[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 28 (Monday, July 21, 2008)]
[Pages 982-984]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the 10th Anniversary of the International Religious Freedom 
Act

July 14, 2008

    Thank you all. Please be seated. Welcome. I want to welcome 
Congressman Wolf, Congressman Smith, Congressman Franks, former Senator 
Nickles. Thank you all for coming. I'm so honored that you've come to 
celebrate the 10th anniversary of the International Religious Freedom 
Act.
    This legislation that we commemorate today builds on a tradition 
that defined our Nation. After all, when the Founding Fathers adopted 
the Bill of Rights, the very first liberty they enshrined was the 
freedom of religion. They recognized that the most basic

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freedom a man can have is the right to worship his own God as he sees 
fit. Today, we are blessed to live in a country where that freedom is 
respected.
    In too many countries, expressions of freedom were silenced by 
tyranny, intolerance, and oppression. So a decade ago, Members of 
Congress--I suspect some of the Members here--and religious leaders and 
human rights activists came together to advance religious freedom around 
the globe. The result of their work was the International Religious 
Freedom Act. The bill created vital diplomatic tools to help our 
Government to promote religious liberty abroad. The act established an 
Ambassador at Large position to ensure that religious liberty remains a 
priority of every administration. And I want to thank our current 
Ambassador, John Hanford, for joining us today. And thank you for taking 
on this important job.
    The act established the U.S. Commission on International Religious 
Freedom to monitor the state of religious liberty worldwide. The act 
requires annual reporting on the state of religious freedom in every 
nation, to help identify the most egregious offenders. The act 
authorizes sanctions against regimes.
    In all these ways, the act has placed religious liberty where it 
belongs, at the center of U.S. foreign policy.
    We've seen some hopeful progress during the last couple of years. 
We've seen it in Turkmenistan, where the nation's chief mufti had been 
ousted and imprisoned for refusing to teach state propaganda as a sacred 
religious text. Through efforts authorized by the International 
Religious Freedom Act, the United States pressed for the mufti's 
release. In 2007, Mufti Ibadullah was pardoned and freed. He has since 
become an adviser to Turkmenistan's Council on Religious Affairs.
    We've seen some progress in Vietnam. The United States used the 
tools of this act to press for the release of dozens of religious 
prisoners, all of whom had been freed. Vietnam's Government has reopened 
many of the churches it had shut down. And most religious groups report 
a decrease in the Government's oppression of believers. This act has 
encouraged Vietnam to take some promising first steps toward religious 
liberty, and we're going to continue to work toward the day when all 
Vietnamese are free to worship as they so desire.
    The 10-year anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act 
is also an occasion to remember the many people who have yet to secure 
this precious liberty. Our thoughts turn especially to those living in 
the countries where religious freedom is of particular concern. Some of 
these nations have taken steps toward reform; others haven't. Today we 
urge the leaders of all these countries to immediately end their abuses 
of religious freedom. We urge these leaders to respect the rights of 
those who seek only to worship their God as they see fit.
    Today we remember those seeking religious freedom in Iran, where the 
regime's anti-Semitism has provoked global outrage. We remember those 
seeking religious freedom in Eritrea, where approximately 3,000 
religious prisoners languish in the nation's jails. We remember those 
seeking religious freedom in Sudan, where police have used tear gas to 
attack a Christian church, and where Christian leaders who met with a 
Muslim woman wanting to convert were beaten and detained.
    We remember those seeking religious freedom in North Korea, where 
those caught practicing faiths other than the state ideology are 
imprisoned and people found with Bibles can be executed. We remember 
those seeking religious freedom in Burma, especially the nation's 
Buddhist monks who have endured brutal raids on their monasteries and 
suffered tear gas attacks and gunfire during peaceful protests.
    We remember those seeking religious freedom in Uzbekistan, where, in 
the past, members of religious minorities have been beaten and jailed, 
yet where recent agreements give us hope that these abuses will not be 
repeated in the future.
    We remember those seeking religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, where 
the religious police continue to harass non-Muslims, yet where we also 
believe reforms pledged by King Abdallah can bring real change. We 
remember those seeking religious freedom in China, where we honor those 
who press for their liberties, people like Uighur Muslims. I had the 
honor of meeting Rebiya Kadeer. I've also had the honor of meeting those 
who

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attend underground churches in China. And we also honor the courage of 
the Dalai Lama and the Buddhists in Tibet.
    And you know, last month here at the White House, I met with a 
Chinese dissident named Li Baiguang. He's a lawyer who worked on human 
rights cases; he's a house church Protestant. For his work, he's been 
repeatedly jailed and attacked. A few months ago, he was scheduled to 
meet with Members of Congress. State authorities blocked the meeting and 
detained Li on the outskirts of Beijing. This determined man has 
pledged: ``I'll continue to seek justice for victims of rights abuses 
and promote the rule of law in China.'' And my message to President Hu 
Jintao, when I last met him, was this: So long as there are those who 
want to fight for their liberty, the United States stands with them.
    Whenever and wherever I meet leaders, I'm going to constantly remind 
them that they ought to welcome religion in their society, not fear it. 
I'll remind them, someone pledged to love a neighbor like they'd like to 
be loved themselves is someone who will add to their society in 
constructive and peaceful ways.
    I'm met by men and women who are working for religious freedom 
around the globe, people like Li. And when I do, I'm always impressed by 
their courage. I've attended worship services from Hanoi to Beijing. And 
when I speak to world leaders, I remind them--the leaders in those 
countries that the worship services are a necessary part of developing a 
society for which they can be proud.
    And so as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the International 
Religious Freedom Act, we pray that all those who seek their God will be 
able to do so free of oppression and fear.
    I want to thank you all for your good work, and I ask for the good 
Lord to continue to bless our country. Thank you for your time.

Note: The President spoke at 11:51 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House. In his remarks, he referred to former Senator Donald L. 
Nickles; Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah, adviser, Turkmenistan's Council on 
Religious Affairs; Chinese Uighur dissident Rebiya Kadeer; and Tenzin 
Gyatso, the Dalai Lama of Tibet. The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.