A bill giving the Administration and the State Department new resources and training to help combat the escalation of persecution of Christians and anti-Semitism was unanimously adopted by the House Foreign Affairs Committee today.

    Authored by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) with the lead co-sponsorship of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA), the legislation enjoys widespread bipartisan support, garnering over 100 cosponsors. It is named the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (HR 1150), in honor of the former member of Congress and internationally recognized leader in the fight against religious persecution.

    “Eighteen years ago, Frank Wolf led and Congress had the foresight to make advancing the right to religious freedom a U.S. foreign policy priority,” said Smith, Chair of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights.  Click here to read excerpts of Smith’s remarks . “My legislation today strengthens our resolve and ensures that every administration integrates and advances religious freedom in its foreign policy objectives and actions.”

    Specifically, Smith’s bill:

• Requires that international religious freedom policies must be integrated into national security, immigration, rule of law, and other relevant U.S. foreign policy priorities;
• Creates a Designated Persons List of individuals sanctioned for participating or directing religious freedom abuses;
• Expands diplomatic training on international religious freedom for all State Department diplomats; 
• Creates a “tier system” for International Religious Freedom reports on countries of particular concern and a special watch list—similar to the tier system used in the Trafficking in Persons Report;
• Requires annual Presidential designations and actions on countries with severe religious freedom abuses;
• Gives the President the authority to designate “non-state actors” as severe violators of international religious freedom; and
• Requires that the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom will report directly to the Secretary of State.

    “The world is experiencing an unprecedented crisis of international religious freedom, a crisis that continues to create millions of victims; a crisis that undermines liberty, prosperity and peace; a crisis that poses a direct challenge to the U.S. interests in the Middle East, Russia, China and sub-Saharan Africa,” said Smith who has held more than a dozen hearings on religious freedom including the landmark October 15, 2015 hearing entitled "The Global Crisis of Religious Freedom."

    “It is increasingly clear that a robust religious freedom diplomacy is necessary to advance US interest in stability, security, and economic development. Research shows that where there is more religious freedom, there is more economic freedom, more women’s empowerment, more political stability, more freedom of speech, and less terrorism,” he said.

      The bill, which is supported by an large ecumenical group of religious organizations and representatives of ethnic minority groups and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) is expected to be considered by the full House of Representatives in the next few weeks.

      Smith has promoted religious freedom and other human rights issues as chairman and co-chairman of the U.S. Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the U.S. Commission on China.

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