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96–148PDF 2015

CHALLENGES TO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

IN THE AMERICAS

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

Serial No. 114–96

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

PAUL COOK, California 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

CURT CLAWSON, Florida 

SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee 

REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin 

DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

DANIEL DONOVAN, New York 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

ALAN GRAYSON, Florida 

AMI BERA, California 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

GRACE MENG, New York 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

DANIEL DONOVAN, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALAN GRAYSON, Florida 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESSES 

Ms. Anna-Lee Stangl, senior advocacy office for the Americas, Christian Solidarity Worldwide—UK ........................................................................................ 5

Mr. Dennis P. Petri, research coordinator for Latin America, associate director, World Watch Research, Open Doors International .................................... 11

Mr. Richard Coll, foreign policy advisor for Latin America and Global Trade, 

Office of International Justice and Peace, United States Conference of 

Catholic Bishops ................................................................................................... 26

Mr. Ricardo Luna, global vice president, Confraternidad Evange ́lica Latina .... 35

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

Ms. Anna-Lee Stangl: Prepared statement ........................................................... 8

Mr. Dennis P. Petri: Prepared statement .............................................................. 13

Mr. Richard Coll: Prepared statement ................................................................... 29

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 54

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 55

Mr. Ricardo Luna: Prepared statement submitted after the hearing ................. 56

The Honorable Alan S. Lowenthal, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of California: Prepared statement ............................................................ 79

The Honorable Jeff Duncan, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of South Carolina, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere: Material submitted for the record ......................................................... 81

(1)

CHALLENGES TO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN 

THE AMERICAS 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 o’clock p.m., in room 

2200 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jeff Duncan (chairman 

of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. DUNCAN. We will go ahead and call the subcommittee meeting to order. And we are waiting on one witness, which we will go 

ahead and get started. We will be interrupted by votes—2:20, 

2:40—and we will have to recess at that point in time but we will 

deal with it. 

Before I read my opening statement, let me just take this opportunity to let the folks in Chile know that we are thinking about 

them and they are in our prayers with the earthquake and tsunami 

flooding and other issues they have experienced this year, but last 

night with the very strong earthquake that happened off the coast 

and the resulting tsunami-type waves. And I don’t know that the 

Pacific Rim is out of the woods yet with regard to tsunamis, so they 

will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. 

So a quorum being present, the subcommittee will come to order 

and I will now recognize myself for an opening statement. 

Religious freedom was a major inspiration for the founding of the 

early American republic, revered by our founding fathers and recognized in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as a fundamental right. 

And I will pause and say that today is Constitution Day. Happy 

Constitution Day. 1787, the Constitution was ratified with the 

promise that the first ten amendments would be added as the Bill 

of Rights, and so we recognize and celebrate that today. 

It has also been repeatedly recognized internationally. The first 

U.S. President, George Washington, affirmed in his 1796 farewell 

address that ‘‘of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.’’ 

This view enjoyed continued support in the nineteenth century 

with a de Tocqueville writing that ‘‘religion in America...must be 

regarded as the first of their political institutions; for if it does not 

impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it.’’

Indeed, religious liberty provided the foundation for our country’s 

modern political order, respect for democracy, and rule of law. 

2

Similarly, the ability to worship and exercise one’s faith without 

fear of attack, censure, bribery, or government reprisal is one of the 

most important metrics of freedom in any country. 

Today, we meet to examine the state of religious freedom in the 

Western Hemisphere, home to Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and 

Muslim faiths as well as a range of indigenous beliefs. In particular, as Latin America contains nearly half of the world’s Catholics and the first Latin American Pope is set to address Congress 

next week, I believe this hearing is timely in bringing public 

awareness to the importance of international freedom. 

While religious minorities in Latin America and the Caribbean 

do not experience the same level of persecution they face elsewhere 

in the world, i.e., ISIS and the Middle East, the state of religious 

freedom in our own hemisphere does deserve our attention. Unfortunately, this year has seen a noticeable uptick in violations of religious freedoms in several countries in the region. 

While most governments have constitutions with clauses that 

protect religious freedom, the implementation of those protections 

is often not rigorously enforced, and in certain countries other laws 

or regulations have been written that make religious worship and 

activities hard. For instance, in countries such as Bolivia, Cuba, 

Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, it is government action itself 

that contributes directly to difficulties in religious practice. 

In other countries such as Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia, the 

combination of criminal groups, lawless environment, or impunity 

prevents the free exercise of religious worship and activities. In 

particular, this subcommittee has heard multiple reports of Catholic and Protestant churches being forced to pay fines to criminal 

groups in the region in order to remain open, church members have 

been threatened and internally displaced in some cases, and pastors have faced extortion and assassination attempts. 

Significantly, churches that engage in outreach and assistance to 

victims of human trafficking, drug and alcohol addicts, or former 

members of criminal groups have found themselves targets of 

criminal groups which see church efforts as a threat to their own 

control, objectives, or activities. Furthermore, many countries in 

Latin America require government registration of churches, and in 

the cases of Bolivia and Peru this registration can be cumbersome, 

intrusive, or just plain difficult. 

So I am deeply concerned about Bolivia’s Law 351, passed in 

2013, which forces all religious organizations to reapply for legal 

standing while imposing burdensome preconditions that appear restrictive to the rights of religious organizations. Moreover, in Nicaragua reports surfaced in July 2013 that President Ortega was exploiting religious symbols for political gain and using financial 

pressure on Catholic and Protestant groups to exert political influence. 

Similarly, in Ecuador there have been reports of action by the 

Ecuadoran Government to remove all religious images from regional hospitals and obstruct the work of Catholic priests in prisons. 

Given the hearing that this subcommittee held in July on threats 

to press freedoms in the Americas and President Correa’s actions 

last week to shut down Fundamedios, an organization with a critVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:30 Oct 27, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_WH\091715\96148 SHIRL
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ical mission to provide information on freedom of expression in Ecuador, I am troubled at what might be next for religious organizations in Ecuador who dare to diverge from Correa’s views. 

So in June 2014, I sent a letter to the Ambassador of Mexico 

highlighting two cases of religious freedom violations and requesting that Mexico prioritize accountability for perpetrators who commit violent crimes under the guise of religion. I would like to commend Mexico’s actions in taking steps to address some of these 

issues while acknowledging that more work still remains. 

Given the security environment in Mexico, the Catholic Multimedia Center reported last December that Mexico is the most dangerous country in the world to be a Catholic priest, and 80 percent 

of cases involving attacks on priests in Mexico are not resolved. 

Further, while Mexico’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, 

an abuse of Mexico’s law of uses and customs has led to widespread 

cases of religious intolerance which remain unaddressed today. 

Furthermore, in Colombia, various NGOs are reporting an increase in violence toward religious organizations by criminal paramilitary groups given the internal armed conflict and ColombiaFARC peace talks. Allegedly, this violence has included poisoning, 

burning of houses and the closing of about 20 churches, torture, 

killings, and kidnapping of children for use as child soldiers. 

In contrast, in Cuba, the persecution of religious organizations 

have been driven by the government. Although its constitution 

guarantees freedom of religion, it has a caveat that this can be restricted if it does not align with the socialist objectives. Today, 

Cuban Government continues to severely restrict religious liberty. 

Churches must be registered in order to import religious material, 

meet in houses authorized for worship, or travel abroad for religious purposes. No Protestant religious schools are allowed and the 

Jehovah’s Witness’ and Mormons have yet to receive recognition by 

the government. 

Last year, two pastors were arrested and detained by the police, 

and early this year the government began enforcing Legal Decree 

322 to seize churches, church properties, and in May, the property 

of Maranatha First Baptist Church was confiscated. Cuban authorities also continue their brutality against religious worshippers, 

often violently dragging out women affiliated with the Ladies in 

White group from Sunday morning services. 

In conclusion, there are many disturbing reports of religious freedom violations in our own hemisphere and this does not bode well 

for the health of these countries for religious freedom is utterly 

critical to the protection and development of free societies. As historian Russell Kirk has written, ‘‘all the aspects of any civilization 

arise out of the people’s religion: Its politics, its economics, its arts, 

its sciences, even its simple crafts are the by-product of religious 

insights.’’ Consequently, countries that respect religious freedom 

allow all of these aspects of their cultures to flourish while those 

that fail to protect religious freedom will not see these benefits. 

I look forward to hearing from our expert witnesses today on how 

they rate the Obama administration’s priority of religious freedom 

in the Western Hemisphere and how and what the U.S. can engage 

with the countries in the region to support religious freedom. So it 

should be a very lively hearing, and again I apologize that we will 

4

be interrupted. But I will now yield to the ranking member Mr. 

Sires from New Jersey for an opening statement. 

Mr. SIRES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to join you in 

the words about Chile. It is very difficult to think in living in a 

country that is constantly receiving earthquakes and in such a little country and we certainly pray for the people in that country. 

