[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 16, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1760-E1761]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE FREEDOM FROM RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION ACT OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 1997

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, the Committee on International Relations 
met last week to hear testimony on H.R. 2431 (formerly H.R. 1685), the 
Freedom From Religious Persecution Act of 1997.
  The long list of witnesses heard by the committee is a reflection of 
the strong interest generated by this legislation among human rights 
groups and religious and public policy organizations nationwide.
  For those of my colleagues who have not yet had an opportunity to 
study this bill, I want to share a letter submitted to the committee 
for inclusion in the hearing record from the National Council of the 
Churches of Christ in the USA.
  I hope my colleagues will find this thoughtful statement useful as 
the debate on this legislation moves forward:

         National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA

       To: Members of the House International Relations Committee.
       From: Oliver Thomas, NCCC Special Counsel.
       Re: Freedom From Religious Persecution Act (H.R. 1685/
     S.772).
       Date: September 8, 1997.
       Senator Arlin Specter (R-PA) and Representative Frank Wolf 
     (R-VA) have introduced legislation (H.R. 1685/S. 772) to 
     address the persecution of Christians overseas. Mr. Wolf has 
     written to the General Secretary of the National Council of 
     the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCCC) soliciting the 
     NCCC's support for his bill.
       There are a number of reasons why the NCCC and its member 
     communions cannot support the Wolf/Specter bills as they are 
     currently written, but should continue to pray and to take 
     action to end religious persecution on their own terms. That 
     is to say, the NCCC should remain true to its calling to seek 
     justice and peace for all people and to carry on its work and 
     witness in a manner consistent with its own responsibility as 
     an American institution and its own understanding of the 
     Gospel of Jesus Christ.
       As the nation's oldest and largest national ecumenical 
     body, the NCCC must continue to emphasize the importance of 
     bearing collective witness to religious liberty. This means 
     working cooperatively with Jews, Muslims and other faith 
     communities as well as with those in the Christian community. 
     Our conversations with those in other faith communities 
     indicate that many have strong reservations about Mr. Wolf's 
     bill.
       Before addressing the specifics of H.R. 1685, I would point 
     out that the persecution of Christians must be viewed in the 
     larger context of religious persecution and human rights 
     abuses. God's commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves 
     compels us to seek religious freedom for all--not just for 
     our brothers and sisters in Christ. We, therefore, embrace 
     the Universal Declaration of Rights which states: ``Everyone 
     has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; 
     this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, 
     and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in 
     public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in 
     teaching, practice, worship and observance.``
       Second, I could not agree more about the need for focused, 
     fervent prayer on behalf of the persecuted members of God's 
     human family. Far from silent, the NCCC and its international 
     counterpart, the World Council of Churches, have long 
     participated in prayer on behalf of our Christian brothers 
     and sisters who suffer persecution. That is why, for example, 
     we support the World Day of Prayer Against Religious 
     Persecution sponsored by the World Evangelical Fellowship, 
     and the International Cycle of Prayer developed through the 
     World Council of Churches.
       Turning to the specifics of H.R. 1685/S. 772, I begin with 
     one aspect of the bill that warrants our support.
       Reports--Annual reports on religious persecution abroad are 
     extemely useful to the United States Government as well as to 
     the general public. Americans need to know when foreign 
     regimes are guilty of human rights abuses in order that we 
     may respond accordingly. Fortunately, the State Department 
     has begun this practice.
       Aspects of the bill to which we are opposed include:
       1. Creation of the Office of Religious Persecution 
     Monitoring in the White House--The NCCC General Secretary has 
     stated that the U.S. government office charged with primary 
     responsibility for addressing religious persecution should, 
     in so far as possible, be insulated from partisan political 
     pressure. For that reason, we would oppose any suggestion 
     that those who monitor religious persecution should be 
     located in the White House. We believe that the persons best 
     able and most qualified to monitor and report on religious 
     persecution are at the State Department as the recent report 
     ``United States Policies In Support Of Religious Freedom: 
     Focus On Christians'' demonstrates. We also support the use 
     of an advisory committee reflecting

