At a May press 

conference at the 

National Press Club 

in Washington, the 

USCIRF released its annual 

Congressionally-mandated 

report that includes policy 

recommendations to the President, 

Secretary of State, and Congress. 

The USCIRF is the only government 

commission in the world with a mandate 

to review and report on violations of the 

internationally-guaranteed right to freedom 

of religion and belief worldwide, and to provide 

policy recommendations. The Commission reviews 

violations of religious freedom abroad throughout the 

year. In May of each year, the USCIRF is required to 

submit to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress 

an annual report containing its recommendations. 

This year’s report included recommendations on the 

process of constitutional development in Afghanistan and 

Iraq, the designation of “countries of particular concern,” the 

global export by Saudi Arabia of a religious ideology that explicitly promotes 

hate and violence toward members of other religious groups, individual country reports on 

more than 20 countries, a review of U.S. Refugee and Asylum Programs, and a review of the State Department’s 

Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. 

 VOLUME 1 w w w. u s c i r f . g o v ISSUE 3

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) 

provides that each year the Commission review evidence on 

countries whose governments have engaged in or tolerated 

systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom 

violations and provide recommendations to the President 

or his designee, the Secretary of State, as to which countries 

should be designated “countries of particular concern,” or CPCs. 

In February, the Commission recommended that Secretary of 

State Colin L. Powell designate the following 11 countries as 

CPCs: Burma, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North 

Korea), Eritrea, India*, Iran, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China, 

Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. 

The designation of countries of particular concern is one of the 

most important human rights acts taken by the U.S. government, 

and the Commission strongly urges the State Department to name 

those countries that have not yet been designated. However, the 

simple designation of a severe violator of religious freedom as a 

CPC is not a sufficient action. CPC designation carries an obligation 

that one or more of certain actions specified in Section 405 of the 

IRFA be taken, unless the President determines that pre-existing 

sanctions are adequate or otherwise waives the requirement. For 

every country named a CPC to date, the only official actions taken have 

been to invoke already existing sanctions rather than to take additional 

action to advance religious freedom pursuant to IRFA. The USCIRF 

believes this is contrary to the purpose and intent of IRFA. Moreover, 

IRFA explicitly requires that the Secretary of State submit to Congress an 

evaluation of the effectiveness of prior actions against CPCs. The State 

Department has never done this, in violation of IRFA.

The USCIRF called on Secretary Powell to engage the governments of 

CPC countries in as many ways as possible in order to better promote 

religious freedom in these countries, and particularly to use the policy tools 

outlined in IRFA. Moreover, the Commission has made specific policy 

recommendations on China, India, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, 

Sudan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam, and we encourage the Secretary to give 

special attention to those recommendations. The letter to Secretary Powell is 

available on the Commission’s Web site at www.uscirf.gov.

Message from the Chair: Often called the “first freedom,” freedom 

of thought, conscience, and religion or belief is universal in its 

importance and applicability. It is the freedom to assert an 

individual conscience or identity without fear, and is a 

foundational right of the post-World War II system of 

international human rights. When observed, freedom 

of religion or belief is one of the linchpins of stable, 

democratic, productive societies. When denied, 

generations of hatred may be sown. Throughout 

the world today, the religious and sectarian 

dimensions to human conflict cannot be 

ignored. Yet where governments protect 

religious freedom, and citizens value 

it, religious persecution and religionbased violence often find little 

appeal, and other fundamental 

human rights, the rule of law and 

democracy are accorded greater 

value. Promoting the freedom 

of thought, conscience, 

and religion or belief is 

in the vital national 

interest and central to 

maintaining universal 

principles of human 

dignity.

–Preeta D. Bansal

USCIRF CPC RECOMMENDATIONS TO POWELL

Continued on page 5

USCIRF ANNUAL

REPORT

* Commissioners Bansal, Gaer, and Young dissented from the Commission’s 

recommendation that India be designated a country of particular concern (CPC). 