And I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this hearing 

and thank you to our witnesses for being here today. 

Today we are here to examine challenges to religious freedom in 

the Americas. While the Western Hemisphere has long enjoyed 

considerable freedom to practice religion compared to other regions 

in the world, it is important to remain vigilant and pay attention 

to troubling trends that may be on the horizon. While leaders like 

Maduro, Castro, and Correa continue to undermine democratic 

principles, we must do our part to ensure our faith-based communities are able to live free from persecution. 

In Mexico, priests are under constant pressure and threat from 

drug cartels trying to extort money from the church. Additionally, 

there has been a concerning rise in violence against Protestants 

and indigenous communities in Mexico. While the culture of impunity in Mexico is strong, we must work to ensure those targeted 

faith-based communities aim at doing good in their neighborhoods. 

And in Argentina there has been a track record of anti-Semitism 

with the still unsolved 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires that 

killed 85 people. The Cuban regime does not spare religious groups 

while exercising its total control over the island. They actively 

monitor and limit religious practices through government authorized surveillance and harassment. 

And I would like to stop here for a minute, because what I was 

looking at, Chairman, before, was a very disturbing video that I received recently where the priest was chasing away from the church 

a Ladies in White and called her a mercenary and that she could 

not come into that church. To me, being a Catholic, that is very disturbing. The church has a history of being a sanctuary for people 

through its history and I cannot understand why a priest would 

chase someone away from the church. To me it is just very disturbing. 

And I will finish my—when the Pope comes to visit the Western 

Hemisphere this month, he plans to stop in Cuba before heading 

to the United States. I hope he uses this as an opportunity to implore the Castro brothers to loosen their grip on the Cuban people 

who have long been oppressed for too many years. 

And I look forward to hearing from our panelists today as they 

examine these and other religious freedom issues in the region, and 

I thank you. 

Mr. DUNCAN. I will thank the ranking member. And there is no 

lighting system in here so I am going to do my best to try to keep 

up with the time, but we give them 5 minutes. Their biographies 

are in our folders. So Ms. Stangl testified earlier this year. Welcome back to the subcommittee and you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

5

STATEMENT OF MS. ANNA–LEE STANGL, SENIOR ADVOCACY 

OFFICE FOR THE AMERICAS, CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY 

WORLDWIDE—UK 

Ms. STANGL. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and I thank 

you for holding this hearing which I think might be the first time 

a hearing like this has been held. 

A number of Latin American countries including Mexico and 

Peru have problematic legal requirements for the registration of religious groups. In 2013, Bolivia also adopted legislation requiring 

registration but which was expanded to exert control over not just 

religious groups but all nongovernmental organizations. The law 

was supposed to enter into force last month, but is not under review by the Constitutional Tribunal and it forces all religious organizations to re-register. 

Of most concern to religious leaders, however, is a clause in the 

new law which states that religious groups must operate within the 

parameters of ‘‘vivir bien,’’ a political ideology incorporating elements of indigenous spiritual beliefs and promoting, and this is a 

quote, ‘‘alternatives to capitalism, to modernity, and to development.’’ This clearly poses a problem for many religious organizations whose belief systems do not align with a particular ideology. 

Problematic anti-cult legislation has also cropped up in Bolivia’s 

southern neighbor Argentina. CSW has regularly expressed concern about the adoption of anti-cult legislation which can be used 

to limit religious freedom. Such legislation often goes beyond targeting criminal actions to criminalizing a system of belief and noncriminal acts of worship. In 2013, the law was used unsuccessfully 

to target the Pueblo Grande Baptist Church in Rio Tercero. 

While the laws in many Latin American countries present a potential threat to religious freedom, a state of lawlessness in many 

countries presents an even more urgent threat. More Catholic 

priests were killed in Mexico in 2014 than in any other country in 

the world. According to the Catholic Multimedia Center, which has 

been documenting attacks on Catholic church leaders since 2000, 

criminal groups tend to see priests and lay leaders as promoting 

a way of life that goes contrary to the objectives of the criminal 

groups in their preaching and ministry. 

Although not as well documented, the situation for Protestant 

leaders is similar. In some cases the criminal groups have prohibited evangelistic work, demanded the active cooperation of church 

leaders or attempted to use the church as a front for money laundering or a target for extortion. 

Uniquely to Mexico, some criminal groups have incorporated a 

religious element into their ideology—the cult of Santa Muerte, for 

example—and attempted to force church leaders to endorse these 

beliefs through word or actions. Church leaders who refuse to comply with these demands are met with serious repercussions. Mexico 

is one example of where widespread criminal violence has had a 

chilling effect on religious freedom, but similar situations can be 

found Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Argentina. 

I now want to turn to unique religious freedom situations in 

three countries which CSW consider to be a priority for religious 

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lence is not the only source of religious freedom violation. Religious 

intolerance in some states manifested by local leaders attempting 

to force all inhabitants to adhere to the majority religion results in 

widespread and egregious violations of religious freedom. If the 

government does not intervene, as it rarely does, these situations 

often escalate to violence, including arbitrary detention, physical 

assault and expropriation or destruction of property, and end in 

mass expulsion and forced displacement. 

Moving now to Colombia. The internal conflict in this country 

which has gone on now for more than a half century has also had 

a direct impact on religious freedom. I have already mentioned 

criminal violence perpetuated in Colombia by neo-paramilitary 

groups, one of which, the Black Eagles, issued public death threats 

to civil society leaders including five named Protestant leaders in 

the Atlantic Coast region earlier this year. The group also named 

all Protestant churches in the cities of Barranquilla and Sincelejo 

as military targets. 

On the other side of the conflict, leftist guerillas, the FARC and 

the ELN, have historically severely restricted religious freedom in 

areas under their influence or control. In some cases they have prohibited all Christian activity and persecuted, even killed, Christian 

leaders who defied these orders. In other cases, while not prohibiting Christian activity across the board, they have imposed severe 

restrictions. 

In Colombia, state actors have also been accused of violations of 

religious freedom. Despite numerous rulings by the Constitutional 

Court that the right to conscientious objection on religious grounds 

to obligatory military service is protected by the constitution, military forces have not respected this right and have forcibly inducted 

young men who hold strong religious beliefs that prohibit them 

from taking up arms. 

I conclude now with Cuba where religious organizations and 

their activities come under the authority of the Office of Religious 

Affairs of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party. 

Religious groups must seek permission from this office for things 

ranging from the right to own a vehicle to something as simple as 

expanding a bathroom or repairing a roof. The office, in turn, uses 

the granting or withholding of these permits to manipulate religious groups. 

Church leaders of legally recognized denominations report harassment, discrimination and threats from government officials as a 

daily part of their ministry. Religious groups that do not have legal 

recognition are severely persecuted and threatened with confiscation or destruction of their property. 

Over the past 5 years, CSW has documented a continuous and 

sharp rise in religious freedom violations in Cuba. Much of this is 

rooted in the decades-long government policy of attempting to separate Cubans linked to human rights groups and pro-democracy 

movements from bodies of faith. 

In recent years more and more church leaders have defied this 

policy and welcome all Cubans regardless of their political beliefs 

into their churches. This has become a flashpoint for religious freedom violations, perhaps most obviously manifested in the violent 

arbitrary detention each weekend of women linked to the Ladies in 

7

White movement in order to prevent them from attending Sunday 

Mass. 

The general global perception that Latin America is a Christian 

region of the world with strong Western values has often led to violations of religious freedom, many of them serious, being overlooked. Well thought out policies by the United States to promote 

freedom of religion or belief in the region carried out in consultation and cooperation with civil society on the ground could have 

real potential to make a change. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Stangl follows:]

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Mr. DUNCAN. Thank you. Mr. Petri, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF MR. DENNIS P. PETRI, RESEARCH COORDINATOR FOR LATIN AMERICA, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, WORLD 

WATCH RESEARCH, OPEN DOORS INTERNATIONAL 

Mr. PETRI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will summarize my written testimony. The majority of all Latin American citizens is formally Christian, but actively practicing Christians, that is Christians who regularly attend church, are a minority, and this minority is specifically vulnerable to suffering human rights abuses. As 

far as the legal framework is concerned, it can be concluded that 

there are no major obstacles to religious freedom in the vast majority of Latin American countries, with the exception of Cuba. But 

from the perspective of human security, the enforcement of religious freedom poses challenges. 

Religious freedom in Latin America is restricted by three dynamics. The first is organized crime. The main feature of organized 

crime is the creation of a climate of impunity, anarchy and corruption, in which actively practicing Christians are vulnerable because 

their behavior, which is based on the biblical world view, is contrary to the greed of organized crime. Of course, organized crime 

affects societies as a whole, and not only Christians. But actively 

participating Christians possess a specific vulnerability for suffering human rights abuses. 

