[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 194 (Friday, December 16, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H9810-H9812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REFORM AND
REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2011
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur
in the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 2867) to reauthorize the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the Senate amendments is as follows:
Senate amendments:
Beginning on page 2, strike line 6 and all that follows
through ``(3)'' on page 4, line 18, and insert the following:
(a) Terms.--Section 201(c) of the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431(c)) is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--The term of office of each member of the
Commission shall be 2 years. An individual, including any
member appointed to the Commission prior to the date of the
enactment of the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2011,
shall not serve more than 2 terms as a member of the
Commission under any circumstance. For any member serving on
the Commission on such date who has completed at least 2 full
terms on the Commission, such member's term shall expire 90
days after such date. A member of the Commission may not
serve after the expiration of that member's term.''; and
(2)
On page 5, line 3, strike ``(c)'' and insert ``(b)''.
On page 5, strike lines 9 through 19 and insert the
following:
(c) Application of Federal Travel Regulation and Department
of State Standardized Regulations to the Commission.--Section
201(i) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22
U.S.C. 6431(i)) is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``Members of the Commission are subject to the
requirements set forth in chapters 300 through 304 of title
41, Code of Federal Regulations (commonly known as the
`Federal Travel Regulation') and the Department of State
Standardized Regulations governing authorized travel at
government expense, including regulations concerning the mode
of travel, lodging and per diem expenditures, reimbursement
payments, and expense reporting and documentation
requirements.''.
On page 5, strike line 21 and insert the following:
(a) In General.--Section 204 of the International Religious
Freedom
On page 6, between lines 16 and 17, insert the following:
(b) Pending Claims.--Any administrative or judicial claim
or action pending on the date of the enactment of this Act
may be maintained under section 204(g) of the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as added by subsection (a).
On page 6, line 21, strike ``and 2013'' and insert
``through 2014''.
On page 7, line 9, strike ``2013'' and insert ``2014''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from California (Mr.
Berman) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.
General Leave
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and insert extraneous material on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
The right to free religious belief and practice is a fundamental
human right. But as Coptic Christians in Egypt and other religious
minorities can attest, that right is frequently and tragically denied.
It was for this reason that Congress established the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent,
bipartisan Federal Commission charged with monitoring and protecting
and promoting religious freedom abroad.
Our State Department prioritizes an array of diplomatic, economic,
and other issues that sometimes keep it from speaking and acting boldly
against religious suppression. For this
[[Page H9811]]
reason alone, the single-minded role of the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom as a truth-telling watchdog and policy
advocate remains critically important. The commission's annual report,
its list of countries meriting CPC designation, and its special reports
push American foreign policy to better reflect America's most cherished
liberties.
For example, in spite of long-standing abuses, Vietnam has not been
redesignated by the State Department as a Country of Particular
Concern, CPC, for religious freedom violations. But the Commission has
built a compelling case for Vietnam's CPC status, reporting on the
repression of protestants in the Central Highlands, unregistered
Buddhist groups, and others--a call that was echoed by our Foreign
Affairs Committee earlier this year in our State authorization bill.
Yet, the Commission will soon have to shut its doors unless Congress
acts immediately to reauthorize it.
For this reason, the House overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2867 back in
September. This bipartisan bill would reform and reauthorize the
Commission and, in recognition of the fiscal challenges we face,
includes funding that is a 30 percent cut from current year funding
levels.
Finally 3 days ago, the Senate unanimously passed H.R. 2867, along
with a brief amendment which is before us today. The Senate amendment
adds a few additional reforms, including standard Federal regulation of
Commission travel, to those required by our House bill.
I want to thank my good friend from Virginia, Mr. Frank Wolf, for his
indispensable leadership in authoring this bill. I also want to thank
my ranking member, Mr. Berman of California, and our Senate colleagues
for their cooperation.
I urge all of our colleagues to join us in voting ``aye'' and sending
H.R. 2867 to the President's desk as soon as possible. Let us remind
the world that we stand as one against the persecution of religious
believers anywhere.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 2867, the United States Commission
on International Religious Freedom Reform and Reauthorization Act of
2011, and the Senate amendments to the bill.
I want to initially start out by thanking the sponsor of this
legislation, the gentleman from Virginia, Frank Wolf, for his
leadership on the issue of international religious freedom; Senator
Durbin for his efforts to strengthen the bill; my chairman, Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen, for her management of this whole process that's finally going
to get this reauthorization hopefully passed and sent to the President.
