[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 128, 113th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


Public Law 113-154
113th Congress

An Act


 
To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the
desecration of cemeteries among the many forms of violations of the
right to religious freedom. <>

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. <>  FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) Cemeteries are sacred sites that are of great spiritual,
cultural, and historical significance to many religious and
ethnic groups.
(2) Congress is committed to protecting and preserving the
heritage and sacred sites of national, religious, and ethnic
groups, which includes cemeteries in the United States and
abroad.
(3) Cemeteries around the world have and continue to be
defaced or destroyed as a direct result of their affiliation
with a particular religious or spiritual group.
(4) Such attacks constitute an assault on the fundamental
right to freedom of religion, and are especially egregious when
sponsored or tolerated by the local or national governments in
the countries in which such offenses occur.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT OF 1998.

Section 2(a)(4) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998
(22 U.S.C. 6401(a)(4)) is amended in the fourth sentence by inserting
``desecration of cemeteries,'' after ``confiscations of property,''.

Approved August 8, 2014.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 4028:
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SENATE REPORTS: No. 113-214 (Comm. on Foreign Relations).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 160 (2014):
May 28, considered and passed House.
July 29, considered and passed Senate.