The targeting of Christians by criminal organizations is generally 

motivated by a combination of two elements. Firstly, people involved in organized crime view Christians who openly oppose their 

activities as a threat, especially when Christians get involved in social programs or in politics. 

Secondly, criminal organizations know that the Christian faith is 

not compatible with their ideals. They fear Christians will influence members of the community or even members of their own organizations to oppose activities. All denominations of Christianity 

can become victims of organized crime, though it affects mostly the 

more outspoken Christians who fulfill leadership positions. Let me 

mention a few examples on Mexico. 

In many states of Mexico violence is pervasive but affects actively practicing Christians to a high degree. Churches and other 

Christian institutions are often seen as revenue centers by drug 

cartels. The extortion of priests, pastors, but also Christian business owners is commonplace. Attending church services increases 

the threat of kidnapping and youths are particularly at risk of 

being recruited into gangs. 

Social initiatives are also faced with major threats, especially initiatives that enter the area of influence of criminal organizations. 

Drug rehabilitation or youth work are a direct threat to the market 

and influence of drug cartels and therefore increase the vulnerability of Christians engaging in these programs. From personal research on the ground I can confirm that there is widespread and 

sophisticated surveillance and monitoring by members of drug cartels within churches. 

And now turning to Colombia. In many parts of Colombia, similarly to Mexico, organized crime is responsible for demonstrable 

12

threats to certain forms of religious behavior. The second dynamic 

that restricts religious freedom in the Americas is the presence of 

hostilities against conversion to Christianity in indigenous areas, 

especially in Mexico and Colombia. Converts to Christianity are 

regularly threatened, excluded from access to basic social services, 

beaten and displaced by tribal leaders, and they are not given sufficient protection by their government. 

The third dynamic that restricts religious freedom in the Americas is communism. In Cuba, pressure on Christians continues in 

the form of harassment, strict surveillance and discrimination including the occasional imprisonment of Christian leaders. Religious 

practice is monitored and all church services are infiltrated by 

spies. 

In Venezuela, the pressure on Christians is subtle, but any organization which is influential is restricted by the government. For 

years, the Venezuelan administration has attempted to shut down 

private Catholic education in favor of public schools. And in Bolivia, through administrative and bureaucratic obstacles, Christians are also restricted in their freedom to exercise their right to 

worship. 

Your excellencies, I recommend the following. First, I recommend 

that the specific vulnerability of actively practicing Christians is 

taken into consideration in U.S. foreign policy and by the U.S. Congress in performing its oversight function. The U.S. Government 

should make the reduction of risks for Christians caused by organized crime an integral part of its foreign policy. 

Second, special attention should be given to ratio of structural violence, impunity, and corruption as Mexico and other Latin American states are not always diligent enough in terms of investigating 

issues related to violations of freedom of religion and expression. 

Third, the U.S. Government should urge the Colombian Government to include religious freedom in their agenda for ongoing peace 

talks with the FARC guerillas. 

Fourth, the U.S. Government must put pressure on the Colombian Government to counter the abuses in the realm of religious 

freedom of the constitutional provision that grants autonomy to indigenous territories. Fifth, I also recommend that advantage should 

be taken of the recent developments in diplomatic relations with 

Cuba to specifically address the religious freedom situation in that 

country. 

Sixth, finally, the U.S. Government should work together with 

Latin American states to create a system in which churches and 

Christian leaders who are victims of extortion feel safe to denounce 

the threats against them. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Petri follows:]

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Mr. DUNCAN. Thank you, Mr. Petri. 

Mr. Coll, you are recognized. 

STATEMENT OF MR. RICHARD COLL, FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR FOR LATIN AMERICA AND GLOBAL TRADE, OFFICE OF 

INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND PEACE, UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS 

Mr. COLL. Thank you, Congressman. My name is Richard Coll, 

Foreign Policy Advisor, Latin America and Global Trade for the 

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. I would like to thank 

the Honorable Representative Jeff Duncan, chairman of the subcommittee, and the Honorable Representative Albio Sires, ranking 

member, for the opportunity to testify today on challenges to religious freedom. 

I will be summarizing my written statement submitted for the 

record of this hearing, and I respectfully request that my statement 

be added to the record. 

The bishops of the United States are deeply disturbed by the terrible human consequences of violence in Latin America and the effects of violence on religious freedom and human rights in the region. Many Catholic bishops, priests, religious and lay workers 

have been the victims over the years of assassinations, violence, 

death threats, and hostility often directed at them as a consequence of their work as pastors and defenders of the rights of 

their people. 

The gospel and Catholic social teaching call us to defend poor 

and marginalized communities and to oppose the persecution that 

results from a criminal response to this ministry. Catholic social 

teaching has consistently called for democracy, human rights and 

robust civil society institutions. In promoting these noble objectives 

many church leaders and workers have paid a grievous price. 

Catholic social teaching is founded on the sanctity of the life and 

dignity of all persons. All are created in the image and likeness of 

God. The state and its political structures exist to serve the human 

person and in particular to foster the common good. All human persons have rights that are of divine origin. It is as a result of these 

core religious beliefs when acting in solidarity to support the legitimate claims to life and dignity of all peoples in Latin America that 

many church leaders and workers have become the targets of violence. Let me give you examples. 

In Latin America the exercise of religious freedom has been challenged by state and society throughout the region. In some countries as has already been noted, such as Cuba and Venezuela, the 

free exercise of religion has been suppressed with religious believers imprisoned and persecuted for their beliefs. In other countries 

religious freedom is given wider respect but continues to be challenged by political leaders and groups who seek to drive religious 

believers or actors out of public life or to limit the role of religious 

belief and public debate. These include restrictions on participation 

of religious groups in political discussions, and it includes laws 

which fail to extend conscience and religious exemptions to individuals. A great example is the case of Article 130 of the Mexican Constitution which prohibits religious organizations from challenging 

or criticizing the laws of the state. 

27

In many countries in Latin America the challenges to the church 

and to organized religion, as also has been noted, come not only 

from the government but from the operation of criminal, guerilla, 

and paramilitary actors engaged in violence against their fellow 

citizens. In defending the right to life and dignity of its innocent 

and tormented people, the Church’s bishops, priests, and religious 

lay workers have often become the victims of retaliatory violence 

at the hand of these criminal groups. 

According to a report by Fides, the international service of the 

Pontifical Mission Societies, 22 pastors and care workers—19 

priests, one religious sister, and two lay persons—were killed 

worldwide in 2013, almost double the number killed the year before. For the fifth consecutive year, Latin America had the highest 

number of such deaths in 2013. In the Americas, 15 priests were 

killed—seven in Colombia, four in Mexico, one each in Brazil, Venezuela, Panama and Haiti. By 2014, the number of priests killed 

in Mexico increased to nine, making that country as has been noted 

the most dangerous nation in the world to be a Catholic priest. 

In solidarity visits to Cuba and Venezuela as well as to Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, USCCB 

delegations have witnessed firsthand the remarkable spirituality 

and courageous actions of many church leaders, priests, religious 

and lay workers. In Peru, this threat of violence has extended to 

Archbishop Pedro Barreto in connection with his work defending 

the poor from the violence caused by unregulated mining operations in his archdiocese. 

Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini of Guatemala likewise has received numerous threats on his life for his work in support of indigenous 

communities. Bishop Raul Vera of Mexico has courageously identified the criminal elements, be they narcotics traffickers, gang members, or local government officials that murdered innocent Mexican 

citizens in numerous slayings. 

In Honduras, a large number of priests and religious spoke to us 

about the violence they had witnessed or experienced personally as 

a result of defending the rights of local communities to protest 

against dangerous mining operations. Comparable threats have 

been received concerning religious leaders and workers in the Central American region who have spoken in support of their afflicted 

people. 

In this way these brave individuals mirror the profound and 

powerful example of Archbishop Oscar Romero who was recently 

beatified in a moving ceremony in El Salvador. He gave his life in 

1980 defending the rights of the Salvadoran people to peace, freedom and dignity, and many church leaders and followers have followed in his footsteps. 

To quote from a letter from Bishop Richard Pates to Secretary 

of State John Kerry, ‘‘My brother bishops in Central America have 

urged us to encourage alternatives to the militarization of U.S. assistance and to instead emphasize economic opportunity. The 

United States must recognize our own contributions to the crisis 

which exists in the region, and support more effective programs 

that reduce drug usage here at home. The regulation of gun exports, coupled with criminal justice reforms that foster rehabilitaVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:30 Oct 27, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_WH\091715\96148 SHIRL
28

tion rather than retribution, need to implemented by our states 

and our Federal Government.’’