We're fortunate to live in a country that was founded by religious
refugees on principles of tolerance. And we strive to adhere to article
18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that
everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
This right includes the freedom to manifest his religion or belief in
teaching, practice, worship, and observance.
But elsewhere around the world, religious freedom and human rights
are routinely violated. Countless men, women, and children face
violence, persecution, and discrimination because of their faith.
Unfortunately, intolerance is not restricted to just a few countries.
Violent extremist attacks have taken place in the Middle East and South
Asia. The regimes in North Korea and Iran actively repress religious
freedom. Apostasy and blasphemy laws have fueled discrimination against
religious minorities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. Other
religious minorities like the Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims,
Ahmadis, and the Bahais face violence in government restrictions, and
anti-Semitism is still prevalent around the world.
{time} 0950
More than ever, we need the U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom to continue its important work to support the right
to practice one's religion freely around the globe.
This bipartisan bill before us today reauthorizes the Commission,
known as USCIRF, for another 3 years. The bill also contains some
sensible reforms that will strengthen USCIRF's efforts to monitor and
report on the status of freedom of religion abroad. These reforms
include the process of selecting the chair, term limits for service for
the members of the Commission, travel regulations, and a GAO study on
improving the effectiveness and coordination of all the U.S. Government
bodies that focus on international religious freedom.
In particular, I would like to thank Mr. Wolf for agreeing to include
a provision that clarifies that USCIRF is subject to the same workplace
protections and civil rights laws as the rest of the Federal
Government.
With this piece of legislation, USCIRF will be able to more
effectively carry out its mission and be the Commission it was intended
to be. I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), chairman of the Appropriations
Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations and the author of this
bill.
(Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. WOLF. I thank the chair very much for yielding.
I want to thank Representative Ros-Lehtinen and her staff for,
really, being very dogged and persistent, and I want them to know how
grateful I am. As people are for this bill, they should know that had
it not been for them, we would not be here.
I also want to thank Mr. Berman and his staff. I want to thank Mr.
Cantor and his staff for scheduling this. I want to single out Speaker
Boehner and his staff because they were a part of this effort for the
last several months, and they were very faithful, so I want to thank
them. I also want to thank my staff for being involved in this for well
over a year.
The Coptic Christians are going through a very difficult time. The
Iraqi Christians are being killed, and difficult things are happening
to them. In Tibet, the Buddhists are setting themselves aflame because
of the persecution of the Chinese Government. The Catholic Church in
China is under stress: 25 bishops are under house arrest. The
Protestant House Church in China is being squeezed and persecuted. The
Christians in Sudan, in the Blue Nile area, are going through genocide
and are being killed because of their faith.
Interestingly enough, the original bill passed on the very last day
of Congress a number of years ago, and history is repeating itself. The
Commission has been a beacon of hope. With that, I just want to, again,
thank all those who helped us get here.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Dreier), chairman of the Committee on Rules.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chair of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs for yielding me the time.
I rise to congratulate my very good friend, the gentleman from
Virginia, Frank Wolf, who has just talked about both Sudan and China as
being very key areas where religious persecution has taken place and
continues to be a threat. I've been working with the chair of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs and with other Members in a bipartisan way
on the situation that exists in Egypt.
One of the reasons I wanted to offer remarks is that, when she stood
up and talked about the Coptic Christians in Egypt, we obviously know
that there are challenging days ahead; and I think it's very important
for us to do everything that we can to encourage those who may have had
a history of engaging in religious persecution in the past to recognize
religious freedom, human rights, the rights of women, the rule of law,
and all of the other very critical items that are a key part of the
development of democracy.
So many people believe that you have a democracy if you hold an
election. Well, Mr. Speaker, as you know very well, one election a
democracy does not make; and there are other very important aspects of
the development of democracy, and religious freedom is a key part of
that.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, with that, I have no further requests
[[Page H9812]]
for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2867,
the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reform
and Reauthorization Act, as amended by the Senate.
Religious freedom--the right to worship and practice one's faith
according to the dictates of one's own conscience--is a foundational
human right. Many have called religious freedom the first freedom. Not
only is it the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution, it is
intrinsic to the human dignity of every man and woman on this earth.
However, it is a right denied or curtailed for many--and according to
some estimates, most--people in the world.
For Copts in Egypt, Uighurs in China, Montagnards in Central Vietnam,
Jews and Baha'i in Iran, many Buddhist monks in Burma, and countless
millions elsewhere, the ability to live their faith without threat of
persecution is a distant and unrealized promise.
