II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 440 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2011 

Received 

DECEMBER 17, 2011 

Read the first time 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Seven Baha’i leaders in Iran have been 

4 wrongfully imprisoned since 2008. 

5 (2) In May 2010, suspected terrorists attacked 

6 two mosques in Pakistan belonging to the 

7 Ahmaddiya minority Muslim sect, killing at least 80 

8 people. Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim, but 

9 Pakistani law does not recognize them as such. 

10 (3) Said Musa, an Afghan Christian convert, 

11 was arrested in May 2010 on charges of apostasy, 

12 a crime which can carry the death sentence, and was 

13 released in February 2011 only after sustained 

14 international pressure. 

15 (4) On October 31, 2010, gunmen laid siege on 

16 Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, Iraq kill17 ing at least 52 police and worshipers, including two 

18 priests, making it the worst massacre of Iraqi Chris19 tians since 2003. 

20 (5) Iraq’s ancient and once vibrant Christian 

21 population that numbered an estimated 1,500,000 

22 out of a total population in Iraq of 30,000,000 in 

23 2003 has been reduced by at least one half, due in 

24 significant part to Christians fleeing the violence. 

25 (6) In November 2010, a Pakistani court sen26 tenced Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, to 


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1 death under the country’s blashphemy law for insult2 ing the Prophet Muhammad. 

3 (7) On New Year’s Eve 2010, 23 people were 

4 killed when a suicide bomber attacked a Coptic 

5 Christian church in Alexandria, Egypt. 

6 (8) On March 2, 2011, Pakistani Federal Mi7 norities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian 

8 member of the Cabinet, who was outspoken in his 

9 opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws was assas10 sinated by extremists. 

11 (9) The Department of State’s 2010 Inter12 national Religious Freedom Report stated that many 

13 religious minority groups in Uzbekistan ‘‘faced 

14 heavy fines and/or short jail terms for violations of 

15 restrictive religion laws’’. 

16 (10) The Special Envoy for Anti-Semitism, 

17 Hannah Rosenthal, has noted that Holocaust glorifi18 cation ‘‘is especially virulent in the Middle East 

19 media’’. 

20 (11) A number of countries in the Middle East 

21 have recently undergone popular revolutions which 

22 in some countries have left security vacuums making 

23 religious minorities especially vulnerable to violent 

24 attacks, such as— 


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1 (A) in March 2011, the Shahedin Church 

2 in Helwan province, Egypt, was torched, lead3 ing to protests which spurred sectarian clashes 

4 in the streets of Cairo; 

5 (B) on March 20, 2011, a group of 

6 Salafists in Upper Egypt cut off a Christian 

7 man’s ear and burned his home and car; and 

8 (C) news reports from April 2011 indicate 

9 that Salafi organizations in Egypt have been 

10 implicated in the destruction of Sufi shrines 

11 across the country fueling violent conflict. 

12 (12) Many of these ancient faith communities 

13 are being forced to flee the lands which they have 

14 inhabited for centuries. 

15 (13) The United States Commission on Inter16 national Religious Freedom has recommended that 

17 Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, 

18 and Uzbekistan be designated by the Department of 

19 State as Countries of Particular Concern in accord20 ance with the International Religious Freedom Act 

21 of 1998. 

22 (14) The situation on the ground in the region 

23 continues to develop rapidly and the United States 

24 Government needs an individual who can respond in 


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1 kind and focus on the critical situation of religious 

2 minorities in these countries. 

3 SEC. 2. SPECIAL ENVOY TO PROMOTE RELIGIOUS FREE4 DOM 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 

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

10 Department of State. 

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

12 a person of recognized distinction in the field of human 

13 rights and religious freedom and with expertise in the 

14 Near East and South Central Asia regions. The Special 

15 Envoy shall have the rank of ambassador and shall hold 

16 the office at the pleasure of the President. 

17 (c) PROHIBITION.—The person appointed as Special 

18 Envoy may not hold any other position of Federal employ19 ment for the period of time during which the person holds 

20 the position of Special Envoy. 