Congressmen, your roles as representatives of this great nation 

brings great responsibilities. The decision to support justice for the 

peoples of Latin America is of crucial importance to these efforts 

at addressing the root causes of this crisis. All must act in a way 

that respects the dignity of all human persons and enables the 

proper participation of all Latin American citizens reducing conflict 

and division. As members of this esteemed Congress you can play 

a vital and lifesaving role in solidarity with the Catholic Church 

and the people of this region. This can be accomplished by effectuating budgetary decisions that support peaceful development, 

economic growth and the rule of law, and by addressing the grave 

problems of human, narcotics and weapons trafficking over our borders. 

Thank you for providing crucial moral leadership to assist the 

people of Latin America in creating viable and prosperous societies. 

In this way, human rights and the strengthening of robust civil societies will be secured, which will lead to more just and equitable 

development reflecting the common patrimony of all God’s children. 

The USCCB stands ready to work with you and with the Church 

in Latin America in bringing such hopeful prospects to a fruitful 

resolution. Thank you again. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Coll follows:]

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Mr. DUNCAN. I want to thank the witnesses. They have just 

called votes so we are going to recess, probably for about 30 minutes. There are three votes, and we will come back. Hopefully Mr. 

Luna will be here. We will take his testimony and then we will get 

into the question session of this. So if you will bear with us, we 

will stand in recess. 

[Recess.] 

Mr. DUNCAN. Okay, we will reconvene the hearing. I appreciate 

you all’s patience and we will recognize Mr. Luna for an opening 

statement for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF MR. RICARDO LUNA, GLOBAL VICE 

PRESIDENT, CONFRATERNIDAD EVANGE ́ LICA LATINA 

Mr. LUNA. Thank you, sir. I value what you are doing here. The 

fact that you are focusing on religious liberty in Latin America is 

very important for Latin America and for religious liberty as well 

as what Rabbi David Epstein does in Latin America and all over 

the world in his role as ambassador. And I think—I have been involved with the State Department, their report on religious rights, 

human rights, and these three offer a great service to the continent, so thank you. 

I briefly want to share on behalf of CONEL. CONEL is Spanish 

for Confraternidad Evangelica Latina, Latin World Evangelical Alliance. We used to be Latin American, called CONELA, Latin 

America, but Latin identity is now global. To get what this means 

is that in the United States if you have heard of NHCLC, Samuel 

Rodriguez, they are CONEL in the United States, U.S. Hispanics, 

about 40,000 churches represented. 

We serve a community of approximately 500,000 churches in 

Latin America. Those we have certified. We, actually, as of 2010, 

we think the number is actually closer to 700,000, but we say 

500,000 certified, the missional community we serve. Our board 

members for our unity are the regional leaders representing approximately 80 percent of the churches in Latin America, a local 

church anywhere from 20 and 30 members to large churches of a 

thousand to 2,000. Various countries have churches of 7,000 to 

100,000. Yes, one local church that meets in homes and then in the 

stadium on the weekend. 

So this is the church in Latin America where 21 nations, 15 island nations, in addition, about 500 million people, so the issue of 

religious liberty is very important. And I think I am more connected to the local church in terms of especially the evangelical 

church, but also in our relations with our Catholic brothers and 

others whom we meet both at a regional or at a local level. 

There is just three very small things that I want to point out in 

this opportunity to be here. One is the situation of religious liberty 

du jour, de facto, and policy opportunities. Du jour, I think our colleagues have spoken well to that. There is a lot of documentation 

including your own staff, I am assuming. 

Du jour, most countries in Latin America have adopted the U.N. 

Declaration of Human Rights. Article 18 is part of everybody’s 

agenda and so it is present. And if the world could be safe for religious liberty because we have constitution and laws, then we would 

36

not even need to have a hearing about what issues and challenges 

we face, but obviously it is not. 

You have heard from our colleagues, I think, about Mexico. To 

give you one idea, in Mexico, every time there is an expulsion in 

San Juan Chamula or anywhere in the Mexican state 18 laws are 

broken. Every time there is one expulsion. This is from a human 

rights lawyer that has been working there for decades. So 30,000 

people in one community, over 90,000 people have been evicted and 

that is 180,000 laws broken. 

So sometimes it is not the fact that we have laws, it is the enforcement of laws that is the great challenge, so that is why I 

would like to focus on de facto. De facto is the reality on the 

ground. In this reality on the ground I have personally been involved in, in the last 35 years. Being involved on the ground, I 

have been in Cuba where I have been kicked out for being part of 

the CIA, because everything that is not controlled by the state becomes that. 

Nevertheless, I acknowledge these are changing times. There is 

improvements in many areas, but in Colombia that means being involved in conflict areas at a very local level, getting to know the 

actors through the Colombian Peace Talks, as my friend Ms. Stangl 

here, with left-wing guerrillas, the right-wing paramilitaries and 

finding out again from the base communities. Everywhere I have 

been there is a local church of these 500,000 churches. The du jour 

situation is one, but the de facto, what does it look like on the 

ground is important. 

And it is important to highlight the two types of oppositions that 

we have had historically and currently. One is revolutionary extremists. They are not only in the Middle East. In Latin America 

we have been dealing with them for over 50 years, 60 years and 

more depending on the country. And revolution extremists put the 

Church in the middle of conflict and the Church is caught in a 

crossfire we say. 

And as the Church is caught in a crossfire, as you have heard 

we have expulsions, we have deaths, we have 1.5 million refugees 

in a place like Colombia. We have 120 Catholic priests, over 250 

evangelical pastors killed because they are caught in a crossfire. 

Because in a situation like conflict people say you are either with 

me or against me, and some people to revolutionaries of the left 

and other counter revolutionaries, if you will, of the right, they 

both put the Church in that position. 

And in this setting it has been wonderful to be able to document 

with the State Department cases. We have had histories of cases 

documented yearly that put this, as we say what happens to one 

in a local place in the middle of nowhere happens to all of us, and 

I think it is very beneficial. Du jour and de facto, two realities. 

But I want to affirm, and as I was looking over the goals you 

have for this committee, in two very brief recommendations. The 

first recommendation of where religious liberty is going needs to 

have one more word added to the ‘‘religious’’ which is religious 

‘‘equality.’’ In Latin America, the values that we have as Latins—

God, family—places many of our communities, like the ones represented here from our Catholic Church, from human rights NGOs, 

37

and on this side and that, places us together to focus on two areas 

of religious equality. 

One, I think that we would focus on religious equality where we 

can express our religious liberty that we have our values. For instance, what that means specifically is that in areas of same-sex 

marriage, in areas of abortion, evangelicals, Catholics, NGOs, and 

Latin culture in general has declared itself very publicly. There is 

a study of 12 nations in Latin America, 45 globally, attitudes and 

behaviors of youth where 82 percent of the youth in Latin America 

declared themselves to be part of what can be called traditional, by 

other definition biblical, family. 

So religious equality issues tied to religious liberty, we need to 

be able to express this. Because there is now U.N. policy, sometimes U.S. policy that tells us we have to accept the United States’ 

or United Nations’ view of this versus our own. So this issue of religious liberty and religious equality there is a great concern and a 

generational concern that we are able to express this and be respected in our religious liberty to believe and to organize ourselves 

as such. 

We believe it is very important with our Catholic brothers to 

stand, I think, with great respect for the law, great respect for people in democracy to each require their own actions, understanding 

that, but we want to express these values. I think the issue of religious equality is an issue also of what governments will do with 

the growing evangelical church. In 1900, 1 percent of Latin America was evangelical. Today, depending on the country, 5 percent 

lowest to 50 percent, maybe 15 percent as you look as an average 

in Latin America. 

So what do you do when as a state—this is a question for state, 

it is not a question of a church to church, of the state—what do 

you do when the official Church has, receives grants for education, 

receives million-dollar grants to exist as an organization, has the 

opportunity to import, has the opportunity to be legal, to be tax exempt, and the growing evangelical churches don’t? 

This really brings up the issue, which is very important for the 

500,000 churches in Latin America, of religious equality. What does 

religious equality look like? There is a great example in the case 

of Chile. Chile is the only country that has passed a religious 

equality law. To do so, evangelical leaders that wanted to find solutions, not blame, Catholic leaders, as a matter of fact the two top 

lawyers were a Catholic lawyer and an evangelical lawyer, got together to look at it as a state issue of how to make religious liberty 

and religious equality, what does it need to look like in the twentyfirst century. 

And in the case of Chile they passed the only religious equality 

law in Latin America. This means that evangelicals have access to 

the chaplaincy in prisons as well as in the military. It means they 

could exist legally in the same way. And this question is not only 

for the evangelical church but for all minority religions. The changing face requires. 

And if there is one recommendation that I would love the committee to consider is, how do we do that and how do we do that 

in brotherhood and how can we partner for that? And toward that 

38

end count on us, CONEL, as a group that would very much like 

to be part of a solution of anybody working this issue. 

