[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 22, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4028-S4029]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BLUNT (for himself and Mr. Levin):
  S. 1245. A bill to provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy 
to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East 
and South Central Asia; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my friend Senator Carl 
Levin in introducing this legislation to create a new U.S. Department 
of State special envoy for religious minorities in the Middle East.
  As we observe the political upheavals occurring throughout the 
region, we need to remember that this region is the birthplace of three 
of the world's major religions. I am particularly interested in 
ensuring that the shrinking minority of Christians in places like 
Egypt, Iraq, the West Bank, and Afghanistan receive adequate attention 
by our foreign emissaries.
  I expect this bill to encourage the State Department to redouble its 
efforts to call attention to all religious minorities and demonstrate 
to leaders in the region that the United States takes religious freedom 
seriously. I am hopeful that as change takes place in many of these 
countries, they will look to the United States as a model of religious 
tolerance and freedom.
  I thank my friends in the House of Representatives, Frank Wolf, Anna 
Eshoo, Joe Pitts, and many others, for their efforts on this bill's 
House companion, which was introduced earlier this year.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the 
Capitol and with the Administration to enact this important 
legislation.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, today Senator Blunt and I have introduced 
the Near East and South Central Asia Religious Freedom Act of 2011. The 
purpose of this legislation is to establish within the State Department 
a special envoy to promote freedom of worship for religious minorities 
in this important region of the world.
  It is a tragic fact that in many of the nations of the Near East and 
South Central Asia, this universal human right, the freedom to worship 
in keeping with one's conscience, is in doubt. I would point my 
colleagues to the State Department's most recent Report on 
International Religious Freedom, published late last year. The report 
concludes, among other things, that: in Iran, ``government respect for 
religious freedom in the country continued to deteriorate''; in Iraq, 
``violence conducted by terrorists, extremists, and criminal gangs 
restricted the free exercise of religion and posed a significant threat 
to the country's vulnerable religious minorities''; in Afghanistan, 
respect for the rights of religious minorities deteriorated; in 
Pakistan organized violence against religious minorities had increased; 
and in Tajikistan the government passed new laws restricting religious 
practice.
  The legislation we introduce today seeks to combat such abuses by 
placing a high-level official within the State Department to focus the 
Nation's diplomatic efforts on promoting freedom

[[Page S4029]]

of worship. The special envoy would be tasked with promoting religious 
freedom within the Near East and South Central Asia; monitoring and 
combating intolerance and incitements to violence against religious 
minorities within the region; and working with the region's governments 
to address laws and practices that infringe on religious freedom.
  It is in the interest of the United States to promote freedom of 
worship and the rights of religious minorities around the world, and 
especially in nations where those freedoms are under threat. Such 
violence is a threat to regional stability in a part of the world where 
U.S. interests are great. Moreover, our support for these universal 
human values affirms the principles upon which our own Nation was 
founded.
  I thank my colleague from Missouri for joining with me in introducing 
this important legislation. I urge my colleagues to support our efforts 
to protect the lives and freedoms of religious minorities, and to 
promote the universal values upon which our Nation is built.
                                 ______