[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 195 (Tuesday, November 17, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7030-S7031]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Religious Freedom

  Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, in my neighborhood and my community, 
you can walk down the street and visit with some really great 
neighbors--Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus. They all live in the same 
neighborhood and are friends.
  My kids are grown now. We watched all our kids playing together in 
the community and in the neighborhood. We can see just from this one 
community and just from this one neighborhood this beautiful thing our 
Founding Fathers dreamed of--the right of every individual to be able 
to choose a faith of their own decision, to be able to live that faith 
out, to be able to change that faith if they choose to, or to be able 
to have no faith at all.
  There are plenty of people in my neighborhood that I have no idea 
what faith they have. They don't have to post it. They don't have to 
print it. They don't have to say it because they are an American. They 
don't have to be a certain faith or be able to maintain that faith.
  The Declaration of Independence makes known that every person has the 
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our Constitution 
protects our right to a free press, to speak, to assemble, to petition 
the government, and to have any faith we choose and to be able to live 
that faith without fear that the government is going to impose a faith 
on them.
  Our founding government documents explicitly state these rights. We 
know that, inherently, these rights should be for all people. As such, 
I believe it is the responsibility of every American not just to 
cherish the freedoms that we have but to also be able to state those 
freedoms worldwide and to be able to encourage people worldwide to also 
live those basic human rights and dignities.
  The Trump administration is heavily focused on sharing these ideals 
with the world. In fact, right now, Poland is hosting the Third 
Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief Alliance. The 
United States has hosted the first two of those. In fact, I was a 
participant in the second one, and I was a participant online with the 
third one that was just in process.
  It was implemented with the help of Secretary Pompeo and Ambassador-
at-large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. It brought 
people of all faiths and of all countries together who choose to 
discuss religious liberty.
  This year's ministerial definitely looks very different based on 
COVID worldwide and its restrictions, but it is remarkable to see 
Foreign Ministers from all over the world, many from countries that 
don't practice religious liberty, in the middle of a conversation about 
religious liberty.
  Eighty percent of the world's population live where religious freedom 
is threatened or denied, which puts an extra obligation on those of us 
who live in freedom to be able to display that freedom to people 
worldwide. We should condemn religious persecution and work to ensure 
that all people have the freedom of faith, to live their faith, to 
change their faith, or to have no faith at all.
  In addition to the ministerial, I am really encouraged by the growing 
support of the International Freedom Alliance, which has a membership 
now of 32 countries. They are dedicated to advancing this basic right 
of religious freedoms. Not only are we seeing countries gathering in 
this ministerial to discuss religious liberty, many from countries that 
don't allow religious liberty, but we now have 32 countries that are 
dedicating together to say: We do practice religious liberty in our 
country, and we want to spread that.
  The alliance of these 32 countries, which we are a part of, has two 
core functions; the first of which is to enhance global advocacy to 
protect the right of freedom of religion or belief for all and to hold 
all accountable to those who violate that freedom of religion or 
belief; and the second thing is to serve as a platform to better 
coordinate the efforts of governments, parliamentarians, and civil 
societies to advance this right.
  I hope this alliance continues to grow and continues to have gaining 
influence on the world's stage. I hope they continue to condemn bad 
actors who facilitate or condone discrimination

[[Page S7031]]

and violence toward people of faith, while encouraging leaders to 
protect the rights of their religious communities and neighbors.
  The United States has a strong history and commitment to religious 
freedom, but some throughout the world do not have that privilege. One-
third of the world's countries have laws that prohibit expression 
deemed as blasphemous, heretical, apostate, or insulting to religion.
  Depending on the country, punishment for individuals who participate 
in this type of expression that they call blasphemy range from fines to 
imprisonment, to even the death sentence in places like Pakistan.
  These laws affect Christians, Muslims, Hindus, secularists, and all 
other groups. They scare people into hiding because of their faith. 
They punish people for changing their faith, and they remove the most 
basic dignity of the individual: the right to believe.
  We should continue to expose those who take away that basic human 
freedom. That is who we are as Americans. That is what we stand for 
worldwide.
  The independent and nonpartisan U.S. Commission on International 
Religious Freedom has identified 84 countries that still have blasphemy 
laws on the books. That is why I joined Senator Coons in cosponsoring 
the bipartisan resolution to condemn blasphemy and apostasy laws 
around the world and called for the release of individuals who have 
been prosecuted or imprisoned for charges of blasphemy.

  That proposal is ready to go and ready to be passed and has cleared 
everyone on the Republican side of the aisle and most everyone on the 
Democratic side of the aisle.
  To ensure that religious liberty is a core pillar of our engagement 
with other countries, the President issued an Executive order on 
Advancing International Religious Freedom--the first of its kind. It is 
a recommitment of the United States to protecting the freedom to live 
out your faith, regardless of where you live.
  Under this order, the United States places an even greater 
prioritization on religious freedom with our foreign assistance 
programs of the Department of State and with USAID.
  It is interesting, in addition to religious liberty, this 
administration has also partnered with other countries to protect and 
uphold the sanctity of human life, while prioritizing the rights and 
safety of women worldwide.
  Last month, the administration, along with the Governments of Brazil, 
Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, and Uganda, led a coalition of more than 30 
government leaders representing 1.6 billion people from every part of 
the planet to sign the Geneva Consensus Declaration. The declaration 
reaffirms that ``all are created equal before the law'' and that the 
``human rights of women are an inalienable, integral, and indivisible 
part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.''
  This historic document also strengthens our international commitment 
to the protection of the most basic human right, ``the inherent 
`dignity and worth of the human person,' that `every human being has 
the right to life.' '' It seems like that would be just a natural thing 
to say. It seems like that would be apparent, that we as a nation and 
that people around the world would recognize this most basic right of 
an individual to live.
  We believe in the right for people to be able to practice whatever 
faith they choose. We should at least agree before they choose whatever 
faith they are that they are allowed to live at all.
  This document that was signed by the Governments of the United 
States, Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, and Uganda has the simple 
statement, along with multiple others. It says: We ``[r]eaffirm the 
inherent `dignity and worth of the human person,' that `every human 
being has the inherent right to life,' and the commitment `to enable 
women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth and provide couples 
with the best chance of having a healthy infant.' ''
  I am proud of this administration and the 1.6 billion people who are 
represented by the other governments that have joined into this simple 
declaration to protect the rights of women, to stand up for the equal 
rights of those women, and to be able to stand up for the rights of 
every single child. The historic document strengthens our international 
commitment to this basic right.
  This is a critical tool for the United States and like-minded 
countries to preserve equal rights for all families, for all 
individuals in every society. It has four pillars: better health for 
women, preservation of human life, strengthening of the family as the 
foundational unit of society, and protecting every nation's national 
sovereignty in global politics.
  As I have said on this floor before, abortion takes a life; it 
doesn't preserve it. It is not a right, and we as a nation should not 
promote an action to the rest of the world that is antithetical to the 
most basic of all human rights--the right to live, to make your own 
decisions.
  I am encouraged that we are partnering with other like-minded 
nations, that there are people all over the world who are standing up 
for the rights of women to have equality, the rights to be able to 
protect human life, to strengthen families, and the rights to be able 
to protect national sovereignty--something we should be able to stand 
up for.
  In the days ahead, I pray we continue to stand up for that because 
every individual should have the right to live as they live, have the 
right to be able to have whatever faith they choose to have--to have 
that faith, live that faith, change that faith, or to have no faith at 
all.
  But they don't even get to choose that if they are not even allowed 
to live first. That is something I would hope that we, as Americans, 
could also stand for.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.