The other issue, very briefly, we focus on children. Children are 

at the forefront of expressing or of living every problem that has 

to do with sexual trafficking, every problem that has to do with 

gangs—82,000 just in two countries of Latin America, 82,000 gang 

members. In El Salvador, 17,000 gang members stopped the functioning of the country for 1 day. So when children are victims of 

these gang members, where narco-trafficking which went beyond 

Colombia and the Andean countries and northern Mexico as we all 

know, and the children become what they call the ‘‘mules,’’ the 

messengers and the transporters, the children are placed in a very 

precarious situation. 

This very precarious situation has actually caused Latin America 

to live an immigration crisis in every country through refugees, 1.5 

million, two million, a hundred thousand, different countries. And 

as we live these situations, we are looking, can we agree on the 

rights of children? And with this I finish, what is the recommendation. 

I have a meeting next month in Chiapas, Mexico where three 

Central American Presidents, where people involved in refugee and 

children-at-risk, children as victims of sexual trafficking, 57 million 

that have to work as children, we are coming to, we want to adopt 

principles that would allow us to recommend, to promote, to work 

for in every country. I will just read to you what they are and then 

I will finish with that. 

Principles toward children, this is my wrap-up, four points. One, 

principles that respect the God-given dignity of every person, protects the unity of the immediate family, respects, and especially the 

children, respects the rule of law and guarantees secure national 

borders. Our idea is that we want to ask Latin countries to respect 

these four issues, and insofar as religious liberty and human rights 

focus on children and the church’s response to them. If there is a 

way that through the work of your committee and of the United 

States Government we could find a common place to do that, that 

would be very welcome. Thank you so much for your time. 

[Mr. Luna did not submit a prepared statement until after the 

hearing. It has been inserted into the appendix.] 

Mr. DUNCAN. I want to thank the panelists for their opening 

statements. We will now move into the question portion of the 

hearing. Mr. Luna, I will start with you. And in your opinion, 

where other than the United States, and we can have an argument 

about religious liberty in the United States which I think we ought 

to talk about as well, but where can one go to feel like they can 

worship freely in the Western Hemisphere? What countries lead in 

the realm of religious freedom? We know the bad actors, right, so 

we talk about Cuba and we can talk about Nicaragua. What are 

some of the good actors? 

Mr. LUNA. Chile is very strong. As I say, if there is a leader both 

du jour, de facto in the Latin continent it is Chile. 

Mr. DUNCAN. For all religions or just more Catholicism or——

Mr. LUNA. For all religions. There is a movement among evangelical leaders to not think of, of course to represent our communities which are evangelical, but to look at the issue of religious libVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:30 Oct 27, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_WH\091715\96148 SHIRL
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erty and equality as for all religions. And we form part of committees at a national level that are of all the different religions so that 

the same law could apply to the religions. 

Mr. DUNCAN. So Chile is one, who is another? 

Mr. LUNA. Chile is one. All the other ones I would say we have 

challenges in, which is why we need to——

Mr. DUNCAN. Paraguay, Uruguay, any Caribbean country? 

Suriname, Guyana, any of that? Brazil? I am asking, I don’t know. 

Mr. LUNA. Yes, Brazil has had a strong tradition of religious respect. I think all countries have two realities. One where they are 

models and they are living models, especially in the cities and in 

certain sectors, but they also have the challenge, which is why I 

think we need to focus on religious liberty and equality for the new 

challenges. 

Mr. DUNCAN. Let me ask other panelists if you will chime in. 

Who do you see as the good actors? 

Ms. STANGL. I do think actually Brazil that you mentioned is one 

of the leading lights in the region. There has just been an effort 

to submit for consideration a new bill on religious freedom in 

Brazil. They already had a very good framework, but they wanted 

to make sure it was the best it could be and they want it to be a 

model for the rest of Latin America. 

There is something of a battle in some of the countries of militant secularism, and as Mr. Luna and as Mr. Coll said, kind of 

banishing, trying to banish religious speech from the public sphere. 

You do see that to an extent in Brazil, but I would say as far as 

worship on a Sunday morning or Friday at mosque or Saturday at 

the synagogue, Brazil is probably one of the leaders as well as 

Chile. 

Mr. DUNCAN. All right, Mr. Petri? 

Mr. PETRI. Well, I think as I said, as far as national legislation 

is concerned there is really not that much wrong with Latin American countries. And, really, in my testimony what I tried to convey 

is that we should broaden the scope of religious freedom. Not only 

look at it from the legal perspective, and again I don’t think there 

are that many problems in Latin America. Of course the good students really are Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, which is the country that 

is my home, but I think from a legal perspective there is not that 

much that is wrong. 

But from the human security perspective there is a lot more that 

is going on, and that is something that is very often is——

Mr. DUNCAN. Let me get Mr. Coll on the record. 

Mr. PETRI. Sure. 

Mr. COLL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I would just like to 

follow up on Mr. Petri’s very wise observation that I would like to 

offer up the church in Colombia and Colombia generally as being 

an example of how religious freedom operates in a way that vindicates the rights of the common people. The church in Colombia particularly under the leadership of Cardinal Salazar has as you know 

been very instrumental in helping to negotiate a settlement with 

the FARC, and through its Pastoral Social has also been very active in trying to develop a form of social services and social outreach to impoverished people. We were in Bogota just a year or so 

ago and it is really wonderful to see the work that happens there. 

40

I would offer up Colombia as a great example of how effective religious freedom can affect the facts and the root causes on the 

ground. 

Mr. DUNCAN. Well, I thank you all for that. Violence has been 

talked about a lot. I think the ranking member mentioned and 

probably will mention again the video of someone being pulled out 

of a church, a White Lady being pulled out of the church—Ladies 

in White, rather—by a priest. Violence, how it leads to persecution. 

I guess I am asking, is this more a government sponsored violence? We heard about gang violence and the cartel and other 

things, but do you see, what is the balance there between a criminal element violence and government sponsored violence across the 

region? I would just focus in on Cuba, but across the region is it 

more government sponsored? Is it more criminal elements? Ms. 

Stangl? 

Ms. STANGL. I think it is a very complex mix. I think in most 

countries it would be criminal groups, however with exceptions in 

Cuba and in Mexico. And Cuba you see kind of government paramilitary groups that come in in plainclothes pretending to be civilians who also attack the Ladies in White in trying to prevent them 

attending Mass. And that is definitely, although they are not wearing government uniforms, a government orchestrated campaign of 

violence. 

In Mexico, on the very local level in certain regions, there is a 

campaign of violence carried out by local officials. They are not top 

government officials but local, maybe a mayor, the local town council. And that is often met with impunity which gives the impression 

that the higher-up government either doesn’t care enough or endorses that kind of violence. But in the other countries it would be 

much more criminal, non-government actors. 

Mr. DUNCAN. What—again, this, really not what I want to ask. 

Let’s ask this. Have you seen evidence of the State Department or 

local embassy officials engaging with governments in the region on 

these issues to encourage governments to revise their regulations 

or their laws of making church registration more difficult or for religious groups? 

So we have got governments that are requiring churches to register, we talked about that in your statements and mine. Do you 

see the U.S. engaging those governments in saying, look, church 

registration is counterproductive to religious freedom? How do you 

see our State Department acting on this? Mr. Petri, you look like 

you want to answer. 

Mr. PETRI. I think the Obama administration has really not paid 

that much attention to religious freedom apart from the annual 

publications. 

Mr. DUNCAN. Well, they haven’t paid much attention to this region in general, but——

Mr. PETRI. Yes, of course. But apart from the annual publication 

of the International Religious Freedom report, there is just not that 

much that has happened in the field of religious freedom in the 

Americas. 

And I also think that is an important point I want to make. I 

think as was said earlier, the full scope of religious freedom is not 

taken into account by the International Religious Freedom report 

41

of the State Department, because what you see in Latin America—

and I think Cuba is really an exception because their persecution 

is mostly state sponsored. 

But if you look at the other countries, persecution is not based 

that much on religious identity or on church attendance but more 

on behavior, so it is your religious convictions that make you vulnerable to suffer human rights abuses. But identity as such, just 

the fact that you own a Bible or that you go to church, is not 

enough to be persecuted. That is not the dynamic. That is why religious freedom violations are often misunderstood in Latin America. 

And that is really what I want you to take away from this, that 

that is actually one very important I mentioned and that is very 

present in Latin America and it should be taken into account. 

Mr. DUNCAN. All right, my time is up. I am going to yield to the 

ranking member, and we will come around for the second round of 

questions. 

Mr. SIRES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We usually have people 

from the State Department here, and I am one of those individuals 

that think that democracy is in trouble in Central and South America. I think we are going the other way. 

I was just wondering if suppression of religion goes along with 

that, that we are going the wrong way in all of these countries. 

Mr. LUNA. One of the things—oh, excuse me——

Mr. SIRES. Go ahead. 

Mr. LUNA [continuing]. Mr. Sires, is that it is more sophisticated 

now. At one point, see, in Cuba it was very clear, atheism, and religion is—in today’s world it is a fine for something you are doing. 

