III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 162 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to promoting religious 

freedom, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11, 2017 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Mr. COONS, and Mr. RUBIO) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to 

promoting religious freedom, and for other purposes. 

Whereas the United States Congress has a proud history of 

promoting internationally recognized human rights; 

Whereas religious freedom is a fundamental human right of 

all people; 

Whereas the free exercise of religion must stand for the right 

to practice any faith or to choose no faith at all; 

Whereas every individual’s rights to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion is guaranteed under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted at 

Paris December 10, 1948, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted at New York 

December 16, 1966, which recognize, ‘‘Everyone has the 


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•SRES 162 IS 

right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this 

right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, 

and freedom, either alone or in community with others 

and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief 

in teaching, practice, worship and observance.’’; 

Whereas, during his 1941 State of the Union address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt noted the ‘‘Four Freedoms’’ 

that the world should be founded upon, including the 

‘‘freedom of every person to worship God in his own 

way—everywhere in the world’’; 

Whereas, according to the United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), abuses committed by governments and non-state actors has increased and the incarceration of prisoners of conscience 

remains widespread; 

Whereas, according to the latest Pew Research Center’s 

Study of Global Restrictions on Religion, which surveyed 

2015, an estimated 79 percent of the world’s population 

lives in countries where freedom of religion and conscience is highly restricted, either by the government or 

social groups; 

Whereas the 2017 report produced by USCIRF recommended 

that the Department of State designate the following 

countries as Countries of Particular Concern: Burma, 

Central African Republic, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, 

North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, 

Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam; 

Whereas, in the same report, USCIRF categorized as Tier 2 

violators, meaning violations engaged in or tolerated by 

the government are serious and characterized by at least 


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one of the elements of the ‘systematic, ongoing, and egregious’ Country of Particular Concern standard, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, and Turkey; 

Whereas USCIRF also recommended that the Department of 

State designate the following non-state actors as entities 

of particular concern: the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria 

(ISIS), the Taliban in Afghanistan, and al-Shabaab in 

Somalia; 

Whereas, according to the Pew Research Center Study, the 

two geographic regions with the highest government restrictions continue to be the Middle East-North Africa 

and the Asia-Pacific; 

Whereas Congress has recognized that Christians, Yezidis, 

Shi’a, Turkmen, Shabak, Sabean-Mandeans, Kaka’i, and 

other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria 

have faced genocide and other crimes against humanity 

perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant 

(ISIL), and that ISIL seeks to eradicate the communities 

of these minorities; 

Whereas Egyptian Coptic Christians have been repeatedly 

targeted and their aggressors have gone unprosecuted, including two suicide bombings conducted by ISIL that 

killed 44 people at Coptic churches on Palm Sunday 

2017 and an attack in December 2016 that killed 29 and 

injured numerous other Coptic worshipers, many of 

whom were women and children; 

Whereas, according to USCIRF, Rohingya Muslims and 

other religious and ethnic minorities, including Christians, in Burma have faced ongoing persecution from 

state and non-state actors for decades, including inciVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 May 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR162.IS SR162

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dents of intimidation and violence; the forced relocation 

and destruction of religious sites; violent attacks by mobs 

and the military; sexual violence and trafficking in persons, and an ongoing campaign of coerced conversion to 

Buddhism; 

Whereas, according to USCIRF’s most recent annual report, 

conditions for freedom of religion or belief in China continue to decline, with authorities targeting anyone considered a threat to the state, including religious believers, 

and Chinese authorities arrested Christians for displaying 

the cross in their homes and printing religious materials, 

threatened parents for bringing their children to church, 

and blocked them from holding certain religious activities; 

Whereas, according to USCIRF, the Government of Eritrea 

continues to target Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians and Jehovah’s Witnesses, suppresses the religious 

activities of Muslims, dominates the internal affairs of 

the Coptic Orthodox Church of Eritrea, and has engaged 

in the torture of religious prisoners; 

Whereas apostasy and blasphemy laws are routinely used 

across the Middle East and North Africa to intimidate 

and punish minority faiths and those who would leave 

Islam; 

Whereas, according to Human Rights Watch, in Pakistan, 

Christians, Hindus, and Ahmadis are often the victims of 

violent extremists; forced conversion and marriage of 

Christian and Hindu girls and young women remains a 

systemic problem; and blasphemy laws are often used as 

an excuse to settle personal scores or stir up religious animosity against marginalized religious minorities, resultVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 May 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR162.IS SR162

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ing in a climate of fear and a chilling effect on religious 

expression; 

Whereas, according to the Department of State’s 2015 International Religious Freedom Report, the Government of 

