we have is the international military exchange
program, IMET. And, you know, in decades past, we're kind of
darned if we do and darned if we don't. You know, if we try to
promote human rights through the education of military
officers, most of which will grow up to be major commanders and
generals in that nation and, you would hope, would be trained
in our values, you know, they can actually do some good. On the
other hand, if you exclude them, then, you know, they will not
be exposed to any of those Western things.
And one of the things we see with Turkey right now, as they
continue to oppress, is even ferreting out those that have been
trained in Western countries, particularly the United States,
out of their military. And that causes great alarm.
So I've stated several observations here, and I would like,
kind of, your commentary on that and anyone else that would
like to opine on some of these observations and what concerns
you might have. Thank you.
Ms. Arriaga. Thank you, Mr. Russell.
I just came back from Turkey 3 days ago. The situation
there is extraordinary. There is an enormous amount of stress
and anxiety on the Turkish people on the minority religious
communities. As you know, Pastor Brunson has been incarcerated;
it's been a year last Saturday. And, regrettably, as you also
know, 24 hours before USCIRF's arrival to Turkey, a DEA
officer, whose a Turkish national, was arrested.
So I think right now Turkey stands as a NATO ally who's
having great difficulties respecting human rights in that
country.
Mr. Russell. Which is part of the NATO charter, by the way.
It's embedded in that alliance.
Do you see resistance in calling out Turkey in these, you
know, Tier 2 countries? Are you getting pushback on that?
Ms. Arriaga. Well, USCIRF continues to be greatly troubled
by the recent developments. And, unfortunately, when we see
such a bad panorama for human rights in general, for all the
journalists getting arrested, generally religious freedom also
falls in the same category.
We met with several religious communities in Turkey that
still have no legal persona. Turkey has spent a great deal of
the summer revising its textbooks. There is a mandatory
religious education, which characterizes anyone from a minority
religion as being outside of the spectrum of, many times,
acceptable behavior. This is very traumatic for children.
So we will continue to watch closely what's going on.
Mr. Russell. Well, I thank you for that.
And I would love to hear from the others, but,
unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, my time has expired. I yield back.
Mr. DeSantis. The gentleman yields back.
The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Georgia, Mr.
Hice, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Hice. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
And I want to thank each of our panelists for being here
this morning and for the role that each of you play in
defending religious liberties around the world, regardless of
what that religion may be.
My background is that of a pastor for about 25 years before
being in Congress. And I personally have seen a lot of what you
deal with, and this has been an area of great concern of mine
for a long time. And I appreciate the fact that y'all are on
the tip of the spear in trying to deal with this and keep us
informed.
Religious liberty is a universal right, not just something
that we cherish here in America. It should be something that is
cherished around the world, regardless, again, of what the
religion may be that is held by an individual. We've brought up
today already some in the Muslim communities, be it in places
like Burma or Russia or the Middle East, even, where the
Yazidis--I mean, we're seeing that.
The one area of concern for me, not so much with your work,
but it seems at least with the media and otherwise that is
largely missing is the persecution of Christians around the
world that seems to largely go unnoticed.
And I recall in November 2012 that, from Germany, Merkel,
made the comment that Christianity was the most persecuted
religion in the world. And, of course, that statement was met
with a great deal of criticism, but it's backed up, and there
have been many, many reports, as you well know, of the plight
that Christians are facing in many places around the world.
And, goodness, we can even look at some of the various laws
of apostasy that many countries have, where, if someone
converts to Christianity, the punishment can be extremely
severe and torturous.
And many of these countries you've mentioned, from Saudi
Arabia to Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar--I mean, the list goes on
and on and on and on. North Korea. We're seeing some horrible
stories coming out of North Korea. China. In fact, I have a
resolution to try to call China's hand on some of the
catastrophes happening there.
And, bottom line, we just can't allow these things to
continue. They've got to be brought to the public's awareness
and to be dealt with.
Just a couple of questions within all that context.