Commissioner Chaput also joins this separate opinion, and would place India on 

the Watch List rather than recommend that it be designated a CPC. Their separate 

opinion with respect to India was attached to the Commission’s letter to Secretary 

Powell concerning the Commission’s CPC recommendations.
At the end of January, the 

Commission held a public 

hearing on North Korea 

entitled “North Korea: Human 

Rights Ground Zero,” to draw 

attention to the ongoing human rights and 

humanitarian crises in that country. Held 

at UCLA’s School of Law, the hearing also 

served to raise awareness among the KoreanAmerican community in the Los Angeles area 

about the situation on the Korean peninsula. 

Witness testimony highlighted abuses of 

human rights in the vast North Korean prison 

system, the ongoing food security crisis in 

North Korea, religious freedom inside North 

Korea, and the ongoing North Korean refugee 

crisis in China.

Commissioners heard testimony from David 

Hawk, author of “The Hidden Gulag,” a 

ground-breaking report on North Korea’s 

prison camps; Roger Winter, Assistant 

Administrator for Democracy, Conflict and 

Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for 

International Development; Reverend Isaac, 

President, Cornerstone Ministries, which has 

ties to North Korean Christian groups; Colonel 

Kim Yong, North Korean refugee and former 

officer in North Korea’s Intelligence Service; 

and Suzanne Scholte, President of the Defense 

Forum Foundation, a policy organization in 

Washington, DC. 

The North Korean refugee crisis reflects the 

profound human rights disaster inside that 

country, as well as the intense disregard by the 

regime for the dignity and needs of the North 

Korean people. The Commission called on the 

Chinese government to begin offering asylum 

to North Korean refugees and defectors. It is 

time for the Chinese authorities to give serious 

attention to this human rights disaster and take 

affirmative steps to work with the UN High 

Commissioner for Refugees and other NGO 

groups in developing a process for helping the 

refugees.

The Commission is thankful to all the 

witnesses who testified at the hearing and 

to the Korean-American community in Los 

Angeles and the Korea Studies Center at UCLA 

for their support with the hearing. The full 

proceedings of the hearing are available on the 

Commission’s Web site at www.uscirf.gov.

Commissioners 

PREETA D. BANSAL, CHAIR

Of Counsel, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

FELICE D. GAER, VICE CHAIR

Director, Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement

of Human Rights, The American Jewish Committee 

NINA SHEA, VICE CHAIR 

Director of the Center for Religious Freedom, 

Freedom House

PATTI CHANG, COMMISSIONER

President and CEO, Women’s Foundation of California

ARCHBISHOP CHARLES J. CHAPUT, COMMISSIONER

Archbishop of Denver

KHALED ABOU EL FADL, COMMISSIONER

Professor of Law at UCLA

RICHARD D. LAND, COMMISSIONER 

President and CEO of the Ethics and Religious

Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist 

Convention

BISHOP RICARDO RAMIREZ, COMMISSIONER

Bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico

MICHAEL K. YOUNG, COMMISSIONER

President, The University of Utah

JOHN V. HANFORD III, EX-OFFICIO, 

NON-VOTING COMMISSIONER

Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious 

Freedom, U.S. Department of State

JOSEPH R. CRAPA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

page 2

USCIRF HEARING ON NORTH KOREA

CAPITOL HILL HEARING ON SAUDI ARABIA

In November 2003, the Commission held 

a public hearing on Capitol Hill titled, “Is 

Saudi Arabia a Strategic Threat?: The Global 

Propagation of Intolerance.” At the hearing, 

the Commission heard from four panelists: 

Dr. Mai Yamani, Research Fellow, Middle East 

Program, Royal Institute for International 

Affairs; Ambassador Martin Indyk, Director, 

Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings 

Institution; Mr. Robert Baer, former CIA 

operative and author of Sleeping with the 

Devil: How Washington Sold our Soul for 

Saudi Crude; and Mr. David Aufhauser, former 

General Counsel, Treasury Department and 

former Chair, National Security Council Policy 

Coordinating Committee on Terrorist Financing. 