Iran continues to repress religious minorities, including 

Baha’is, Christians, Sunnis, Sufis, Yarsanis, and 

Zoroastrians, by raiding religious gatherings services, arresting and imprisoning worshipers and religious leaders, 

imprisoning educators, confiscating properties, and executing dissidents; 

Whereas, according to the Department of State’s 2015 International Religious Freedom Report, the Government of 

Sudan has systematically targeted the Christian community, prosecuting Christian pastors on trumped-up 

charges, confiscating Christian-owned properties, banning 

the construction of new Christian houses of worship, destroying numerous religious facilities throughout the 

country, and targeting human rights defenders for legally 

representing the Christian community; 

Whereas, according to the February 2014 report of the 

United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Human 

Rights Situation of the Democratic People’s Republic of 

Korea (DPRK), there is ‘‘an almost complete denial of 

the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,’’ and the Government of the DPRK ‘‘considers the 

spread of Christianity a particularly serious threat’’ and 

enforces severe punishments for the practice of Christianity; 

Whereas the global religious freedom crisis we are experiencing today has created millions of victims and undermines liberty, prosperity, and peace in places vital to 

United States national interests—posing direct challenges 


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to United States interests in the Middle East, Russia, 

China, and sub-Saharan Africa; 

Whereas the absence of fundamental human rights, including 

religious freedom, contributes to persecution of minorities, religious extremism, terrorism, and instability; 

Whereas there is greater peace, political and social stability, 

economic development, democratization, and women’s empowerment when human rights, including religious freedom, are protected and advanced; and 

Whereas Congress recently recognized, with broad bipartisan 

support, in the Frank R. Wolf International Religious 

Freedom Act (Public Law 114–281), enacted on December 16, 2016, that because the promotion of international 

religious freedom protects human rights, advances democracy abroad, and advances United States interests in stability, security, and development globally, the promotion 

of international religious freedom requires new and evolving policies, and diplomatic responses that are drawn 

from the expertise of the national security agencies, the 

diplomatic services, and other governmental agencies and 

nongovernmental organizations, and are coordinated 

across and carried out by the entire range of Federal 

agencies: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

3 States to promoting religious freedom as a funda4 mental human right and calls on the President and 

5 the Secretary of State, in accordance with the Inter6 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public 

7 Law 105–292), as amended by the Frank R. Wolf 


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1 International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 

2 114–281), to strengthen United States foreign policy 

3 on behalf of individuals persecuted in foreign coun4 tries on account of religion; 

5 (2) calls on the President, the Secretary of 

6 State, and the Ambassador-at-Large for Inter7 national Religious Freedom to develop an action 

8 plan on international religious freedom and to inte9 grate that plan into United States diplomatic, devel10 opment, and national security strategies; 

11 (3) in accordance with section 106 of the Inter12 national Religious Freedom Act (22 U.S.C. 6415), 

13 calls on the President, in collaboration with the Sec14 retary of State, the Ambassador at Large for Inter15 national Religious Freedom, and the Administrator 

16 of the United States Agency for International Devel17 opment, to develop a strategic plan to direct grants 

18 funded by the United States Government towards 

19 civil society that are implementing innovated pro20 grams in key countries to train and work with local 

21 religious leaders of all religious communities, includ22 ing minorities, on the importance of pluralistic soci23 eties, rights guaranteed under international law, and 

24 reporting mechanisms available to them within inter25 national institutions; 


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1 (4) urges the Secretary of State to implement 

2 the requirements of section 103 of the Frank Wolf 

3 International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 

4 114–281) and develop a training curriculum for all 

5 American diplomats in international religious free6 dom policy; 

7 (5) urges the President, the Secretary of State, 

8 the Secretary of Defense, and other relevant agen9 cies to develop a comprehensive response to protect 

10 the victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, 

11 and war crimes and to provide humanitarian, sta12 bilization and recovery assistance to all individuals 

13 from religious and ethnic groups so effected in Iraq 

14 and Syria; 

15 (6) calls on the President and the Secretary of 

16 State to reestablish the Religion and Foreign Policy 

17 Working Group within the Department of State’s 

18 Federal Advisory Committee established by the pre19 vious administration, bringing together experts from 

20 government, universities, religious and other non21 governmental organizations to develop an effective 

22 multiyear plan to address religious persecution glob23 ally and protect and promote international religious 

24 freedom; and 


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1 (7) calls on the President, the Secretary of 

2 State and the United States Trade Representative to 

3 ensure that trade negotiations include religious free4 dom conditions as mandated by the Bipartisan Con5 gressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 

6 2015 (title I of Public Law 114–26). 

Æ 


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