Home > 105th Congressional Bills > H.R. 2431 (eh) To establish an Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring, to provide for the imposition of sanctions against countries engaged in a pattern of religious persecution, and for other purposes. ...H.R. 2431 (eh) To establish an Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring, to provide for the imposition of sanctions against countries engaged in a pattern of religious persecution, and for other purposes. ...
In the Senate of the United States,
October 9 (legislative day, October 2), 1998.
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R.
2431) entitled ``An Act to establish an Office of Religious Persecution
Monitoring, to provide for the imposition of sanctions against
countries engaged in a pattern of religious persecution, and for other
purposes.'', do pass with the following
AMENDMENTS:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings; policy.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
TITLE I--DEPARTMENT OF STATE ACTIVITIES
Sec. 101. Office on International Religious Freedom; Ambassador at
Large for International Religious Freedom.
Sec. 102. Reports.
Sec. 103. Establishment of a religious freedom Internet site.
Sec. 104. Training for Foreign Service officers.
Sec. 105. High-level contacts with nongovernmental organizations.
Sec. 106. Programs and allocations of funds by United States missions
abroad.
Sec. 107. Equal access to United States missions abroad for conducting
religious activities.
Sec. 108. Prisoner lists and issue briefs on religious freedom
concerns.
TITLE II--COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Sec. 201. Establishment and composition.
Sec. 202. Duties of the Commission.
Sec. 203. Report of the Commission.
Sec. 204. Applicability of other laws.
Sec. 205. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 206. Termination.
TITLE III--NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
Sec. 301. Special Adviser on International Religious Freedom.
TITLE IV--PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS
Subtitle I--Targeted Responses to Violations of Religious Freedom
Abroad
Sec. 401. Presidential actions in response to violations of religious
freedom.
Sec. 402. Presidential actions in response to particularly severe
violations of religious freedom.
Sec. 403. Consultations.
Sec. 404. Report to Congress.
Sec. 405. Description of Presidential actions.
Sec. 406. Effects on existing contracts.
Sec. 407. Presidential waiver.
Sec. 408. Publication in Federal Register.
Sec. 409. Termination of Presidential actions.
Sec. 410. Preclusion of judicial review.
Subtitle II--Strengthening Existing Law
Sec. 421. United States assistance.
Sec. 422. Multilateral assistance.
Sec. 423. Exports of certain items used in particularly severe
violations of religious freedom.
TITLE V--PROMOTION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Sec. 501. Assistance for promoting religious freedom.
Sec. 502. International broadcasting.
Sec. 503. International exchanges.
Sec. 504. Foreign Service awards.
TITLE VI--REFUGEE, ASYLUM, AND CONSULAR MATTERS
Sec. 601. Use of Annual Report.
Sec. 602. Reform of refugee policy.
Sec. 603. Reform of asylum policy.
Sec. 604. Inadmissibility of foreign government officials who have
engaged in particularly severe violations
of religious freedom.
Sec. 605. Studies on the effect of expedited removal provisions on
asylum claims.
TITLE VII--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 701. Business codes of conduct.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; POLICY.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The right to freedom of religion undergirds the very
origin and existence of the United States. Many of our Nation's
founders fled religious persecution abroad, cherishing in their
hearts and minds the ideal of religious freedom. They
established in law, as a fundamental right and as a pillar of
our Nation, the right to freedom of religion. From its birth to
this day, the United States has prized this legacy of religious
freedom and honored this heritage by standing for religious
freedom and offering refuge to those suffering religious
persecution.
(2) Freedom of religious belief and practice is a universal
human right and fundamental freedom articulated in numerous
international instruments, including the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, the Helsinki Accords, the Declaration on the
Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination
Based on Religion or Belief, the United Nations Charter, and
the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms.
(3) Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
recognizes that ``Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,
conscience, and religion. This right includes freedom to change
his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his
religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and
observance.''. Article 18(1) of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights recognizes that ``Everyone shall
have the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion
or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his
religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, and
teaching''. Governments have the responsibility to protect the
fundamental rights of their citizens and to pursue justice for
all. Religious freedom is a fundamental right of every
individual, regardless of race, sex, country, creed, or
nationality, and should never be arbitrarily abridged by any
government.
(4) The right to freedom of religion is under renewed and,
in some cases, increasing assault in many countries around the
world. More than one-half of the world's population lives under
regimes that severely restrict or prohibit the freedom of their
citizens to study, believe, observe, and freely practice the
religious faith of their choice. Religious believers and
communities suffer both government-sponsored and government-
tolerated violations of their rights to religious freedom.
Among the many forms of such violations are state-sponsored
slander campaigns, confiscations of property, surveillance by
security police, including by special divisions of ``religious
police'', severe prohibitions against construction and repair
of places of worship, denial of the right to assemble and
relegation of religious communities to illegal status through
arbitrary registration laws, prohibitions against the pursuit
of education or public office, and prohibitions against
publishing, distributing, or possessing religious literature
and materials.