Dr. Brian Grim, a witness at a recent hearing I held on religious
freedom, has done significant research in this area. In a study he
conducted in 2009, he found that nearly 70 percent of the world's 6.8
billion people live in countries with high or very high restrictions on
religion. His study specifically cited Iran, Pakistan, China, and Egypt
as among the most repressive of religious expression. This is
significant not only because it highlights the number of people denied
this most fundamental of human rights, but also because religious
freedom is comprised of a ``bundle of rights.'' Religious freedom
implies freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of
association and assembly, and even freedom of the press. Absent freedom
of religion, all these other rights are in jeopardy.
In fact, Dr. Grim's research shows that countries that respect these
rights reap a host of socio-economic benefits, including better
education, better health care, greater equity of pay between men and
women, and higher GDP, and these benefits arguably lead to greater
social stability. On the other hand, countries without respect for
religious freedom do worse on these socio-economic indicators, have
greater societal tension, and are more prone to instability. The
importance of promoting all components of religious freedom therefore
cannot be overstated. Not only is it a moral imperative, but religious
freedom keeps extremism and tyranny at bay.
For these reasons, U.S. leadership on religious freedom is
desperately needed in many countries around the world, together with a
more vigorous utilization of the means provided in the IRF Act for
promoting religious human rights.
I was pleased to work with my good friend from Virginia (Mr. Wolf)
and to chair the Committee hearings and markup fourteen years ago that
led to the enactment of the International Religious Freedom Act of
1998, which established the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom. The Act provided our Administration with the tools necessary
to make international religious freedom an integral component of the
highest priority in U.S. foreign policy.
Contrary to assertions that singling out religious freedom would
somehow make it seem more important or separated from other fundamental
human rights--the Clinton Administration asserted that its strong
opposition to the Act was based on its belief that the Act would result
in a ``hierarchy of rights''--those of us who championed the bill
argued that it was necessary to ensure that religious freedom is given
its rightful place within the framework of human rights promotion.
The law provided a new and bipartisan focus, which has begun to grant
religious freedom its rightful stature in the diplomatic and foreign
policy of the United States, under both Democratic and Republican
administrations.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was and is an
important part of that effort. It was created as an independent body of
experts to review the facts and make policy recommendations from a
vantage point outside of our diplomatic corps, where bilateral and
other concerns had sometimes resulted in the soft-pedaling of severe,
ongoing violations of religious freedom around the world.
Even today, when the quality of State Department reporting on
religious freedom issues has improved, the Commission continues to
serve a critical role as a sounding board and a catalyst.
One indicator is the fact that the Commission's list of recommended
``Countries of Particular Concern'' for severe violations of religious
remains larger than the number designated by the State Department.
In September, Secretary Clinton rightfully designated Burma, China,
Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan as CPCs.
But the State Department's list does not add any new countries from
last year, and glaringly omits Vietnam, whose policies have more than
earned that badge of shame.
Secretary Clinton also did not designate Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria,
Turkmenistan, and Pakistan as recommended by the Commission.
We need the Commission more than ever. Already in the Congress, we
have had six comprehensive hearings on religious freedom: Two in the
Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission regarding the religious freedom of
minorities in the Middle East, especially Egypt; two on the Committee I
chair regarding the prioritization of religious freedom in U.S. foreign
policy, and two in the Helsinki Commission on the particular plight of
Coptic Christians in Egypt.
The Commission has been an invaluable resource to Congress as we
monitor the protection and promotion of religious freedom around the
world--and the response of the Administration on this very important
issue.
They have also been a resource to governments seeking how to remedy
religious freedom abuses within their own borders. For instance, in
Indonesia, the Commission worked with members of the Indonesian House
of Representatives and civil society groups who introduced measures to
strengthen provisions in the criminal code regarding attacks on
religious gatherings and amend the law governing the building of
religious venues.
The Commission also continues to help network human rights and legal
advocates in Indonesia working to defend individuals accused of
``blasphemy'' and religious minorities facing intimidation and violence
from extremist groups. The Commission's work in Indonesia will have
practical impact on the exercise of human rights--and preservation of
peace--in Indonesia.
Other governments have looked to the Commission as a model for their
own religious freedom Commissions.
The bill before us includes a number of bipartisan reforms to
Commission authorities and operations to make their work even more
effective.
I want to thank Chairman Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking Member Berman for
working to bring to the floor this important bill, which deserves
unanimous support. And I would like to extend a special thanks to
Representative Wolf, whose tireless efforts on this legislation have
brought hope to persecuted people across the world.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the
rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill, H.R. 2867.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the Senate amendments were concurred in.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________