It is a church in Caracas, Venezuela, a very prominent church was 

going to be taken over because they didn’t fulfill certain local ordinances. So I think now because of human rights people are very 

careful not to say I am going after you because of religion. 

But what is behind there is that like in these types of attacks 

that are—it is through mobs which are done by the government. 

The situation in Cuba is, I would say, has some parallels in Venezuela, for instance, in this respect. 

So there is definitely an opposition to church, but it is more sophisticated, and how to do that. And I think we can report this. In 

my contact with local embassies and placing it in the national report has been very key, but as far as how to promote something 

different I have not seen evidence of that. 

Mr. SIRES. Mr. Coll, do you see it go as the wrong way? 

Mr. COLL. Well, I think that in some countries there are certainly increased challenges, and I think those challenges as we 

have heard already this afternoon come from two different angles. 

One is the governmental policy that can challenge, whether it is in 

the case of the Cuba or in the case of a Mexico where there has 

been historically over hundreds of years efforts at secularization 

and where, frankly, the Catholic Church has been under extreme 

duress—the Cristero Wars in the 1920s—the victim of a great 

amount of violence in Mexico. 

I also think that as we also heard, in many countries—Colombia, 

Peru, other parts of Latin America, certainly in Central America—

the challenges come from the issues of poverty, narcotics trafficking, arms trafficking, political violence, gang warfare, and to 

42

address those we won’t be able to address them through legislative 

solutions or even political solutions. Rather, we need solid economic 

and developmental causes to be addressed. 

In that regard, for instance, I had an opportunity to meet with 

Cardinal Salazar, whom I mentioned, who was such a supporter of 

the FARC negotiations. And I asked him, how can we as a church 

in the United States support you in Colombia in reaching a peaceful resolution of these issues? And he said, you can cut down on 

the drug demand from the United States because your insatiable 

demand for drugs from the United States is killing our people. 

And then I would just finally add that we as a conference have 

been a long supporter of the Frank Wolf International Religious 

Freedom Act of 2015. We believe that enactment of that bill would 

be very helpful in terms of enhancing political diplomacy in the 

preservation of religious freedom and in vindicating greater education for State Department officials to recognize the importance of 

religious freedom. 

Mr. PETRI. Yes. Well, Mr. Sires, I think I agree with you that 

there are challenges to democracies in Latin America. I think Latin 

America, the democratization——

Mr. SIRES. Go hand in hand. 

Mr. PETRI. Of course. The democratization 30 years ago that 

started in Latin America led to electoral democracies, but quality 

of democracy there is still a lot of work to be done especially in the 

field of service delivery in all social aspects. And one of those elements is of course religious freedom, the protection and enforcement of religious freedom. 

So it is all very nice on paper, but the enforcement of religious 

rights is a major challenge, and together with that the corruption 

infiltration of security and justice systems is also a big issue in 

some of the countries in Latin America. So yes, I agree with you 

that they both need to go hand in hand. 

Mr. SIRES. Ms. Stangl? 

Ms. STANGL. Yes, to your question on Central America if we are 

going backwards, I was in El Salvador last weekend at a conference on violence in Latin America and how it is affecting religious freedom. And what we have seen in El Salvador and the 

countries surrounding it is that the levels of violence and the government response in some cases is so extreme that the impotence 

of society is also very bad. 

One very prominent denominational leader, Pastor Mario Vega, 

earlier this year was named on a web page supposedly run by kind 

of government death squads, named and threatened because of his 

speaking out about some of these policies and defending the 

churches. He said to me, in a country like El Salvador we have 

such high levels of criminal gangs and activities it is impossible as 

a pastor or a priest not to have some contact with them. 

At children’s events 90 percent of the children are children of 

gang members, and so you are living every day in your ministry 

with that dynamic. At the same time illicit association is now considered a crime by the government. And so a pastor who is trying 

to work with these communities trying to transform these communities, or a priest, can also be in danger unfortunately from the 

43

government side of being of accused of illicit association. So it is 

definitely going backwards in that sense. 

Mr. SIRES. Thank you. 

Mr. DUNCAN. I thank the gentleman, and now the Chair will go 

to Mr. Donovan. 

Mr. DONOVAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is there any particular 

place in Latin America or in the Western Hemisphere where it is 

more egregious, the interference of religious freedom, is there any 

one area where it is more egregious than the others? To anyone, 

if you are aware of. 

Ms. STANGL. For CSW there are different types of religious freedom violations, but our three priority countries and the countries 

we consider to be the worst at the moment are Cuba, Mexico and 

Colombia. 

Mr. PETRI. Yes, for Open Doors those are the same three priority 

countries as well. And there is many offense that are occurring at 

the same time in different countries and to different extent, but 

those two countries are the highest priority as far as religious freedom is concerned. 

Mr. DONOVAN. Well, when you think about Cuba, where the administration has just resumed relationship with Cuba without any 

demands on improvements of human rights in Cuban Government, 

have we seen any places where there has been improvement at all? 

Ms. STANGL. You are correct in Cuba. We have seen zero improvements in religious freedom since these negotiations began, unfortunately. As far as improvements in other countries, we have 

seen some improvements in Colombia as a result, I think, of the 

peace talks and some government efforts there. And there are positive noises coming from Mexico very much due, I think, to pressure 

from the chairman of this committee and other Members of Congress who have raised this issue consistently and strongly with the 

Mexican Government. 

Mr. PETRI. There are improvements, but at the same time there 

are also deteriorations on different fields at the same time. So I 

think, as also mentioned, I think we should really, or you should 

take advantage of the dialogue that is now starting with Cuba to 

really address religious freedom in that country. 

And some things, and just looking at Mexico or Colombia some 

things have improved, especially relationship between churches are 

much better than any of the past legislation has improved, but 

then organized crime is really putting, as I said, actively practicing 

Christians under threat in these countries more and more. So as 

things go better other things go worse. 

Mr. DONOVAN. Well, my understanding from one of the witness’s 

testimony that some of it is governmental intolerance of religious 

freedom and some of it is guerilla intolerance that is, I don’t know 

if it is supported by government or ignored by governments. Besides the hearings that we have here, what could the United States 

Government do to help? 

Mr. COLL. I would just also like to add to the list of countries, 

we should focus on Venezuela. From the Catholic perspective, a 

country that is one in which the Catholic Church is the victim of 

a tremendous amount of political and other pressure, and where 

one can only hope that political developments will evolve in a way 

44

over the next couple of years to restore that country to a fuller expression of religious freedom. 

In terms of recommendations, I will just mention again that from 

our perspective the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom 

Act of 2015 would be a great step forward in terms of enabling the 

State Department and other political actors within our government 

to vindicate more effectively religious freedom around the world. 

Mr. LUNA. The focus having been on documentation, as I said, 

was a great contribution, but the word here was mentioned ‘‘enforcement.’’ So I affirm the support of this act because it moves us 

along, but the idea of enforcement, I think, is the direction that we 

could move to. 

And I also add from the evangelical perspective Venezuela as 

well. Criminal elements are always handled by people of power and 

authority. The guy that you hire or the mob you hire is there at 

somebody’s hiring, so we have seen a great increase of that. And 

in the midst of that we have seen great growth in the Church. A 

recent newspaper article from the government said that one out of 

every five Venezuelans is now an evangelical and it is a difficult 

position for them to be in. 

Mr. PETRI. I think all the efforts that are being done currently 

to strengthen the states should actively integrate the perspective 

of religious freedom much more than is the case now. That is, I 

think, my main recommendation, understanding the full scope of 

religious freedom violations in Latin America. 

And then as I said, take advantage of the current dialogue with 

Cuba to address religious freedom. Also take advantage of the current dialogue between the Colombian Government and the FARC 

guerillas and try to urge Colombia to put religious freedom on their 

agenda as well, just taking advantage of the current context. 

And there was another recommendation I made, I think, is that 

the U.S. Government should work together with Latin American 

states to create a system in which Christian leaders feel free to denounce threats that they are victims of threats against them, because that is also something. If they cannot do that in their own 

country because there is corruption, because there is impunity, because they are often too afraid to denounce and to report what they 

are facing there should be an alternate system for the case to get 

out. 

Mr. DONOVAN. Do any of you think that economic pressure will 

help the governments realize that they have to do something about 

the oppression of religious freedom in their countries? One of the 

fears, always, of our country putting economic pressure on another 

country is that the government doesn’t suffer, the people suffer. 

And so whatever pressures we put on, whether we stop trade or we 

stop sending resources there, it is actually the people who we are 

trying to help are the ones who actually get harmed. 

Does anybody believe that some economic pressure on any of 

these countries would make them turn around and realize that losing American support economically isn’t worth what they are doing 

in their country? 