Ambassador, let me begin with you. When the State
Department is considering which refugees are admitted to the
United States, what role, if any, does the threat of religious
persecution against an individual play in the determination as
to whether or not they would be allowed to come to the United
States as a refugee?
Mr. Kozak. Thank you, sir.
It's key. The definition of a refugee is somebody who has a
well-founded fear of persecution based on religion or political
opinion or several categories, ethnicity, but religion is one
of them. So, to qualify as a refugee, if you say, I have a
well-founded fear of persecution, that is the key thing you
have to show.
In terms of deciding, you know, how to allocate our refugee
numbers around the world, they tend to look at what are the
most vulnerable populations, the most at-risk populations. And,
again, that can be based on people who are at risk because of
their----
Mr. Hice. Do you believe that allocation is properly
manifested when it deals with Christians around the world? I
mean, we've got--the studies I've seen--some 200 million
Christians around the world suffering persecution in one way or
another.
Mr. Kozak. Yeah. And you've got, like, now we're usually in
the order of 75,000 or 50,000 refugee numbers per year to
allocate.
It really depends on the particular area. In some
countries, I think we've had a high percentage of the refugees
coming in have been Christians because Christians have been
persecuted there. In others, it gets----
Mr. Hice. Let me ask my----
Mr. Kozak. Yep.
Mr. Hice. --final question. I've only got 20 seconds. What
does Congress need to do to help achieve the goal of both
awareness and of stopping religious persecution around the
world?
And I'll open that to anyone who would like to answer.
Mr. Kozak. Well, I think you already have given us a
tremendous amount of tools. The International Religious Freedom
Report, which is mandated--and, as Dr. Farr said, it's
diagnostic, but that's where you start. And we try to do a good
job of saying what is the problem in each one of these places.
Then you have the second set of, what do you do about it?
And there, the tools that have been given--having an office
with programming, having an ambassador-at-large who can go
around the world and try to raise awareness of these issues,
having sanctions that we can apply, whether it's on visas or on
economic assistance or military assistance or other things--
those are all the kinds of tools you would use for other
diplomatic efforts. But it's putting the combination together,
getting across-the-board effort from the government.
I think one of the things that adds to that, though, is the
efforts of individual Members of Congress. People do pay
attention when they hear you and your colleagues speak up on
these issues, because they know that decisions that affect them
are made in Congress as well as in the executive branch, and it
really amplifies the message we're trying to get across.
Ms. Arriaga. If I----
Mr. Hice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. DeSantis. Did you want to----
Ms. Arriaga. Yeah. If I may add,H.R. 390 has passed the
House;it's now in the Senate. In the Senate, it was amended to
include assistance to the Syrian population. It would be
terrific if this passed and there was more funding appropriated
immediately for that, for genocide victims.
Mr. DeSantis. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, did you want to ask questions?
Mr. Gowdy. If the chairman would allow.
Mr. DeSantis. I think I have no other choice but to allow.
Mr. Gowdy. Oh, but you do.
I want to thank you for having this hearing, Chairman
DeSantis, and for your commitment to religious freedom.
Dr. Farr, it's good to see you again.
I asked you a question during the last administration, and,
in the interest of fairness, I'm going to ask you the exact
same question under this administration.
Leave Congress out of it for a second;just focus on the
executive branch. What are the three things that you would
change, if you could, at the executive-branch level given the
fact that we have had a change in administration?What are the
first three things that should be done, from your perspective,
in this sphere?
Mr. Farr. Thank you, Mr. Gowdy, speaking as a fellow South
Carolinian.
One of those things has already been done, and that is that
the--this goes to something Mr. Lynch asked about earlier, and
that is the budget cuts in the State Department. I agree with
Mr. Berschinski that this was a bad idea.
