IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1024 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to promote international 

religious freedom and marking the 20th anniversary of the International 

Religious Freedom Act of 1998. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2018 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to promote 

international religious freedom and marking the 20th 

anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act 

of 1998. 

Whereas religious freedom is a universally recognized human 

right and the protection and promotion of this right globally attracts broad support; 

Whereas the United States has a long tradition of advancing 

and protecting religious freedom, understanding that this 

fundamental right is critical for a flourishing society and 

essential to protect human dignity and national stability; 


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Whereas religious freedom includes the right of an individual 

to worship, think, speak, and act, including in public and 

in private, in accordance with the beliefs of the individual; 

Whereas the free exercise of religion must stand for the right 

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

Whereas this year marks the 70th anniversary of the United 

Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which 

recognizes that ‘‘Everyone has the right to freedom of 

thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either 

alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance’’; 

Whereas this year also marks the 20th anniversary of the 

International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 

6401 et seq.), which made religious freedom a United 

States foreign policy priority and created the position of 

Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom at the Department of State and the bipartisan 

United States Commission on International Religious 

Freedom; 

Whereas given the United States commitment to advance religious freedom and to the international covenants that 

guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human 

being, United States foreign policy is committed to— 

(1) promoting freedom of religion globally as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability and 

prosperity for all countries; 

(2) assisting emerging democracies to implement 

freedom of religion and to protect individual conscience; 


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(3) assisting nongovernment organizations to promote religious freedom and to sponsor reconciliation and 

other programs in disputes which divide groups along the 

lines of religious identity; and 

(4) identifying countries and nonstate actors that 

are severe persecutors on the basis of religious belief and 

undertaking diplomatic or other actions to address religious freedom violations, in order to protect fundamental 

national interests; 

Whereas despite efforts to advance and protect religious freedom over the past two decades, the world is experiencing 

a religious freedom crisis, creating millions of victims and 

undermining liberty, prosperity, and peace in places vital 

to the national interests of the United States and our allies and posing direct challenges in the Middle East, Russia, China, South and Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan 

Africa; 

Whereas an estimated 83 percent of the world’s population 

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

by social groups, according to the latest Pew Research 

Center’s Study of Global Restrictions on Religion; 

Whereas the absence of fundamental human rights, including 

religious freedom, contributes to political instability, violence against religious and ethnic minorities, religious extremism, and terrorism; 

Whereas research demonstrates that where religious freedom 

is protected and advanced as a universally recognized 

human right there is greater peace, political and social 

stability, economic innovation and development, democratization, women’s empowerment, and less violent religious 

extremism and terrorism; 


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Whereas the United States Congress affirmed in 2016, with 

passage of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious 

Freedom Act (Public Law 114–281), that because the 

promotion of international religious freedom protects 

human rights, advances democracy abroad, and advances 

United States interests in stability, security, and development globally, the promotion of international religious 

freedom requires new and evolving policies and diplomatic 

responses that are drawn from the expertise of the national security agencies, the diplomatic services, and 

other governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations, and are coordinated across and carried out by 

the entire range of Federal agencies; 

Whereas the 2018 National Security Strategy of the United 

States recognized the strategic importance of international religious freedom, making the advancement of 

religious freedom and the protection of religious minorities from violence a ‘‘priority’’ of the Administration’s 

foreign policy; 

Whereas in the annual proclamation recognizing ‘‘Religious 

Freedom Day’’ on January 16, 2018, President Trump 

affirmed that the ‘‘United States is . . . the paramount 

champion for religious freedom around the world because 

we do not believe that conscience rights are only for 

Americans. . . . We will be undeterred in our commitment to monitor religious persecution and implement 

policies that promote religious freedom. Through these 

efforts, we strive for the day when people of all faiths can 

follow their hearts and worship according to their consciences.’’; and 

Whereas Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, announced a first 

ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom which will 


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be held from July 24 to July 26, 2018, as foreign ministers, civil society, and parliamentarians will convene to 

discuss shared strategies to advance and protect international religious freedom: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) marks the 20th anniversary of the passage 

3 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 

4 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) by reaffirming the commit5 ment of the United States to advance religious free6 dom as a fundamental part of United States foreign 

7 policy; 

8 (2) commends the Administration for its strong 

9 commitment to protect religious freedom globally 

10 and efforts to prioritize the protection of religious 

11 minorities from violence and other serious human 

12 rights abuses; 

13 (3) commends the Department of State, the 

14 Secretary of State, and the Ambassador-at-Large for 

15 International Religious Freedom for hosting the 

16 Ministerial to Advance International Religious Free17 dom from July 24 to July 26, 2018, and for all their 

18 efforts to engage like-minded allies globally to ad19 vance religious freedom and protect vulnerable reli20 gious minorities; 

21 (4) commends United States allies that are 

22 working to protect religious freedom globally and 


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1 those providing humanitarian aid and technical as2 sistance to vulnerable religious minorities; 

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

4 State, the Ambassador-at-Large for International 

5 Religious Freedom, and Members of Congress to le6 verage the growing network of foreign religious free7 dom focused institutions and parliamentary groups 

8 including such bodies as the International Contact 

9 Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Panel 

10 of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief at the 

11 OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and 

12 Human Rights, the European Parliament Intergroup 

13 on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tol14 erance, the International Panel of Parliamentarians 

15 for Freedom of Religion or Belief, and the Common16 wealth Initiative for Freedom of Religion or Belief, 

17 among others; 

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

19 State, in accordance with the International Religious 

20 Freedom Act of 1998, as amended by the Frank R. 

21 Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016 

22 (Public Law 114–281), to continue strengthening 

23 United States religious freedom diplomacy and the 

24 training of United States diplomats in religious free25 dom; 


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1 (7) reaffirms the commitment of Congress to 

2 work with the Administration to carry out the reli3 gious freedom priorities made in the 2018 National 

4 Security Strategy of the United States and develop 

5 a coordinated strategy to advance international reli6 gious freedom and protect vulnerable religious mi7 norities globally; 

8 (8) calls on the President, the Secretary of 

9 State, the Secretary of Defense, the Ambassador-at10 Large for International Religious Freedom, and 

11 other relevant agencies, and working closely with 

12 like-minded allies, to develop a comprehensive re13 sponse plan to protect and assist the victims of 

14 genocide, crimes against humanity, forced disloca15 tions, mass detentions, and violence from extremist 

16 actors or terrorists, including in, among other 

17 places, Iraq, Syria, China, Burma, North Korea, Ni18 geria, and Somalia; and 

19 (9) calls on the President, the Secretary of 

20 State, and the United States Trade Representative 

21 to ensure that trade negotiations include religious 

22 freedom conditions as mandated by the Bipartisan 

23 Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability 

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

Æ 


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