Mr. COLL. Speaking from our perspective at the U.S. Conference, 

we would strongly advise against the position of sanctions or economic pressures for two reasons. First of all, we do not believe that 

45

historically economic sanctions have been effective. Secondly, we 

believe at the root cause of many of these difficulties, the violence, 

the political economic instability, the trafficking issues, resides a 

tremendous economic challenge that those societies must face. We 

believe that proper economic development, integral economic development is the path forward for these countries, and to impose sanctions on them that would cripple them in the development of their 

economies would be counterproductive and, we think, lead to worsening conditions. 

Mr. LUNA. And just the idea of not sanctions but incentives, economic incentives for those that deal with these issues is important, 

but I think there is one realization that must be made. One thing 

is dealing with the government, the other thing is dealing with government officials. Official government policy may be right, but government officials, just to give you one very brief example. 

In Chiapas, President Salinas De Gortari at that time went to 

Chiapas to deal with the consejos, these landlords that kicked out 

30,000 people. Those community leaders are called consejos. When 

he went, because of economic incentive that if we passed the Free 

Trade Agreement it would be good for Mexico from his end, people 

in the States thought it would be good for here and everybody was 

in agreement. 

And he went down and he says, hey, you guys really need to 

watch it here. Talked to a few of the presidents, local presidents, 

community presidents. He says, it will be really good if you guys 

could like tone it down and respect the laws—because they have 

their own laws that they implement. And this is what the community leader told the President. Mr. President, you go preside in 

Mexico City but I am the president here. 

So if there is an incentive, in this case both sides on incentive 

with Free Trade Agreement and the president is motivated and his 

administration is motivated, it is the local official level, and how 

do you help them, through documentation and some way of enforcement, help those local people that are facing these situations even 

when the government says that they are on your side but sometimes are powerless? 

So how to do incentives and how to help those people that are 

actually facing where if they come out of the shadow they are going 

to, it is going to be a death threat. I mean, it is that simple. Their 

kids are going to be taken. Their kids are going to be shot. Especially in Central America, you mentioned this happens all the time, 

so how to help that situation, I think, is a challenge. 

Mr. PETRI. Yes, I would also advise against economic sanctions. 

Instead, I would really focus on helping the states to reform their 

institutions and to rebuild and strengthen their democratic institutions, security system, justice system, but adopting an integrated 

approach that really pays attention to the enforcement of religious 

rights. I think that is the priority. Not economic sanctions, but focusing on helping states to become more effective at guaranteeing 

the enforcement of religious rights. 

Mr. DONOVAN. Whereas, opposed to sanctions, as the gentleman 

said, incentives is still economic pressure. 

I don’t think I have any more time, Mr. Chairman, but if I do 

I yield it. 

46

Mr. DUNCAN. I thank the gentleman. You hit on one of the points 

I was going to bring up in my second round, is that as I said in 

my opening statement, the ability to worship and exercise one’s 

faith without attack, censure or bribery or government reprisals is 

one of the most important metrics of freedom in any country. And 

I appreciate you all talking about the impacts from religious freedom on economics and what not. 

So shifting gears a little bit, let me ask you this. In Mexico we 

have got the law of uses and customs. How can the Mexican Government better monitor the implementation of the law of uses and 

customs to ensure it is practiced in accordance with human rights 

guarantees in state and Federal law? Ms. Stangl? 

Ms. STANGL. The Mexican Government already has very good 

mechanisms to monitor these cases and they are aware of the 

cases. The issue again, as was mentioned before, is implementation, rule of law and impunity. There are excellent state human 

rights commissions that monitor and actively work on these issues. 

There is a great national human rights commission that also does 

very good work. The problem is, although these are kind of quasigovernment bodies, the government itself never implements what 

they do, what they recommend in the cases they are working on. 

So I think the breakdown there is not so much the monitoring 

but enforcing the law. People who commit crimes for religious reasons don’t get an exemption just because they put a banner of religion over the top. Everyone should be held to account in the court 

of law. And helping Mexico strengthen its justice system, I think, 

would be a big step forward on that. 

Mr. DUNCAN. We have talked a lot about Bolivia and Ecuador 

and Mexico and Colombia and Venezuela. I am meeting with some 

folks from Haiti in a little while and then the Prime Minister a little bit after that. So when I think about the hemisphere, I know 

that we talked about the Americas. The title of the hearing is 

about the Americas. In general, we seem to be very southernly focused here on Central America, Latin America in general. 

What about the Caribbean? What about Haiti and the Dominican 

Republic? What about Bermuda or Canada? Those aren’t mentioned in these discussions. How do you feel about religious freedom? Going into my meeting with Haiti, how is that perceived in 

Haiti? What is the impact of religious freedom, or is there oppression of any sort in Haiti or the DR or any of the Caribbean nations 

that I need to be aware of? And I ask all of you that. Mr. Luna? 

Mr. LUNA. Reflecting on your question, one more country to add 

to move in the right direction is Peru as well. They have also faced 

conflict. They have done a lot of work in moving in the right direction. 

In the case of Caribbean, I think Dominican Republic is a case 

for strong relationship state-church on behalf of religious liberty 

and human rights. There is a strong presence and a strong desire 

in both groups. And in the case of Haiti, this is from a local church 

contact, the issues that they mostly focus on are development into 

such. 

There was a time when any political party in the struggles that 

Haiti has had can make anyone an enemy. And if you chose not 

to be corrupt or if you chose not to help a certain party do what 

47

it asked, you to do because you are in the neighborhood, it became 

a death threat and an eviction. But especially after the earthquake 

we have seen at least that communities, because of a maybe shared 

common need, have come together more and worked more intentionally toward being problem solvers than problem makers, from 

a local church level perspective. 

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Petri? 

Mr. PETRI. Yes, well, actually compared with the Caribbean, I 

think Colombia is a very extreme case as far as the issue of religious freedom in indigenous territories is concerned. And Colombia 

has, I think, in the whole continent the most far-reaching, gives the 

most, the highest degree, highest level of autonomy to indigenous 

communities. And in practice this gives indigenous rulers free room 

to implement authoritarian governments and where basic human 

rights, including those of religious minorities or converts out of traditional indigenous beliefs, are not respected. 

I think this is something that must be denounced and it is a constitutional provision that is, I think, really dangerous. I am convinced that respect for indigenous traditions and culture is very important in any democratic society, especially in those countries 

where there is a strong and historical presence of indigenous 

groups, but it must not be used as an excuse to tolerate and endorse bad governance and gross human rights violations such as, 

and those are the cases we are talking about, as torture or exclusion from basic social services. 

This is also happening in Mexico, but the legislation is all right 

except that it is not always being enforced. But in Colombia the 

legislation actually does not, I mean the constitution does not give 

to the central states the authority to actually enter indigenous territories when faced with human rights violations like this. 

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Coll, real quickly. 

Mr. COLL. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am very grateful for 

the opportunity to offer some thoughts on Haiti and the Dominican 

Republic which are countries that are of great importance to us. 

Haiti, a great example again of root causes, tremendous poverty 

as we know, breakdown in the rule of law, breakdown in the administration of justice. A tremendous need to monitor aid carefully 

so that it ends up in appropriate projects that will build up civil 

society there and thereby, among other things, vindicate religious 

freedom. 

Dominican Republic, as you know there has been a very difficult 

situation there over the last couple of years given a supreme court 

decision that the high court of the Dominican Republic issued 

which threatens viability of certain residents of the Dominican Republic, many of whom are of Haitian origin, to continue to stay 

there. The government has been, I think, attempting to rectify that 

situation by passing new legal provisions that would provide a 

course for validating residency on an ongoing basis. 

As Ms. Stangl very eloquently pointed out in a different context, 

the laws may be fine but we need to make sure that they are administered effectively and that appropriate resources are devoted 

so that all petitioners have the opportunity to vindicate their 

rights. 

48

So I would just respectfully request, and I am sure it will come 

up in your conversations with the Haitian Prime Minister as well 

given the fact that many of these affected residents are originally 

of Haitian origin, that enough resources be allocated in order to 

make sure that the legal remedies, which the government is now 

passing to protect these residents, actually work on the ground to 

permit these residents to make claims to continue to stay in the 

Dominican Republic. Thank you. 

Mr. DUNCAN. Thank you. I yield to the ranking member. 

Mr. SIRES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will make an observation, then I have a question. To me when Pope Paul visited Cuba 

I thought some changes would follow. Now you have another Pope 

visiting Cuba next week. I just think that they somehow legitimize 

the governments when you have such a high ranking, or the highest ranking member of the Catholic Church go into these islands 

where those so much oppression of religion, and I don’t know how 

they will see that. 

So I am hoping that this visit will make a change, but I am not 

very hopeful because they have had roundups, people have been 

thrown in jail, the most active ones are to be kept away. So to me 

this visit is more about legitimizing this whole thing that has been 

going on with Cuba in the last 3 months, over the last year, more 

than anything else, and the Church doesn’t seem to see that. Because I didn’t see any changes when Pope Paul went to Cuba. 

