I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5379 

To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious 

Freedom, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2019 

Mr. CICILLINE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on House 

Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Commis5 sion on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization 

6 Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION. 

2 Section 209 of the International Religious Freedom 

3 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6436) is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2023’’. 

5 SEC. 3. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION. 

6 Section 201 of the International Religious Freedom 

7 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—’’; and 

10 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); 

11 (2) in subsection (c)(1)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘2 years’’ and inserting ‘‘3 

13 years’’; and 

14 (B) by striking the second and third sen15 tences and inserting the following: ‘‘Individuals 

16 serving on the Commission on the date of the 

17 enactment of the United States Commission on 

18 International Religious Freedom Reauthoriza19 tion Act of 2019 who were previously re20 appointed to the Commission may not remain 

21 in office after the end of the term for which the 

22 member was appointed. Individuals serving on 

23 the Commission as of such date of enactment 

24 who were not previously reappointed to the 

25 Commission may be reappointed for 1 addi26 tional 2-year term. Individuals appointed to the 


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1 Commission on or after such date of enactment 

2 may not serve more than 1 term as members of 

3 the Commission under any circumstance. Indi4 viduals whose service as members of the Com5 mission ended before such date of enactment 

6 may not be reappointed to the Commission.’’; 

7 (3) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol8 lows: 

9 ‘‘(d) ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—At the 

10 first meeting of the Commission after May 30 of each 

11 year, a majority of the members of the Commission who 

12 are present and voting shall elect a Chair and a Vice 

13 Chair. The Vice Chair shall have been appointed by an 

14 officeholder from a different political party than the office15 holder who appointed the member of the Commission who 

16 was elected Chair. The positions of Chair and Vice Chair 

17 shall be rotated annually between members who were ap18 pointed to the Commission by officeholders of different po19 litical parties.’’; 

20 (4) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘Country Re21 port on Human Rights Practices’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘International Religious Freedom Report’’; and 

23 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(j) REMOVAL.—If a payment is made under section 

25 415(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 


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1 (2 U.S.C. 1415(a)) for an award or settlement in connec2 tion with a claim alleging a violation of unlawful harass3 ment, intimidation, reprisal, or discrimination under the 

4 Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 

5 et seq.) that was committed personally by an individual 

6 who, at the time of committing the violation, was a Mem7 ber of the Commission, the Member shall be removed from 

8 the Commission.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

10 (a) DUTIES.—Section 202 of the International Reli11 gious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432) is amend12 ed— 

13 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘globally 

14 and the abuse of religion to justify human rights vio15 lations, including those’’ after ‘‘freedom’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (e)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘The Commission’’ and in18 serting the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission’’; and 

20 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(2) TRACKING; REVIEW.—The Commission 

22 shall regularly— 

23 ‘‘(A) track the implementation by the 

24 United States Government of the recommenda25 tions it makes under paragraph (1); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) review, to the extent practicable, the 

2 effectiveness of such implemented recommenda3 tions in advancing religious freedom inter4 nationally.’’. 

5 (b) POWERS.—Section 203(e) of the International 

6 Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432a(e)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘The Members of the Commis9 sion’’ and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Members of the Com11 mission’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (1), as redesignated, by insert13 ing ‘‘When a member of the Commission is speaking 

14 at a public event in his or her capacity as a private 

15 citizen, the event sponsor shall not identify the mem16 ber’s affiliation with the Commission in any printed 

17 materials or when introducing the member.’’ after 

18 ‘‘private citizens.’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) SPEAKING AT EVENTS IN OFFICIAL CAPAC21 ITY.—When a Member of the Commission is invited 

22 to speak at an event in his or her capacity as a 

23 Commissioner, the Member shall provide notice of 

24 the request to all Commissioners and the Executive 

25 Director as soon as the Commissioner becomes 


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1 aware of the request. When a specific Commissioner 

2 is requested to speak at an event, but a different 

3 Commissioner has more relevant subject-matter ex4 pertise, the Commission may propose that a dif5 ferent Commissioner speak at the event. If more 

6 than 1 Commissioner would like to speak at an event 

7 and interested Commissioners cannot reach a timely, 

8 amicable decision on who shall speak, the Commis9 sion, as a whole, shall decide who shall speak by ma10 jority vote. Speeches and responses to questions at 

11 events shall reflect the views of the Commission. 

12 Speeches and other prepared materials must be cir13 culated to all Commissioners in advance of the 

14 event.’’. 

15 SEC. 5. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 204 of the International 

17 Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘, without regard to civil 

21 service laws and regulations,’’; 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘and such other additional 

23 personnel’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘. The 

24 Executive Director, with the approval of the 


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1 Chair and the Vice Chair, may appoint or ter2 minate additional senior staff’’; and 

3 (C) by inserting ‘‘The Executive Director, 

4 in consultation with the relevant Members of 

5 the Commission, may appoint or terminate such 

6 junior staff as may be necessary to enable the 

7 Commission to perform its duties.’’ after ‘‘du8 ties.’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘fix the compensation of 

11 the Executive Director and other personnel’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘provide reasonable compensation 

13 to the Executive Director’’; 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘and other personnel may 

15 not exceed the rate payable for level V of the 

16 Executive Schedule under section 5316’’ and in17 serting ‘‘may not exceed the rate payable under 

18 level II of the Executive Schedule under section 

19 5313’’; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘The rate of pay for other personnel of the 

22 Commission may not exceed the rate payable 

23 for level IV of the Executive Schedule under 

24 section 5315 of such title. All employees of the 

25 Commission shall otherwise be treated as emVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5379.IH H5379

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1 ployees whose pay is disbursed by the Secretary 

2 of the Senate, including for purposes of apply3 ing the Standing Rules of the Senate. The 

4 Commission shall be treated as an employing 

5 office of the Senate.’’; 

6 (3) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘the commis7 sion, for the executive director’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

8 Commission, for the Executive Director’’; and 

9 (4) by striking subsection (g). 