But one of the good things that has happened, in my view,
is that the Office of International Religious Freedom has
become larger. And so long as the positions that are being
moved in there are being moved with the funds to support them--
which I think is the case, but I'm not sure. As long as that is
the case, that is a good thing. So what I am talking about is
more staff and more oomph for the Office of International
Religious Freedom.
The second thing the Wolf Act requires, and that is that
the Ambassador-at-Large report to the Secretary of State. Now,
as has already been mentioned here--I forget who mentioned it.
It may be my colleague to the left.
Thank you for mentioning it.
In the same letter where Secretary Tillerson proposed
moving these positions under the Ambassador-at-Large, he said
he is going to report to a lower-ranking official. Well, this
is pretty clear in the law:The Ambassador-at-Large shall report
to the Secretary of State.
Why is that important? Is that a magic wand? No, it's not.
It, in fact, however, improves the status of the Ambassador-at-
Large in the office, in my opinion, for the governments out
there and, just as importantly, for American diplomats, who
have seen historically this position as sort of a, you know,
just below a high level--let me put it that way--within the
State Department. I think it's very important, and Congress
should, in my view, insist that the Ambassador report to the
Secretary of State.
But the final thing, the third thing, Mr. Gowdy, is the
subject of my testimony today,and that is that the
International Religious Freedom policy of the United States is
not yet aligned with our national security policy. It's not an
all-of-government thing. It is still focused in a single
office, with not enough oomph to do this.
This may be changing under this administration. There may
be something in the national security strategy of the United
States, when it's produced, that draws religious freedom in, as
I think it should be. But that is a major, major remaining step
to take, in my opinion.
Thank you for the question.
Mr. Gowdy. Yes, sir.
You touched upon what I find to be a fascinating dualism in
your opening statement, that our national security interests
are actually advanced when countries have more enlightened
policies with respect to religious liberty.
I like to anticipate arguments on the other side, and
sometimes the other side--I don't mean Democrats. I mean the
other side of this issue. Sometimes folks on the other side,
which are both Republicans and Democrats, will make the
argument that we need to be more patient with the following
countries because they are of such significant national
security interest that we should overlook the following things.
You made the exact opposite argument, and I want to give
you a chance to extrapolate on that.
Mr. Farr. Well, thank you. It's pretty broad without
focusing on a particular country, but the ones where this
happens, such as Saudi Arabia--that's a very good example of
where we need the support of the Saudis. We need cooperation,
intelligence, military, and otherwise. And yet it is the mother
lode of Islamist extremism. It is the place where the ideology
that energizes Islamist extremism begins.
We need to do both. There is no simple answer to any
foreign policy question, let alone one that has to do with
religion.
I think we are deficient in providing to the Saudis reasons
why it's in their interest to begin--not to adopt the First
Amendment or move toward religious freedom in the broad way
that we view it here, but toward religious tolerance, because
it can begin to benefit them.
And, in fact, we have opportunities. The regime itself
talks a very good line internationally when it talks about its
approach to their own religion. We should be working--and we
are working, but I think we treat this almost as a boutique
issue. We don't have enough resources working with the Saudis
behind the scenes to convince them it's in their interest.
The same would be true of Iran. It would be true of China.
It would be true of any country where I believe we can make
this an all-of-government effort to convince them it's in their
interest.
That's a broad answer to a broad question. I hope I'm being
responsive.
Mr. Gowdy. You did. Thank you, Dr. Farr.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your indulgence.
Mr. DeSantis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The chair now recognize Mrs. Demings for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Demings. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and to our
ranking member as well.
And to our witnesses,thank you for being with us.
According to a United Nations official, the Burmese
Government has been carrying out a, quote, ``ethnic cleansing''
of the Rohingya, an ethic group, as you all know, that
primarily belong to the Muslim faith. According to the United
Nations, 500,000 civilians have fled from Burma to Bangladesh
since August 25th, 2017, alone.
Commissioner, can you please speak to how the Burmese
Government is essentially attempting to erase the Rohingya from
Burma?