The panelists agreed that Saudi exportation 

of intolerance, reform of the Saudi education 

system, and addressing the virulently inciteful 

government-controlled media were among 

the most pressing issues that need to be dealt 

with both by the Saudis themselves and as 

a matter of U.S. policy. Each confirmed and 

highlighted Commission concerns and U.S. 

policy recommendations outlined in USCIRF’s 

May 2003 report on Saudi Arabia. Witnesses 

specifically endorsed the Commission’s 

recommendation that Congress should authorize 

a study to determine whether, how, and the 

extent to which the Saudi government, members 

of the royal family, or Saudi-funded individuals 

or institutions are propagating globally a 

religious ideology that explicitly promotes hate 

and violence toward members of other religious 

groups, including disfavored Muslims. 

In April 2004, the Senate Governmental Affairs 

Committee and the House Government Reform 

Committee announced that the General 

Accounting Office (GAO) would undertake a 

comprehensive review of U.S. oversight of Saudi 

support for an ideology promoting violence and 

intolerance globally. The need to undertake such 

a comprehensive review of Saudi exportation of 

intolerance has been one of the Commission’s key 

recommendations in recent years. In August 2004, 

Senators Collins (R-ME) and Schumer (D-NY) 

introduced a resolution urging Secretary Powell to 

designate Saudi Arabia a CPC and calling on the 

government of Saudi Arabia to cease its support 

globally for a religious ideology that explicitly 

promotes hatred and intolerance.
LETTERS FROM CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS

Terrorism Financing and Religious Extremism: 

Partners in crime

By Senator Susan M. Collins (R–ME)

As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 

I have launched an investigation into terrorism financing. An 

integral part of the fight against terrorism is to combat the 

funding of religious extremism that promotes hatred, violence, 

and intolerance of Christians, Jews, and Muslims who adhere to a 

different sect of Islam. 

At the Committee’s most recent hearing on June 15, 2004, we 

reviewed the counterterrorism efforts of Saudi Arabia. In recent 

years, Saudi Arabia seems to be exporting not only oil but also 

hatred and prejudice. Since the 1970s, Saudi Arabia has spent 

an estimated $70 billion propagating an extreme form of Islam 

around the world through madrassas, mosques, and certain 

charities. While some of this money went to legitimate uses, other 

contributions did not. As David Aufhauser, the former General 

Counsel of the Treasury Department, recently testified before my 

Committee, Saudi funds promote “an unforgiving, intolerant, 

uncompromising and austere view of the faith that became 

kindling for Osama bin Laden’s match.”

The Saudis have taken some promising first steps in reforming 

their oversight of financial institutions and charities. Nevertheless, 

the Committee heard testimony indicating that the Saudis 

continue to export extremism around the world. Indeed, a review 

of recent Saudi television programs finds continued promotion 

of violence against America, Israel, and other perceived “enemies” 

of Islam. During the most recent Ramadan, radical clerics across 

Saudi Arabia stepped up their invective against Christians, Jews, 

secularists, and advocates of women’s rights. And less than two 

months ago, the Saudi Crown Prince and other senior Saudi 

government officials blamed terrorist attacks in the Kingdom 

on Zionists. This offensive and blatantly false allegation was 

repeated by the Saudi Ambassador to Great Britain.

Religious extremism sows the seeds of hatred and intolerance 

that grow into violence and terrorism. Therefore, the U.S. 

must develop a strategy to counter the dissemination of 

this extremism. The United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom understands the 

importance of addressing this issue, and I have 

worked closely with them to develop ways 

to tackle the spread of religious extremism 

by Saudi-funded mosques and clerics. 

As part of these efforts, I have asked the 

General Accounting Office to examine 

the U.S. government’s efforts to track 

and counter Saudi promotion of 

Wahhabism around the world. Only 

by conducting a comprehensive 

review will we determine if our 

efforts are adequate, and, if not, 

what further steps are necessary.