(5) Even more abhorrent, religious believers in many
countries face such severe and violent forms of religious
persecution as detention, torture, beatings, forced marriage,
rape, imprisonment, enslavement, mass resettlement, and death
merely for the peaceful belief in, change of or practice of
their faith. In many countries, religious believers are forced
to meet secretly, and religious leaders are targeted by
national security forces and hostile mobs.
(6) Though not confined to a particular region or regime,
religious persecution is often particularly widespread,
systematic, and heinous under totalitarian governments and in
countries with militant, politicized religious majorities.
(7) Congress has recognized and denounced acts of religious
persecution through the adoption of the following resolutions:
(A) House Resolution 515 of the One Hundred Fourth
Congress, expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives with respect to the persecution of
Christians worldwide.
(B) Senate Concurrent Resolution 71 of the One
Hundred Fourth Congress, expressing the sense of the
Senate regarding persecution of Christians worldwide.
(C) House Concurrent Resolution 102 of the One
Hundred Fourth Congress, expressing the sense of the
House of Representatives concerning the emancipation of
the Iranian Baha'i community.
(b) Policy.--It shall be the policy of the United States, as
follows:
(1) To condemn violations of religious freedom, and to
promote, and to assist other governments in the promotion of,
the fundamental right to freedom of religion.
(2) To seek to channel United States security and
development assistance to governments other than those found to
be engaged in gross violations of the right to freedom of
religion, as set forth in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961,
in the International Financial Institutions Act of 1977, and in
other formulations of United States human rights policy.
(3) To be vigorous and flexible, reflecting both the
unwavering commitment of the United States to religious freedom
and the desire of the United States for the most effective and
principled response, in light of the range of violations of
religious freedom by a variety of persecuting regimes, and the
status of the relations of the United States with different
nations.
(4) To work with foreign governments that affirm and
protect religious freedom, in order to develop multilateral
documents and initiatives to combat violations of religious
freedom and promote the right to religious freedom abroad.
(5) Standing for liberty and standing with the persecuted,
to use and implement appropriate tools in the United States
foreign policy apparatus, including diplomatic, political,
commercial, charitable, educational, and cultural channels, to
promote respect for religious freedom by all governments and
peoples.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Ambassador at large.--The term ``Ambassador at Large''
means the Ambassador at Large for International Religious
Freedom appointed under section 101(b).
(2) Annual report.--The term ``Annual Report'' means the
Annual Report on International Religious Freedom described in
section 102(b).
(3) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate and the Committee on International Relations of
the House of Representatives; and
(B) in the case of any determination made with
respect to the taking of President action under
paragraphs (9) through (15) of section 405(a), the term
includes the committees described in subparagraph (A)
and, where appropriate, the Committee on Banking and
Financial Services of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of
the Senate.
(4) Commensurate action.--The term ``commensurate action''
means action taken by the President under section 405(b).
(5) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the United
States Commission on International Religious Freedom
established in section 201(a).
(6) Country reports on human rights practices.--The term
``Country Reports on Human Rights Practices'' means the annual
reports required to be submitted by the Department of State to
Congress under sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961.
(7) Executive summary.--The term ``Executive Summary''
means the Executive Summary to the Annual Report, as described
in section 102(b)(1)(F).
(8) Government or foreign government.--The term
``government'' or ``foreign government'' includes any agency or
instrumentality of the government.
(9) Human rights reports.--The term ``Human Rights
Reports'' means all reports submitted by the Department of
State to Congress under sections 116 and 502B of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961.
(10) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office on
International Religious Freedom established in section 101(a).
(11) Particularly severe violations of religious freedom.--
The term ``particularly severe violations of religious
freedom'' means systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of
religious freedom, including violations such as--
(A) torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment or punishment;
(B) prolonged detention without charges;
(C) causing the disappearance of persons by the
abduction or clandestine detention of those persons; or
(D) other flagrant denial of the right to life,
liberty, or the security of persons.
(12) Special adviser.--The term ``Special Adviser'' means
the Special Adviser to the President on International Religious
Freedom described in section 101(i) of the National Security
Act of 1947, as added by section 301 of this Act.
(13) Violations of religious freedom.--The term
``violations of religious freedom'' means violations of the
internationally recognized right to freedom of religion and
religious belief and practice, as set forth in the
international instruments referred to in section 2(a)(2) and as
described in section 2(a)(3), including violations such as--
(A) arbitrary prohibitions on, restrictions of, or
punishment for--
(i) assembling for peaceful religious
activities such as worship, preaching, and
prayer, including arbitrary registration
requirements,
(ii) speaking freely about one's religious
beliefs,
(iii) changing one's religious beliefs and
affiliation,
(iv) possession and distribution of
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