And the question that I have, we are talking about obviously all 

different types of religion and we also have the Jewish community 

in South and in Central America. How would you characterize the 

anti-Semitism trends in Latin America in recent years? Because I 

know that Buenos Aires has about 200 Jews, Sao Paulo has about 

80,000 to 100,000, and some of the other areas. Ms. Stangl? 

Ms. STANGL. Unfortunately, I think there have been significant 

increases in anti-Semitism particularly seen in Venezuela, but also 

in countries like Argentina. A lot of it is rhetoric, sometimes things 

like graffiti, not actual physical attacks but creating an environment of hostility. And many of the governments of those countries, 

in the case of Venezuela, has actually soaked that and encouraged 

that in some ways, where other governments have stood back and 

done nothing which allows this environment to continue to grow. 

I would say it is something definitely the committee to watch. 

The Jewish population has played a very important role historically in many of these countries and will continue to do so, I believe. But I think it is, looking at the general climate of the world 

and what is happening in Europe specifically, I would hate to see 

that kind of thing exported and grow and increase in Latin America as well. 

Mr. LUNA. We can affirm that as democracy has weakened in 

many areas of Latin America there is a definite rise in anti-Semitism. Venezuela being one, Argentina continued, Ecuador. I mean, 

we can go country by country. 

We at CONEL/NHCLC started, in response started a coalition, 

Hispanic Jewish coalition, got organized just a couple of months 

ago. We were meeting with members of the Israeli Government, 

Jewish community here and leaders in Latin America. 

49

One of the ways that can be strengthened is that every nation 

has, just like you have a Committee on Foreign Affairs here, they 

have a committee that deals with the state of Israel. In some of 

these places there is people of conviction that want to do everything they can to make sure that they deal with issues of anti-Semitism; that they don’t just let acts of anti-Semitism in conversation, 

in art, drawing, many which are rising forth. 

So we believe that one of the contributions that the Christian 

community can make is to both use the word ‘‘denounce,’’ but also 

‘‘announce.’’ Build, do some positive contributions that can 

strengthen our relationship with the Jewish community. When you 

don’t know a community it is easy to be opposed, but we believe 

very strongly that these steps need to be taken which is why we 

have created this coalition. 

Mr. PETRI. Yes, you are very right to raise the issue of anti-Semitism. I think apart from the cases of Argentina and Venezuela 

which are really, well, mostly Venezuela but also Argentina, the 

most serious cases or examples of growing anti-Semitism, other 

countries of Latin America have also seen isolated incidents and is 

something that should be followed and monitored very closely. 

Mr. COLL. Thank you. I would like to address the issue of antiSemitism because it is a very important one, but I would like to 

just start out with a few comments on Cuba because I think that 

the two issues are in a way related. 

First of all, I want to express my deep respect and compassion 

with the views that you have articulated. I myself come from a 

family that originated in Spain and I know what it is like to suffer 

the divisions that come from a civil war or other political upheaval, 

and the terrible pain that comes from having families be divided 

over political issues. And I have deep respect for my friends in the 

Cuban American community who, like you, Mr. Ranking Member, 

believe the way you do out of tremendous good faith and a desire 

to see what is best for the Cuban people. 

Just by means of explanation, as you already know I take comfort from knowing that it is not just the testimony of three Popes 

now, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and now Pope Francis, but the 

Catholic Church in Cuba itself, which I had the privilege of visiting 

a couple of years ago at the time of Pope Benedict’s visit, that is 

very strongly supportive of this new opening and this rapprochement as a way of preserving the rights of the Cuban people and 

hopefully opening the doors for greater development. 

That is a hope, but it is a hope that frankly is based on our gospel values. And we as a Church embrace this objective not just because we think it is right, but because we think we are committed 

to do so by the words of our Savior Jesus who told us to love our 

enemies and to engage in dialogue and to forgive those who have 

harmed us. 

So I would offer that in deep respect and with awareness that 

your sense of the issues come from a greater commitment to the 

good of the Cuban people just by means of explanation of how we 

have come up with a different tactical approach. We share your 

aversion to the way in which the Cuban Government operates, and 

we hope and pray that this opening will vindicate the rights of the 

Cuban people in the future. 

50

How is this related to anti-Semitism? It seems to me that part 

of the problem that exists, as Mr. Petri and others have pointed 

out, Mr. Luna, is that communities in Latin America and elsewhere 

have been ghettoized, have been separated from one another. They 

have not experienced the truth of their respective religions. 

Dialogue is a great avenue toward overcoming those separations. 

We see the blessed relationship that exists between Pope Francis 

and a number of leaders of the Argentine Jewish community and 

how that dialogue, that relationship, that friendship has hopefully 

started the path toward the mitigation of anti-Semitism in Argentina, and we see that dialogue, that communication with hope toward opening up other areas of dialogue so that anti-Semitism and 

all other forms of hatred and division will be eliminated. Thank 

you. 

Mr. SIRES. I will just finish by saying that the way Venezuela is 

going is just a satellite of Cuba. 

Mr. COLL. Yes. 

Mr. SIRES. This is exactly what they do. After they took control 

in 1959, they went after the church to destroy the church and they 

were very successful, or any other religion. And I think you are 

seeing the 33,000 proxies that are in Venezuela from Cuba going 

about it the same way. Venezuela was a religious, the people, was 

go to church and now they are afraid to go to church. They are 

afraid to express their religion. 

Mr. COLL. Yes. 

Mr. SIRES. So what we are seeing is the Cubanization of Venezuela. 

Mr. COLL. I definitely share your concern, Mr. Ranking Member. 

I was in Venezuela 3 years ago meeting with the local church there 

and very much support the view, the concern you have about trying 

to support their work so they don’t end up with the same tragic 

consequences as in Cuba. 

Mr. SIRES. Can I just add something else? I am sorry. This is fascinating to me because I saw the Church in Poland. 

Mr. COLL. Yes. 

Mr. SIRES. How active it was. 

Mr. COLL. Yes. Yes. 

Mr. SIRES. And basically moving that country forward. 

Mr. COLL. Yes. 

Mr. SIRES. We don’t see that movement in Latin America. We 

don’t see that movement in Central America. 

Mr. COLL. Yes, yes. That is a great point, Mr. Ranking Member, 

and I think there are a lot of historical reasons for that. There is 

a different, frankly in Cuba there is a different relationship between the Cuban Catholic Church and the local colonial powers 

and then subsequently the local Cuban Government that took over 

once the Spanish left. 

I think your point is very well taken that institutionally the Polish Catholic Church for its own historical reasons and the experiences of World War II, et cetera, was in a much more effective position to be able to take up the challenges of supporting the political 

process than is the case and was recently the case in Cuba. 

As a result, I think the Cuban Catholic Church has felt that its 

efforts to vindicate human rights and to move the path of developVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:30 Oct 27, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_WH\091715\96148 SHIRL
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ment toward the establishment of an authentic civil society has to 

be effectuated through other means different from the path of the 

Church in Poland. And, frankly, I think that is one of the endorsements that Pope John Paul II himself gave to the Church in Cuba 

for that choice. 

Mr. SIRES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your indulgence. 

Mr. DUNCAN. Absolutely. Thanks for the insight. I was sitting 

here thinking about Communism in general, what we saw with 

Mao and Stalin and they do away with the Church, do away with 

that right to peacefully assemble and gather and talk and worship 

somebody other than the government entity, the state, as is was 

known. 

I think in Cuba, I think Castro is probably more Catholic than 

maybe Stalin or Mao were any religion. That is why I think the 

Catholic Church maybe hung around a little longer. And that is 

just my perception, but I think you are exactly right in Venezuela. 

The elimination of religion in general helps solidify the state as the 

religion, and I think we see that over and over in a common pattern within socialism. So I want to thank the witnesses. This has 

been fascinating. 

I go back to the anti-Semitic activities. I will say this about Uruguay. I think the way they have handled the terrorist bombing 

against the Jewish cultural center or the embassy there recently is 

probably indicative of they are not as anti-Semitic as maybe other 

countries, and I applaud them for that is the reason I wanted to 

bring that out, in their efforts to find out about that bombing. 

So we will conclude, and pursuant to committee rule 7, the members of the subcommittee will be permitted to submit written statements to be included in the official record, and without objection 

the hearing record will remain open for five business days allowing 

statements, questions and extraneous materials for the record, subject to the length limitation in the rules. Also if we have any additional questions we will submit those to you and ask you to respond back and that will be made part of the record. So without 

any other business we will stand adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 4:28 p.m., the subcommittee adjourned.] 

(53)

A P P E N D I X 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

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PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, A REPRESENTATIVE

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MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE JEFF DUNCAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, AND CHAIRMAN, 

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