Ms. Arriaga. We at USCIRF have monitored that situation
with great concern. We received reports that some of the
Rohingya Muslims were even walking barefoot over barbed wire to
try to get to Bangladesh and flee. And, in fact, USCIRF is
planning to have a delegation go to Burma and Bangladesh in the
next few weeks precisely to address this issue. It is, without
a doubt, an incident of ethnic cleansing without precedent in
that country.
Mrs. Demings. Burma has been listed as a country of
particular concern by the State Department for over a decade.
Commissioner, again, has Burma's appearance on the State
Department's countries-of-particular-concern list had any
affect on the regime's persecution of religious minorities?
Ms. Arriaga. It's hard to tell. The developments in the
last few weeks have, again, been unprecedented. We have watched
them with great concern, and every single voice needs to rise
to defend the Rohingya Muslims.
Mrs. Demings. Dr. Farr, what do you believe the United
States can do to stop the, quote, ``ethnic cleansing'' that is
occurring?
Mr. Farr. Well, I, frankly, prefer to call it religious
cleansing. I mean, these are Muslims, and this is religious
persecution of the first order.
And you're quite right, they've been on the list for over
10 years. I was in the Office of Religious Freedom when these
lists were created by the law and began to implement them,so I
think it's actually been longer than 10 years. And while I
would never suggest that these lists are not important--I said
in my testimony they are vitally important--they're just lists.
They're just pieces of paper that list a bunch of countries on
them.
And we say we're looking at economic sanctions. As far as I
know, there's only been one set of economic sanctions--I could
be wrong about this, and Ambassador Kozak can correct me. But
the last time I paid attention to this, there was only one
country in the world that we had ever imposed new economic
sanctions on because of the 20-year-old International Religious
Freedom Act,and that, as I recall, was Eritrea. And, to say the
very least, it didn't work. And that was part of my reason for
arguing in my testimony that we need more than words and we
need more than sanctions.
So whatever we've tried in Burma has not worked. I think we
have an opportunity now not only to condemn them, which we
should be--we should be speaking out. We need Ambassador
Brownback in that position so that he can go to Burma and speak
about this, which I think he will. But we also need to begin to
work with the Burmese to get in front of this problem, because
it will happen again. And the fact that they're on this list
won't make a bit of difference in the world, in my opinion.
Mrs. Demings. Last week, while addressing the United
Nations Security Council, the U.N. Secretary-General said this,
and I quote: ``The situation has spiraled into the world's
fastest-developing refugee emergency, a humanitarian and human
rights nightmare.''
Mr. Berschinski, should the United States enter into
negotiations with Bangladesh to allow for a certain percentage
of displaced Rohingya to resettle in America?
Mr. Berschinski. Well, I wouldn't want to get out front of
the United States' overall refugee resettlement program. As I
understand it--and Ambassador Kozak can speak to this in more
depth--there are, among other things, related to U.S. efforts
on resolving the crisis, intensive talks going on right now
with the Government of Bangladesh.
But I think, to your larger point, perhaps, this speaks to
the cap on refugee resettlement overall that the Trump
administration has put in place. I would say that, were I able
to respond to Chairman Gowdy's question along the lines of what
three things could this administration do to improve the plight
of persecuted religious minorities of all kinds, raising that
cap would improve the lives of Christians, Muslims, and others.
Mrs. Demings. Thank you so much.
I yield back.
Mr. DeSantis. The gentlelady yields back.
The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Alabama, Mr.
Palmer, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Palmer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for
allowing me to participate in this very important hearing.
Ambassador Kozak, the State Department's most recent report
discusses a number of countries' failings on religious freedom.
Many of those countries are a source of threats to the United
States. But that list doesn't include non-state actors, does
it?
Mr. Kozak. The current list does not include non-state
actors because they--those were added by the Wolf Act, which
will kick in this year. So the list that will come out next
month, I guess, at this point, will also include non-state
actors.
Mr. Palmer. So the list will? Does the State Department
have any concern about including them on the list?