10 (b) COVERAGE OF COMMISSION EMPLOYEES.—Sec11 tion 101(b) of the Congressional Accountability Act (2 

12 U.S.C. 1301) is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘the United 

14 States Commission on International Religious Free15 dom,’’ after ‘‘With respect to’’; 

16 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 

18 and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii); 

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘Subject to 

20 paragraph (3),’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(B) Subject to paragraph (3), legal assist23 ance and representation under this Act, includ24 ing assistance and representation with respect 

25 to the proposal or acceptance of the disposition 


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1 of a claim under this Act, shall be provided to 

2 the United States Commission on International 

3 Religious Freedom by the Office of Senate 

4 Chief Counsel for Employment of the Senate, in 

5 the case of assistance and representation in 

6 connection with a claim filed under title IV (in7 cluding all subsequent proceedings under such 

8 title in connection with such claim).’’; and 

9 (3) in paragraph (3)— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

11 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

12 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

13 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(D) the term ‘United States Commission 

16 on International Religious Freedom’ means the 

17 Commission established under section 201 of 

18 the International Religious Freedom Act of 

19 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431).’’. 

20 SEC. 6. COMMISSION TRAVEL AND ANNUAL DISCLOSURES. 

21 (a) DUTIES.—Section 201(i) of the International Re22 ligious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431(i)) is 

23 amended by striking ‘‘are subject to’’ and inserting ‘‘shall 

24 comply with’’. 


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1 (b) POWERS.—Section 203(f) of the International 

2 Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432a(f)) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘The Members of the Commis5 sion’’ and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Members of the Com7 mission’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION AGAINST PAYMENT OF OFFI10 CIAL TRAVEL BY NON-FEDERAL SOURCES.—Mem11 bers of the Commission and Commission staff may 

12 not accept payment from a non-Federal source for 

13 expenses related to official travel on behalf of the 

14 Commission.’’. 

15 (c) ANNUAL DISCLOSURES.—Section 203 of the 

16 International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as amended 

17 by subsection (b), is further amended by adding at the 

18 end the following: 

19 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL DISCLOSURES.—Not later than March 

20 1 of each year, each Member of the Commission shall sub21 mit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, 

22 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep23 resentatives, the Committee on Appropriations of the Sen24 ate, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 


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1 of Representatives a report that discloses, with respect to 

2 the most recently concluded 12-month period— 

3 ‘‘(1) any travel by the Member outside of the 

4 United States that was paid for or reimbursed by a 

5 person or entity other than the Member, a relative 

6 of the Member, or the Federal Government, includ7 ing— 

8 ‘‘(A) who paid for or reimbursed the trav9 el; 

10 ‘‘(B) a good faith estimate of the cost of 

11 the travel; and 

12 ‘‘(C) brief details of the travel and events 

13 related to such travel; and 

14 ‘‘(2) any instances in which the Member was 

15 identified as a Commissioner while speaking at, or 

16 otherwise participating in, a public event in his or 

17 her capacity as a private citizen.’’. 

18 SEC. 7. RECORD RETENTION. 

19 Section 208 of the International Religious Freedom 

20 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6435a) is amended by adding at 

21 the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(f) COMMISSION RECORDS.—The Commission shall 

23 comply with all of the records management requirements 

24 set forth in chapter 31 of title 44, United States Code 


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1 (commonly referred to as the ‘Federal Records Act of 

2 1950’). 

3 ‘‘(g) OFFICIAL EMAIL FOR COMMISSION BUSI4 NESS.—When conducting any Commission business 

5 through email, Commission Members and staff shall use 

6 official Commission email.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. APPLICABILITY OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMA8 TION ACT AND THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT 

9 ACT OF 1978. 

10 Section 206 of the International Religious Freedom 

11 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6434) is amended by— 

12 (1) inserting ‘‘(a) FEDERAL ADVISORY COM13 MITTEE ACT.—’’ before ‘‘The’’; and 

14 (2) adding at the end the following new sub15 sections: 

16 ‘‘(b) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.—Notwith17 standing sections 551 or 552(f) of title 5, United States 

18 Code, the Commission shall be considered to be an agency 

19 for purposes of section 552 of such title. 

20 ‘‘(c) ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978.—Each 

21 Commissioner appointed under section 201(b)(1)(B) 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) be subject to the requirements of the Eth24 ics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) submit financial disclosure reports under 

2 such Act in the same form and manner as an indi3 vidual described in section 101(f)(10) of such Act. 

4 ‘‘(d) CLARIFICATION.—Each Commissioner ap5 pointed under section 201(b)(1)(B) shall not be considered 

6 a Federal employee except for the purposes of chapter 81 

7 of title 5, United States Code, (relating to job-incurred 

8 disability) and title 28, United States Code, (relating to 

9 tort claims).’’. 

10 SEC. 9. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

11 Section 4(d) of the United States Commission on 

12 International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 

13 2015 (22 U.S.C. 6433a(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘Not 

14 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

15 the Act, and not less frequently than biennially thereafter’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of 

17 the enactment of the United States Commission on Inter18 national Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2019, 

19 and every 2 years thereafter’’. 

20 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 Section 207(a) of the International Religious Free22 dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6435(a)) is amended by strik23 ing ‘‘$3,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2016 to 


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1 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘$4,500,000 for each of the fiscal 

2 years 2020 through 2023’’. 

Æ 


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