Until the funds promoting 

hatred and violence around 

the world are cut off, we will 

continue to see more Osama 

bin Ladens. To win the 

war on terrorism, we must 

address the root causes. 

Saudi Arabia’s Exportation 

of Religious Extremism

By Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)

Despite professing to be an ally in the war on terror, Saudi 

Arabia continues to support religious extremism throughout 

the world. Saudi funding finances religious schools, known as 

madrassas, that promote religious intolerance and violence. 

Saudi Arabia brutally prohibits the public practice and 

expression of religion that is not the Wahhabi interpretation 

of Islam, and its efforts to export this militant ideology also 

inflame anti-Western sentiments throughout the world leading 

to the potential of terrorist attacks that are now the greatest 

threat to our national security. 

It is essential that Saudi Arabia be held accountable for its 

support of extremist religious ideology. Even though our 

own government has concluded that religious freedom does 

not exist in Saudi Arabia and the United States Commission 

on International Religious Freedom has recommended the 

designation of Saudi Arabia as a “country of particular 

concern,” the State Department has thus far refused 

to designate it as such. That is why I have joined with 

Senator Susan Collins to introduce a resolution urging the 

Administration to name Saudi Arabia a “country of particular 

concern” for its “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations 

of religious freedom.”

This resolution also calls on Saudi Arabia to stop providing 

undeserved diplomatic status to Islamic clerics and 

educators teaching outside of Saudi Arabia, and demands 

that it close any Islamic affairs section of an embassy of 

Saudi Arabia that has been responsible for propagating 

intolerance. Saudi Arabia must provide an accounting 

of what kinds of support they provide to religious 

schools, mosques, centers of learning, and other 

religious organizations globally, including in the U.S., 

and the names of such institutions. 

It is my sincere hope that this resolution will 

strengthen our foreign policy toward Saudi 

Arabia, and that Saudi Arabia will respond 

by demonstrating that it is genuinely 

willing to be a partner in the war 

against terrorism by ending its 

policies of extremist religious 

incitement, recruitment, and 

education. As we continue to 

confront the harsh realities of 

post-9/11 world, our efforts will 

continue to be destabilized 

if our supposed ally in 

this war continues to 

propagate and export 

religious extremism.

Visit USCIRF’s 

Web site at 

www.uscirf.gov 

to read its 

Policy Focus on 

Saudi Arabia.

page 3
page 4

The Commission held a public 

hearing at the end of April titled, 

“Bangladesh: Protecting Human 

Rights of Thought, Conscience, 

and Religion.” The hearing was 

held in Flushing, NY, at the City University 

of New York, Queens College School of Law, 

in New York’s 7th Congressional district, 

represented by Congressman Joseph Crowley. 

Congressman Crowley, a member of the 

House Committee on International Relations 

and Chair and founder of 

the Congressional 

Caucus on 

Bangladesh, 

participated in 

the event. The second largest South Asian 

community in the United States is based in 

Jackson Heights, Queens.

The hearing examined recent trends regarding 

religious freedom for both Muslims and nonMuslims in Bangladesh and the implications 

of those trends for U.S. policy. Bangladesh has 

constitutional and other legal protections for 

human rights. Nevertheless, there were numerous 

reports of severe abuses targeting members of 

religious minorities. In addition, according 

to the State Department, violence 

against women is widespread 

and sometimes led by religious 

leaders, particularly in rural areas. The 

Commission has been concerned about the 

growth of religious extremism and its negative 

impact on the rights of all Bangladeshis.

Commissioners heard testimony from Latifur 

Rahman, former Chief Justice of Bangladesh; 

U.A.B. Razia Akter Banu, Professor of Political 

Science, University of Dhaka; Abbas Faiz, 

Amnesty International; Rosaline Costa, human 

rights monitor and Coordinator, Hotline 

Bangladesh; and Aroma Dutta, civil society 

activist and Executive Director, PRIP Trust. To 

read the transcript of this hearing, visit our 

Web site at www.uscirf.gov.