Mr. Kozak. No, sir. It was simply that we were responding
to the earlier mandate from Congress,and this has now
broadened. In some ways, it actually helps to provide context,
because, in many of these places, the worst atrocities are
being committed by non-state actors. Witness the genocide
committed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. And it just didn't fit
within the reporting mandate before, and now it does,and we're
happy for it.
Mr. Palmer. And you have the same thing with the Taliban
and Boko Haram and those groups.
Mr. Kozak. Right, any group that we find is a group of
particular concern with respect to committing the most serious
acts of countering religious freedom.
Mr. Palmer. Those are the hard, extreme cases of the
violation of religious freedom. Would you agree with that?
Mr. Kozak. Yes, sir. The way it's defined in the act is
it's particularly severe violations, such as torture,
extrajudicial killings, long-term imprisonment without charges,
use of rape against people. So it's not, you know, the
unfortunately run-of-the-mill thing, like refusing to register
or provide legal status to a particular group or even the bans
on allowing groups to worship. This is where it gets violent
and people are being killed or----
Mr. Palmer. There's softer forms of religious persecution
or violation of religious freedom that would include
discriminating against who they could hire or who they could
associate with. Would you agree that happens as well?
Mr. Kozak. Oh, absolutely, sir.
Mr. Palmer. Would you agree that that happens in the United
States? We had one of our colleagues make some----
Mr. Kozak. Yeah.
Mr. Palmer. --allegations along those lines. I'd just like
to point out that, you know--and we're really focused on what
goes on internationally, and I think appropriately so, but
there's also violations that have occurred in the United States
that violate an individual or a particular denomination or
religion's right to free exercise.
Mr. Kozak. Well, what we tend to say, sir, on violations
internationally is that every country violates human rights,
including the human right of international religious freedom,
because countries are made up of humans. But the question is
what does a country do about it when that happens. Do we have
appropriate laws? Do we have appropriate enforcement
mechanisms?
Mr. Palmer. Well, I just want to point out----
Mr. Kozak. And I think that's where we're proud of our own
mechanisms.
Mr. Palmer. --that here in the United States we're not
immune to that.
Dr. Farr, we've seen that, where Catholic Charities and
nonprofit groups and other groups have been taken to court over
their refusing to hire people who don't practice their faith or
who don't believe the things that they believe. Does that
concern you?
Mr. Farr. It does.
And to return to something that Mr. Gomez had said--and I
completely agree with him, although I may not apply the same
principle as he did--and that is that,if we don't understand
what free exercise of religion is and what it means in this
country, how can we convince other people abroad that it's of
value to them?
And you're quite right; in my view, the free exercise of
religion is what this means. It means the full equality of all
religious groups and citizens in our country and certainly the
right of religious groups of all kinds to adhere to their most
fundamental values and not be forced by government, whether at
the State, local, or national level, to violate their
consciences.
So we do have a problem. We need to solve it.
Mr. Palmer. And I think that's particularly true
considering that it is in our Constitution as the First
Amendment that our government will make no law prohibiting the
free exercise.
And I just want to point out, Mr. Chairman, that we're not
immune to this. And there was a particular example of this, a
Supreme Court decision that was a unanimous decision against
the United States Government, the previous administration,
Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, in which members of the Supreme Court--
again, 9-0 decision.This was a case in which our government
argued that a religious organization or denomination could not
have the freedom to hire who they wanted to, who practiced
their religion, shared their beliefs. And in a 9-0 decision--
you even had a couple of justices call it extraordinary or
amazing, including Justice Kagan. I just think we need to be
aware of that as well.
I yield back. And I thank you again for allowing me to
participate.
Mr. DeSantis. The gentleman yields back.
The chair now recognizes Mr. Welch for 5 minutes.
Mr. Welch. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And I thank the panel for your testimony.
