I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 440 

To provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to Promote Religious 

Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 25, 2011 

Mr. WOLF (for himself, Mr. PITTS, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. HOLT, Ms. 

ESHOO, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to 

Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in 

the Near East and South Central Asia. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SPECIAL ENVOY TO PROMOTE RELIGIOUS 

4 FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN THE 

5 NEAR EAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA. 

6 (a) APPOINTMENT.—The President shall appoint a 

7 Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious 

8 Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia (in 


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1 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Special Envoy’’) within the 

2 Department of State. 

3 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Special Envoy should be 

4 a person of recognized distinction in the field of human 

5 rights and religious freedom who shall have the rank of 

6 ambassador and shall hold the office at the pleasure of 

7 the President. 

8 SEC. 2. DUTIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Special Envoy shall carry out 

10 the following duties: 

11 (1) Promote the right of religious freedom of 

12 religious minorities in the countries of the Near 

13 East and the countries of South Central Asia, de14 nounce the violation of such right, and recommend 

15 appropriate responses by the United States Govern16 ment when such right is violated. 

17 (2) Monitor and combat acts of religious intol18 erance and incitement targeted against religious mi19 norities in the countries of the Near East and the 

20 countries of South Central Asia. 

21 (3) Work to ensure that the unique needs of re22 ligious minority communities in the countries of the 

23 Near East and the countries of South Central Asia 

24 are addressed, including the economic and security 

25 needs of such communities. 


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1 (4) Work with foreign governments of the coun2 tries of the Near East and the countries of South 

3 Central Asia to address laws that are inherently dis4 criminatory toward religious minority communities 

5 in such countries. 

6 (5) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of 

7 that portion of the report required by sections 

8 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act 

9 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)) relating 

10 to the nature and extent of religious freedom of reli11 gious minorities in the countries of the Near East 

12 and the countries of South Central Asia. 

13 (6) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of 

14 that portion of the report required by section 102(b) 

15 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 

16 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)) relating to the nature and ex17 tent of religious freedom of religious minorities in 

18 the countries of the Near East and the countries of 

19 South Central Asia. 

20 (b) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the duties 

21 under subsection (a), the Special Envoy shall, to the max22 imum extent practicable, coordinate with the Bureau of 

23 Population, Refugees and Migration of the Department of 

24 State, the Ambassador at Large for International Reli25 gious Freedom, the United States Commission on InterVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:41 Feb 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H440.IH H440

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1 national Religious Freedom, and other relevant Federal 

2 agencies and officials. 

3 SEC. 3. DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION. 

4 Subject to the direction of the President and the Sec5 retary of State, the Special Envoy is authorized to rep6 resent the United States in matters and cases relevant to 

7 religious freedom in the countries of the Near East and 

8 the countries of South Central Asia in— 

9 (1) contacts with foreign governments, intergov10 ernmental organizations, and specialized agencies of 

11 the United Nations, the Organization of Security 

12 and Cooperation in Europe, and other international 

13 organizations of which the United States is a mem14 ber; and 

15 (2) multilateral conferences and meetings rel16 evant to religious freedom in the countries of the 

17 Near East and the countries of South Central Asia. 

18 SEC. 4. CONSULTATIONS. 

19 The Special Envoy shall consult with domestic and 

20 international nongovernmental organizations and multilat21 eral organizations and institutions, as the Special Envoy 

22 considers appropriate to fulfill the purposes of this Act. 

23 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 

24 Of the amounts made available for ‘‘Diplomatic and 

25 Consular Programs’’ for fiscal years 2011 through 2015, 


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1 the Secretary of State shall provide to the Special Envoy 

2 $1,000,000 for each such fiscal year for the hiring of staff, 

3 for the conduct of investigations, and for necessary travel 

4 to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

5 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act— 

7 (1) the term ‘‘Near East’’ or ‘‘countries of the 

8 Near East’’— 

9 (A) means Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, 

10 Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, 

11 Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, 

12 Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen; 

13 and 

14 (B) includes the West Bank and Gaza 

15 Strip; and 

16 (2) the term ‘‘South Central Asia’’ or ‘‘coun17 tries of South Central Asia’’ means Afghanistan, 

18 Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kyrgyzstan, 

19 Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, 

20 Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. 

Æ 


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