BANGLADESH HEARING IN NEW YORK

COMMISSION VISITS HONG KONG

The Commission traveled to Hong Kong in January 2004 to continue 

gathering information in advance of a planned trip to Mainland China. 

Commissioners Preeta D. Bansal and Felice D. Gaer met with religious 

leaders, academics, and experts in law and human rights in China. 

The Commissioners also met with Hong Kong human rights advocates 

to discuss the aftermath of an anti-subversion law introduced by the 

government last year. The Commission had 

been concerned that implementation of such 

legislation could threaten human rights, 

including religious freedom, of the people of 

Hong Kong. Prior to the Commission’s visit, 

the government withdrew the anti-subversion 

legislation after mass demonstrations by Hong 

Kong’s citizens. 

The Commission undertook the trip to Hong 

Kong following a series of failed attempts 

to hold meetings in Hong Kong as a part 

of a broader trip to the People’s Republic 

of China. On two occasions in 2003, the 

Commission was forced to cancel planned 

visits to China after the Chinese government 

placed unacceptable conditions regarding 

meetings in Hong Kong. Given Hong Kong’s 

promised autonomy under the “One Country, 

Two System” model, the Commission decided 

to visit Hong Kong before scheduling a trip to 

Mainland China. 

The Commission continues to seek agreement on a trip to Mainland 

China. A successful USCIRF mission to China is in the interest of 

both the United States and China. We hope the Commission can 

conduct meetings in China in the future on acceptable terms.
Specific recommendations for U.S. policy include:

AFGHANISTAN

The U.S. government should:

• strongly support the reconstruction in 

Afghanistan of a judicial sector operating 

under the rule of law and upholding 

international standards of human rights and 

work to ensure that: all judges and prosecutors 

are trained in civil law and international 

human rights standards; women are recruited 

into the judiciary at all levels; and all Afghans 

have equal access to the courts;

• improve security outside Kabul in order for 

Afghanistan’s political reconstruction to 

succeed, because without adequate security, 

the warlords will continue to hold sway over 

much of the country, undermining the rule 

of law and Afghanistan’s nascent democratic 

institutions; and encourage its NATO 

partners to increase their commitments to the 

International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) 

and to expand ISAF’s presence in major urban 

centers outside Kabul.

CHINA

In addition to recommending that China be 

designated as a CPC, the Commission has 

recommended that the U.S. government should: 

• establish an official U.S. government presence, 

such as a consulate, in Lhasa, Tibet and 

Urumqi, Xinjiang, in order to monitor religious 

freedom, human rights, and other problems in 

those regions;

• create and fund regular exchange programs 

between Chinese academics and government 

officials and U.S. scholars, experts, representatives 

of religious communities and non-governmental 

organizations regarding the relationship between 

religion and the state, the role of religion in 

society, international standards relating to the 

right to freedom of religion and belief, and the 

importance and benefits of upholding human 

rights, including religion.

IRAQ

The U.S. government should:

• work to ensure that human rights are fully 

guaranteed in the permanent constitution, 

consistent with international human rights 

standards, and that a permanent constitution 

should include an explicit guarantee that 

“everyone has the right to freedom of thought, 

conscience, and religion” as affirmed in Article 

18 of the Universal Declaration of Human 

Rights and specified in Article 18 of the 

International Covenant on Civil and Political 

Rights, to which Iraq is a party;

• appoint a team of advisors in Iraq to advise 

on religious affairs and monitor human rights 

violations, including freedom of religion; ensure 

that the monitoring and reporting of issues 

relating to religious freedom and other universal 

human rights and the promotion of these rights 

is adequately staffed in the new U.S. Embassy in 

Baghdad and its constituent posts and that U.S. 

personnel receive training in human rights and 

religious freedom issues, and on how to deal 

effectively with these issues in the Iraqi context.