In 2016, the U.S. Envoy to the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation helped get this passed, the Marrakech Declaration,
which, as you know, affirmed the support of over 250 Muslim
leaders for defending the rights of religious minorities in
predominantly Muslim communities.
Dr. Farr, what's your view of the Marrakech Declaration as
far as enhancing the national security of the U.S.?
Mr. Farr. Thank you for that question, Mr. Welch.
I think the Marrakech Declaration is a major step forward.
It's realistic. It's not some pie-in-the-sky declaration of
something that does not emerge from the heart of Islam. Sheikh
bin Bayyah and the others who are behind this declaration, in
my view, have constructed a modest but realistic declaration
from the heart of Islam, which many Muslims agree with, that
Islam is not a religion that has to put others at a
disadvantage.
Again, I want to--this is not a declaration of religious
freedom as we would have it. But it does no good to have people
put words out there that don't mean anything. So I am a big
supporter of this because I think it is, in fact, precisely the
kind of thing that our government should be behind, my
religious freedom institute is behind, and we are, in fact,
working with these very people----
Mr. Welch. Thank you.
Mr. Farr. If I could just get----
Mr. Welch. Go ahead.
Mr. Farr. --this one more--I know we've run out of time.
Mr. Welch. Yeah.
Mr. Farr. This is--they recognize they have a problem.
Mr. Welch. Right.
Mr. Farr. And we need to help them solve that problem, not
by wagging our finger or putting them on a list, but by helping
them see and perform the duty that they already see for
themselves. Put it that way.
Mr. Welch. Right. And that's called diplomatic engagement.
And I know Secretary Tillerson, among other things, is focusing
on a reorganization of the State Department. And I think it's a
fair concern for any new Secretary of State to try to figure
out how best to organize the Department and allocate its
limited resources. But my understanding is that one of the
proposals is eliminating the U.S. Special Envoy to the OIC.
Ambassador Kozak, what's your view about the implications
of that recommendation?
Mr. Kozak. Well, first, let me say that I've worked very
closely with our previous ambassadors, representatives to the
OIC, who have been housed in different places in the State
Department over the last couple of administrations and even
some switches during the last administration.
You know, I'm not going to predict where the Secretary is
going to come out on the reorg plan, but my understanding is--
or the redesign plan--but my understanding is that he wants to
fold that function into the Office of Religious Freedom. It's
currently part of the Office of Religion and Global Affairs,
which in his letter--which is a straw man that he put out there
for consultation with Members--would merge.
So I think the function of having somebody engaged with the
OIC is one that is intended to continue;it's a question of how
you place it bureaucratically. And that's a fair thing to be
juggling.
Mr. Welch. Yeah. You know, you've had so much practical
experience in this. There's a tension always in our foreign
policy and in our State Department responsibilities, the
realpolitik concerns of our engagement with another country.
Sometimes they're in conflict with our advocacy for basic
values like religious freedom. And it would seem to me that the
job of the Secretary, among other things, is to try to balance
those so that there's an ongoing engagement and outreach to
protect the religious liberty of citizens around the world.
So how would you recommend that we maintain that State
Department commitment? It's got to be real. It's got to be
people who are empowered. But it also has to coexist with other
challenges that this country faces.
Mr. Kozak. Yes. Well, I think as many of the witnesses have
said and the chairman and other chairman alluded to, the
respect for human rights, including religious freedom, is vital
to getting countries to where they can stand on their own and
not generate giant security problems for the United States. And
we've seen that over and over again.
And, as Dr.Farr points out, it's a question of how do you
persuade them. Very difficult to persuade the leaders of a
country that are bound and determined, who think their own
status in power requires them to do repressive things.
But that's where we try to, first, work with the society
writ large. Our bureau, almost all of our programming goes to
working with nongovernmental organizations to try to change
societal attitudes and, through that, to try to convince
governments.