21 SEC. 3. DUTIES. 

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

23 the following duties: 

24 (1) Promote the right of religious freedom of 

25 religious minorities in the countries of the Near 


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1 East and the countries of South Central Asia, de2 nounce the violation of such right, and recommend 

3 appropriate responses by the United States Govern4 ment when such right is violated. 

5 (2) Monitor and combat acts of religious intol6 erance and incitement targeted against religious mi7 norities in the countries of the Near East and the 

8 countries of South Central Asia. 

9 (3) Work to ensure that the unique needs of re10 ligious minority communities in the countries of the 

11 Near East and the countries of South Central Asia 

12 are addressed, including the economic and security 

13 needs of such communities to the extent that such 

14 needs are directly tied to religious-based discrimina15 tion and persecution. 

16 (4) Work with foreign governments of the coun17 tries of the Near East and the countries of South 

18 Central Asia to address laws that are inherently dis19 criminatory toward religious minority communities 

20 in such countries. 

21 (5) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of 

22 that portion of the report required by sections 

23 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act 

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

25 to the nature and extent of religious freedom of reliVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:07 Dec 18, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H440.RDS H440

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1 gious minorities in the countries of the Near East 

2 and the countries of South Central Asia. 

3 (6) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of 

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

5 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 

6 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)) relating to the nature and ex7 tent of religious freedom of religious minorities in 

8 the countries of the Near East and the countries of 

9 South Central Asia. 

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

11 under subsection (a), the Special Envoy shall, to the max12 imum extent practicable, coordinate with the Bureau of 

13 Population, Refugees and Migration of the Department of 

14 State, the Ambassador at Large for International Reli15 gious Freedom, the United States Commission on Inter16 national Religious Freedom, and other relevant Federal 

17 agencies and officials. 

18 SEC. 4. DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION. 

19 Subject to the direction of the President and the Sec20 retary of State, the Special Envoy is authorized to rep21 resent the United States in matters and cases relevant to 

22 religious freedom in the countries of the Near East and 

23 the countries of South Central Asia in— 

24 (1) contacts with foreign governments, intergov25 ernmental organizations, and specialized agencies of 


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1 the United Nations, the Organization of Security 

2 and Cooperation in Europe, and other international 

3 organizations of which the United States is a mem4 ber; and 

5 (2) multilateral conferences and meetings rel6 evant to religious freedom in the countries of the 

7 Near East and the countries of South Central Asia. 

8 SEC. 5. PRIORITY COUNTRIES AND CONSULTATION. 

9 (a) PRIORITY COUNTRIES.—In carrying out this Act, 

10 the Special Envoy shall give priority to programs, projects, 

11 and activities for Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. 

12 (b) CONSULTATION.—The Special Envoy shall con13 sult with domestic and international nongovernmental or14 ganizations and multilateral organizations and institu15 tions, as the Special Envoy considers appropriate to fulfill 

16 the purposes of this Act. 

17 SEC. 6. FUNDING. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts made available 

19 for ‘‘Diplomatic and Consular Programs’’ for fiscal years 

20 2011 through 2015, $1,000,000 is authorized to be appro21 priated for each such fiscal year for the hiring of staff, 

22 for the conduct of investigations, and for necessary travel 

23 to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

24 (b) FUNDING OFFSET.—To offset the costs to be in25 curred by the Department of State for the hiring of staff, 


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1 for the conduct of investigations, and for necessary travel 

2 to carry out the provisions of this Act for fiscal years 2011 

3 through 2015, the Secretary of State shall eliminate such 

4 positions within the Department of State, unless otherwise 

5 authorized or required by law, as the Secretary determines 

6 to be necessary to fully offset such costs. 

7 (c) LIMITATION.—No additional funds are authorized 

8 to be appropriated for ‘‘Diplomatic and Consular Pro9 grams’’ to carry out this Act. 

10 SEC. 7. SUNSET. 

11 This Act shall cease to be effective beginning on Octo12 ber 1, 2015. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 29, 2011. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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