[[Page E1761]]

     the religious pluralism of our country as with current 
     practice rather than the appointment of a single individual 
     charged with responsibility for the task. America's religious 
     community is simply too diverse to expect one person to 
     represent all of our concerns adequately. Minority religious 
     communities are often the ones most vulnerable to 
     mistreatment and thus especially need to be included.
       2. Automatic Sanctions--The bill's approach to sanctions is 
     overly simplistic. Americans must work in close partnership 
     with people of faith in countries where persecution is 
     occurring. How do they say we and our government can best be 
     helpful? Would sanctions help, or would they hurt the wrong 
     people? What other channels exist for pressure and protest? 
     Clearly, sanctions should not be ruled out as a means to 
     address religious persecution, but they should not be an 
     automatic or first option.
       3. Asylum Provisions--This legislation would change the 
     refugee determination process to give special attention to 
     those being singled out for persecution on the basis of 
     religion. Under both international conventions and U.S. 
     refugee law, there are five grounds for being granted refugee 
     status: persecution on the basis of race, nationality, 
     religion, membership in a social group, and political 
     opinion. We do not support singling out religion as being 
     more important than these other forms of persecution. 
     Moreover, over the years, we have not supported designation 
     of groups as refugees for resettlement, but rather have 
     advocated for a case-by-case review of individual claims.
       Obviously, there are people who leave their communities and 
     countries because they are persecuted for their religious 
     faith and those people should find the protection they need--
     whether in a neighboring country of asylum or in a third 
     country through resettlement. But this is already part of 
     international and national law. Singling out persecution of 
     Christians as somehow being worse than persecution of 
     political dissidents or a particular ethnic group undermines 
     a lot of this international law we have worked so hard to get 
     implemented.
       What we can advocate is better application of existing law 
     so that all of those claiming persecution get a fair hearing 
     and that the adjudication procedures are both just and 
     humane.
       Finally, we believe some measure of humility is required as 
     we act to stop religious persecution outside the United 
     States. This is particularly urgent in light of the 
     communications the NCCC has received from Christians in 
     Egypt, China and other nations who express concern over 
     America's eagerness to impose its political and 
     constitutional ideals on others. As the General Secretary has 
     stated: ``Although we cherish the American model of religious 
     liberty and its meaning for us, we recognize that it is not 
     the only model. Some of our most trusted friends in the world 
     community worship and serve God in state churches. Others see 
     toleration, rather than full freedom, as the touchstone for 
     religious rights. In short, due consideration must be given 
     to cultural values and existing religious life, especially on 
     such matters as world missions, proselytizing and areas of 
     permissible regulations.''
       In short, not all encroachments on religious freedom rise 
     to the level of persecution. And, even when they do, we must 
     be careful to act in a way that alleviates rather than 
     aggravates the problem.
       For that reason, the NCCC and its member communions should 
     consider an idea that has been proposed by members of the 
     United States Senate: the establishment of a Commission on 
     Security and Cooperation in Asia modeled after its European 
     counterpart. Such a commission might be the forum where 
     citizens of the United States could press their legitimate 
     concerns about religious persecution in that region without 
     further aggravating the problem.
       In sum, the NCCC maintains its commitment to human rights 
     and religious freedom for all persons. We believe this can be 
     achieved through a variety of means including prayer, 
     reporting, dialogue, protests, boycotts, and urging 
     diplomatic pressure, and, in some cases, sanctions. We urge 
     Congress and the Administration to use their full powers to 
     better enforce existing national and international laws which 
     seek to protect individuals from religious persecution. 
     Although H.R. 1685/S.772 have some sections the NCCC could 
     support, other sections (particularly 5 and 7) are highly 
     objectionable. For that reason, the NCCC cannot support H.R. 
     1685/S.772 until and unless significant changes are made.

     

                          ____________________