You also have to get--it's great to have specialty offices,
like our own bureau, like the Office of Religious Freedom, that
can develop the arguments and so on, but you do need to spread
those out so that they're being made--and this, I think, is the
case in this area--that they're being made by our military
officers when they're talking to their counterparts to say,
hey, there's a smarter way to fight this insurgency than the
way you're doing it. You need to, you know, show greater
respect for people's rights, you don't want to alienate people,
and so on.
So it's pulling that all together. Both within the
Department and interagency, it's absolutely crucial.
Mr. Welch. All right. Thank you.
I yield back.
Mr. DeSantis. The gentleman yields back.
The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky for 5
minutes.
Mr. Comer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
My first question is to Mr. Berschinski.
In your testimony, you raised the important issue of rising
anti-Semitism in Europe that is contributing to a climate of
violence towards Jewish people in these countries.
Do you believe that this trend has been exacerbated by the
continued opposition to the state of Israel that we see at
various international organizations, particularly the United
Nations? And how do anti-Israel campaigns, such as the Boycott,
Divestment, Sanctions, BDS, movement, play into the current
climate of anti-Semitism?
Mr. Berschinski. Thank you, Congressman, for that question
and for raising the issue of anti-Semitism.
I think there are a lot of different factors involved in
what we're seeing in terms of anti-Semitism. My written
testimony goes into this in some depth.
I think that some of it is a matter of extreme governments
that are coming into power and are interested in rolling back
rights across the board in countries with histories of anti-
Semitism, to include mass deportation and killing during the
Holocaust.
I think that there are elements related to Muslim
communities in Europe and some of the anti-Semitic feelings
that they bring.
And to speak to your question directly, I also do think
that there is a dynamic in which people are confusing
opposition to Israeli Government policies with it being
appropriate to harbor discriminatory views against the Jewish
population. So, just like here in the United States, we can
agree to disagree on various governmental policies, but one
should never hold that against a religious or ethnic group.
Mr. Comer. Thank you.
Next question. Ambassador, does the State Department have
any concerns with making non-state designations? And do you
expect to declare non-state actors as EPCs going forward?
Mr. Kozak. As to the first part of your question--and thank
you for it--no, we have no problem with it. I had mentioned
earlier, I think, actually, it helps us, because it's been
difficult in the past to give context when some of the worse
violations have been committed by non-state actors but the
report was only focused on state actors. So, in that sense,
it's helpful, and we look forward to it.
As to, you know, whether and which organizations will be
designated, I would say: Stay tuned. That's the Secretary's
decision and one that he involves himself in very personally,
so we'll see that in due course.
Mr. Comer. Okay. Thank you.
Let me follow up with this. The IRFA also outlines 15
Presidential actions that may be initiated toward any country
found responsible for particularly severe violations of
religious freedom. How many times since 1998 has the State
Department recommended a Presidential action be taken against a
particularly bad religious freedom violator?
Mr. Kozak. Thank you.
I think we've had 11 countries over time that have been on
the CPC list. The current 10, and Vietnam was on at one time. I
believe in all but three of those countries we have applied
Presidential actions. In some cases, they were waived. I'm
thinking Saudi, in particular.
As Dr. Farr alluded, though, oftentimes these are countries
that have committed so many bad acts that we already have a
wide array of sanctions against them. So sometimes putting them
on the CPC list doesn't add an additional sanction; it double-
hats an existing sanction.
But that can become important, because when you go to start
taking sanctions off in response to improvements in other
areas, if they haven't improved on religious freedom, we're in
the position of saying, look, we can't revoke that one until
you make some improvements in this area.
So the actions have been taken, but it is complicated by
the fact that there are so many other aspects of the
relationship that are also problematical.
Mr. Comer. Okay.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Mr. DeSantis. The gentleman yields back.
I want to thank our witnesses again for appearing before us
today. I thought it was a good hearing, and there was a lot of
good stuff put on the record.
The record for the hearing will remain open for 2 weeks for
any member to submit a written opening statement or questions
for the record.
If there is no further business, without objection, the
subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:37 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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