NORTH KOREA

In addition to recommending that North Korea 

be designated a CPC, the Commission believes 

the U.S. government should:

• work to expand the agenda of the current Six 

Party Talks on nuclear security on the Korean 

Peninsula to include issues of human rights 

and refugees, ensuring that these issues receive 

a high level of priority in any discussion of 

security issues regarding North Korea; 

• develop and support ways to provide 

information to the people of North Korea, 

particularly on religious freedom and other 

human rights issues, including by expanding 

or developing broadcasts that target a North 

Korean audience by the Voice of America and 

Radio Free Asia;

• fund an objective and comprehensive study 

of human rights conditions in North Korea 

by a non-governmental source, establish a 

congressional caucus to focus on human rights 

in North Korea, and expand funding for (a) 

organizations advocating the protection of 

human rights in North Korea and (b) activities 

that raise the awareness of human rights 

conditions in that country. 

PAKISTAN

In addition to recommending that Pakistan 

be designated a CPC, the Commission has 

recommended that the U.S. government should: 

• urge the government of Pakistan to take 

effective steps to prevent sectarian violence and 

punish its perpetrators, including disarming 

militant groups and any religious schools that 

provide weapons training;

• urge the government of Pakistan to implement 

procedural changes to the blasphemy laws that 

will reduce and ultimately eliminate their abuse; 

• repeal or suspend enforcement of laws 

targeting Ahmadis that effectively criminalize 

the public practice of their faith, in violation 

of the right to freedom of religion guaranteed 

in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 

and the International Covenant on Civil and 

Political Rights. 

SAUDI ARABIA

In addition to naming Saudi Arabia a CPC, the 

Commission urges the U.S. government to:

• press the Saudi government for immediate 

improvements in respect for religious 

freedom, including: (1) establishing genuine 

safeguards for the freedom to worship 

privately, (2) entrusting law enforcement to 

professionals in law enforcement agencies 

subject to judicial review and dissolving the 

mutawaa (religious police), (3) permitting nonWahhabi places of worship in certain areas and 

letting clergy enter the country, (4) reviewing 

cases and releasing those who have been 

detained or imprisoned on account of their 

religious belief or practices, (5) permitting 

independent non-governmental organizations 

to advance human rights, (6) ending state 

prosecution of apostasy, blasphemy, criticism 

of the government, and sorcery, (7) ceasing 

messages of hatred, intolerance, or incitement 

to violence against non-Wahhabi Muslims 

and members of non-Muslim religious groups 

in the educational curricula and textbooks, 

as well as in government-controlled mosques 

and media, and (8) ratifying international 

human rights instruments, including the 

International Covenant on Civil and Political 

Rights, and cooperating with UN human 

rights mechanisms. 

With regard to the exportation of religious 

intolerance from Saudi Arabia, the 

Commission has recommended that the U.S. 

government should:

• continue efforts, along with those of the 

Congress, to determine whether and how—and 

the extent to which—the Saudi government, 

individual members of the royal family, or 

Saudi-funded individuals or institutions are 

directly or indirectly propagating globally, 

including in the United States, a religious 

ideology that explicitly promotes hate, 

intolerance, and human rights violations, in 

some cases violence, toward members of other 

religious groups, both Muslim and non-Muslim; 

• request the Saudi government to provide an 

accounting of what kinds of Saudi support go 

to which religious schools, mosques, centers 

of learning, and other religious organizations 

globally, including in the United States. 

For the full text of the Commission’s Annual 

Report and its letter to Secretary Powell 

concerning CPCs, please visit our Web site’s 

home page at www.uscirf.gov.

USCIRF ANNUAL REPORT continued from page 1

page 5
On February 10, 

Commissioner 

Michael K. Young 

testified before the 

House International 

Relations Subcommittee 

on International Terrorism, 

Non-Proliferation and Human 

Rights at a hearing titled “The 

Status of International Religious Freedom: 

an Analysis of the State Department’s 2003 

Annual Report.” Commissioner Young testified 

that the overall quality of the Annual Report 

shows that the U.S. government is taking 

seriously the issue of religious freedom, and 

that the information presented demonstrates 

that several countries merit CPC status in 

addition to those that have been named by the 

Secretary of State in previous years.

