[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 150 (Monday, September 19, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H7898-H7899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
                      REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2022

  Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 3895) to extend and authorize annual appropriations for the 
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom through 
fiscal year 2024.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 3895

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``United States Commission on 
     International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 
     2022''.

     SEC. 2. UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS 
                   FREEDOM.

       (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 207(a) of the 
     International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 
     6435(a)) is amended by striking ``2019 through 2022'' and 
     inserting ``2023 and 2024''.
       (b) Extension of Authorization.--Section 209 of the 
     International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6436) 
     is amended by striking ``September 30, 2022'' and inserting 
     ``September 30, 2024''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Malinowski) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Malinowski).


                             General Leave

  Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on S. 3895.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the United States 
Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 
2022. I thank our Senate colleagues and Mr. Smith and Ms. Eshoo for 
their leadership in advancing this important measure--in Mr. Smith's 
case, his leadership over many, many years in advancing the cause of 
religious freedom across the world.
  Since 1998, USCIRF has served as a leading advisory panel to the 
United States Government on matters related to religious freedom 
globally. It is responsible for monitoring the freedom of religion or 
belief abroad and for making policy recommendations to the President, 
Secretary of State, and to Congress.
  The past several USCIRF reauthorizations have been bipartisan and 
faithful to the original mandate as established by Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, the right to practice a religion, or to practice no 
religion, is a fundamental human right. The principle of religious 
liberty should extend to all people, not only ones who come from a 
specific set of religious beliefs. As respect for democracy and human 
rights continue to be under stress in many parts of the world, the work 
of USCIRF and other human rights groups to shine a light on religious 
freedom is even more important.
  I thank Chairman Meeks and Ranking Member McCaul for moving this 
legislation forward in a bipartisan way. The bill will enhance the 
Commission's ability to continue its important work promoting religious 
freedom and to highlight those countries around the world that have to 
do better.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge all Members to vote in support of the 
bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, 
S. 3895, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I and my good friend and colleague, Anna Eshoo, have 
worked together on many religious freedom issues over the many years 
and have introduced the House companion bill to the Senate bill before 
us to authorize the United States Commission on International Religious 
Freedom.
  It is both timely and essential that we pass this legislation. 
Timely, because USCIRF's authorization runs out at the end of this 
month; and essential, because the cause of religious freedom is under 
sustained and escalating threat around the globe, particularly in the 
world's remaining communistic dictatorships, from Cuba to Vietnam to 
North Korea to Iran, and to the world's largest oppressor of religious 
freedom in the world today, the People's Republic of China under Xi 
Jinping.
  Indeed, just today, we see that the great defender for religious 
liberty, 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, has been put on trial in Hong 
Kong, a city-state which was once a bastion of freedom, but which now 
sadly has buckled to the dictates of Xi Jinping and the Chinese 
Communist Party. All of us here in Congress and the White House need to 
raise our voices in defense of Cardinal Zen.
  Sadly, we also need to add to that list of oppressors Nicaragua, 
where Comandante Daniel Ortega has reestablished his Sandinista 
dictatorship along communist lines and is waging a relentless war 
against the Catholic Church, the one institution which has consistently 
stood up for freedom throughout his tenure of abuse.
  I would note parenthetically that I met with Ortega in 1984 on a 
human rights trip with Tony Hall and Frank Wolf, and the man is back. 
He has been back for a number of years, and his proclivity toward 
dictatorial rule, imprisoning the very people who run against him--I 
held a hearing earlier this year with the wives of two of the opponents 
for him in the general election. What does he do? It was with their 
wives, and they were very articulate, very passionate, very courageous 
in speaking out for their husbands. But Ortega says, ``I don't like 
what you are doing; I don't like that you are running against me,'' so 
he throws them in prison, and they are still in prison. And his 
oppression of the church has reached new lows as we speak.
  Mr. Speaker, USCIRF also calls attention to other issues around the 
world, including whether you are a Christian or a Muslim or you happen 
to be Jewish or happen to be a member of a lesser-known faith, such as 
Baha'i or Falun Gong, USCIRF reports--I encourage everyone to go to 
their website and read their reports. They are fact-filled, they are 
very persuasive, based on all these kinds of investigations. The human 
rights NGOs all feed information to them about what is going on. They 
talk to the State Department, but they are really a good check on the 
State Department in terms of getting it right.
  That is particularly true when it comes to designating certain 
countries to be CPC countries, countries of particular concern. 
Unfortunately, the State Department has a less-than-stellar record of 
picking and choosing and giving passing grades artificially to some 
countries that ought to be on the CPC designation, which is the worst 
violator and, therefore, susceptible to sanctioning by the United 
States Government.
  As a matter of fact, this just happened with regards to Nigeria, 
where USCIRF accurately labeled Nigeria a top-tier violator of 
religious freedom while the State Department gave it an unwarranted 
upgrade right before the Secretary of State went to Abuja to meet with 
the President there.

  We should have said to the President of Nigeria, President Buhari: 
``You have got to clean up your act. The killing of Christians, of 
churches, houses of worship and schools, has to come to an end.'' Some 
of it he can't stop, but the response could be far better for much of 
it. Unfortunately, there is serious allegations of aiding and abetting, 
particularly with Fulani, the killing of Christians there.
  I would also point out to my colleagues that Nury Turkel, who is the 
Chairman of the Board of USCIRF, was born, of all places, in a Chinese 
detention center during the cultural revolution. He has been a leader 
on behalf of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, as my colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle

[[Page H7899]]

know--we all know it--they are committing genocide. Now, we have 
walking point of USCIRF, a man who was actually born in a detention 
center, and he has been articulate and strong.
  Last week, in the China Commission, which I serve as ranking member, 
when he testified, he just hit it out of the park in terms of good, 
factual information, persuasive, what next to do, with regards to that 
genocide and other concerns of all religious faiths that are being 
oppressed by the Chinese Communist Party.
  I will end by saying that it is this great Commission that keeps 
speaking out so boldly about de-Sinicization of all religions in China. 
That means they all comport with Xi Jinping's etiology. Whether you are 
Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Uyghur, or Falun Gong, they are 
breathing down your neck and putting people in prisons if they do not 
adhere and comport with Xi Jinping's mandates.
  Frank Wolf is now a member of the Commission, and I congratulate him 
on that. Here is the guy that wrote the law in 1998, the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998. We had real opposition to it. I was one 
of his cosponsors, and I put together a number of hearings in my 
committee where the bill first originated. But it was Frank who was the 
absolute champion, and we named the 2016 act after him to honor the 
champion work that he is doing, the life-changing work across the 
globe.
  I thank Frank for his tenacious defense of religious freedom of all 
people.
  Mr. Speaker, USCIRF needs to be reauthorized. I thank my colleague, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time 
for the purpose of closing.
  Mr. Speaker, S. 3895, the USCIRF Reauthorization Act, is critically 
needed to ensure that our country maintains the tools we need to stand 
up for human rights and, in particular, religious freedom around the 
world.
  I thank my friend from New Jersey, once again, for encouraging us to 
move on this and really for being the conscience of the House on these 
issues for so many, many years.
  I remember many times testifying before you back in the day, and I am 
glad that you are still reminding us that this is some of the most 
important work that we can do.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me and support the bill, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Malinowski) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, S. 3895.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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