However, Commissioner Young testified that 

while many individual country reports in 

the 2003 Annual Report are comprehensive 

and up to date, in some cases, questionable 

conclusions have 

been reached. 

He further 

commented that 

other individual 

reports, while adequate 

on the whole, nevertheless 

contain significant errors 

or omissions. In addition, 

Commissioner Young said it is not 

apparent from the information presented in 

the Annual Report that the State Department 

has conducted its activities in a coordinated 

way to implement particular policies and to 

achieve specific goals. He noted that their 

efforts should be fully reported so that the 

Congress and the public can better determine 

if all of the tools Congress made available 

under IRFA to advance the protection of 

religious freedom abroad are being used. 

From the information present in the 2003 

Annual Report, the Commission is concerned 

that this is not the case.

STATE DEPARTMENT: REVIEW OF

ITS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT

To contact the Commission:

United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom

800 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 790

Washington, DC 20002

Web site: www.uscirf.gov 

E-mail: communications@uscirf.gov

Voice: 202-523-3240 Fax: 202-523-5020

Editor: Anne Johnson

Managing Editor: Eileen Sullivan

As part of its work, the Commission reaches out to Americans across the United States to 

engage them and give them a voice in the policy process. At the end of January, the USCIRF 

traveled to Los Angeles, California, where it held a hearing at the UCLA School of Law 

on North Korea (see article page 2), a roundtable with members of the Iranian-American 

community, and an inter-faith dialogue at the Fuller Theological Seminary. The Commission 

also met with analysts at the RAND Corporation, the editorial board of the Los Angeles 

Times, and the President and senior staff of World Vision about the importance of promoting 

freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief throughout the world. 

In April, the Commission visited Colorado to discuss USCIRF’s work with leaders of several 

influential faith-based organizations headquartered in Colorado Springs. The Commissioners 

met with Reverend Ted Haggard, President of the National Association of Evangelicals; 

Dr. James Dobson, Founder and Chairman of the Board, Focus on the Family; Don Hodel, 

President, Focus on the Family; and several other key leaders.

In early June, Commissioner Richard Land traveled to Houston, Texas, where he gave 

a keynote address entitled, “Global Security and U.S. National Interests: Why Religious 

Freedom Matters,” at The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. 

The Commission has been invited back to The Baker Institute to give a second presentation 

this fall. Also in Houston, Commissioner Land held an interfaith roundtable hosted by the 

Houston chapters of the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League. In 

addition to Houston, Commissioner Land traveled to College Station to meet with Dean 

Richard Chilcoat and faculty at The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas 

A&M University to discuss areas of possible future collaboration. 

California, Colorado, and Texas Outreach

SFRC testimony on Vietnam

On February 12, Commissioner Michael K. 

Young testified before the East Asian and 

Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate 

Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing titled “Protecting Religious Freedom 

in Vietnam: Balancing Interests and 

Principles.” He discussed the Commission’s 

concerns about Vietnam’s deteriorating record on religious freedom and the 

Commission’s recommendations for U.S. 

policy to address the situation. While the 

Commission recommended passage of the 

Vietnam Human Rights Act, which incorporated many of the Commission’s past recommendations, the Commission continues 

to recommend that Vietnam be designated a 

“country of particular concern” (CPC). CPC 

designation does not automatically entail 

sanctions, but requires that the Secretary of 

State enter into direct consultations with a 

country to find ways to improve the religious freedom situation. The Commission 

has unsuccessfully recommended CPC status for Vietnam for the past two years. The 

Commission also recommends that steps 

be taken to overcome jamming of Radio 

Free Asia broadcasts, to ensure that RFA’s 

Internet site is accessible and free, and to 

allow RFA personnel into Vietnam. 

visit our web site at 

www.uscirf.gov

page 6