IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 319 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to promoting religious 

freedom globally, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 11, 2017 

Mr. HULTGREN (for himself, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. JODY B. HICE of 

Georgia, Mr. FORTENBERRY, and Ms. ESHOO) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to 

promoting religious freedom globally, and for other purposes. 

Whereas religious freedom is a fundamental right enshrined 

in the American Constitution and critically tied to America’s founding and self-understanding; 

Whereas international religious freedom is a universally recognized human right and the protection and promotion 

globally of this right attracts broad, bipartisan support; 

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

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

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

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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 according to the bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, abuses committed by governments and non-state actors has increased and the incarceration of prisoners of conscience 

remains widespread; 

Whereas according to the latest Pew Research Center’s Study 

of Global Restrictions on Religion, which surveyed 2015, 

an estimated 79 percent of the world’s population lives in 

countries where freedom of religion and conscience is 

highly restricted, either by the government or by social 

groups; 

Whereas according to the same study by the Pew Research 

Center, Pakistan, Nigeria, India, Turkey, Indonesia, 

Egypt, Russia, China, Iran, Burma, and Vietnam had 

some of the highest levels of either government restrictions on religion or social hostilities experienced by religious groups; 

Whereas according to the same Pew Research Center Study, 

the two geographic regions with the highest government 

restrictions continue to be the Middle East-North Africa 

and the Asia-Pacific; 

Whereas the most recent data reflects that in 2015 Christians were harassed in 128 of 198 countries, more than 

any other faith group, Muslims were harassed in 125 

countries, and Jews were harassed in 74 countries; 

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Whereas according to a 2017 report by the Religious Freedom Institute and the Center on Faith & International 

Affairs, the scope of religious persecution globally affects 

many religious communities, it is Christian minorities 

that are currently most at risk, particularly in the Middle 

East, where ancient communities are in danger of elimination; 

Whereas Congress has recognized that Yezidis, Christian, 

Shi’a and other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq 

and Syria have faced genocide and other crimes against 

humanity perpetuated by ISIS, and that some of these 

minority faiths are on the verge of extinction in Iraq; 

Whereas Egyptian Coptic Christians have been repeatedly 

targeted and their aggressors have gone unprosecuted, including two suicide bombings that killed 44 people at 

Coptic churches on Palm Sunday 2017 and an attack in 

December 2016 killing 24 and injuring numerous other 

Coptic worshipers, many of whom were women and children; 

Whereas according to the bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Burmese Christians and Muslim communities have faced extraordinary 

persecution from both government and non-state actors, 

including incidents of intimidation and violence; the 

forced relocation and destruction of religious sites; violent 

attacks by mobs and the military; sexual violence and 

trafficking in persons; and an ongoing campaign of coerced conversion to Buddhism; 

Whereas according to the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, 

in Nigeria systemic discrimination and impunity has contributed to a 62-percent increase of Christians killings 

over the past 3 years, resulting in over 4,028 deaths and 

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200 church attacks, led in part by the Islamist terror 

group Boko Haram, Fulani militants, and others, resulting in mass dislocation and famine; 

Whereas the Eritrean Government continues to target Protestant Christians, including torturing religious prisoners, 

arbitrarily arresting and detaining Protestant Christians 

without charges, and banning public religious activities; 

Whereas apostasy and blasphemy laws are routinely used 

across the Middle East and North Africa to intimidate 

and punish minority faiths and those who would leave 

Islam; 

Whereas according to Human Rights Watch, in Pakistan 

Christians, Hindu, and Ahmadis are often targeted because of their religious identities by violent religious extremists; forced conversion and marriage of Christian and 

Hindu girls and young women into Islam remains a systemic problem; where blasphemy laws are often used as 

an excuse to settle personal scores or stir up religious animosity against marginalized religious minorities, resulting in a climate of fear and a chilling effect on religious 

expression; and whereas, according to the United States 

Commission for International Religious Freedom, there 

are more people serving on death row or serving life sentences for blasphemy in Pakistan than in any other country in the world; 

Whereas the Iranian government has increasingly raided 

Christian and Baha’i religious gatherings, arrested and 

imprisoned worshipers and religious leaders, imprisoned 

Baha’i educators, confiscated Christian and Baha’i properties, significantly increased the number of physical assaults and beatings of Christians in prison, restricted access to education for the Christian and Baha’i faith commstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

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munities, and forced human rights defenders who defend 

Christians and Baha’is in court to flee the country or 

face imprisonment; 

Whereas according to the Department of State, the Sudanese 

Government has systematically targeted the Christian 

community, prosecuting Christian pastors on trumped-up 

charges, confiscating Christian-owned properties, banning 

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

country, targeting human rights defenders for legally representing the Christian community, and, according to 

Open Doors, conducting bombing campaigns of churches 

and hospitals in the Nuba mountains; 

Whereas the North Korean Government continues to be the 

most repressive regime, reserving its most severe persecution for Christians with estimates that tens of thousands 

of Christians are currently in prison camps facing hard 

labor or execution; 

Whereas limits on religious expression and religious practice 

are widespread, including the use of technologies and the 

Internet to target and silence religious minorities, restrict 

the freedom of assembly, and limit access to digital religious materials; 

Whereas promoting Internet freedom is a cost-effective means 

of advancing fundamental freedoms in closed and authoritarian countries, including the freedom of religion; 

Whereas despite increased attention to religion in United 

States foreign policy in recent years, global levels of religious persecution, violent religious extremism, and religion-related conflict remain dangerously high; 

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

United States national interests—posing direct challenges 

to United States interests in the Middle East, Russia, 

China, and sub-Saharan Africa; 

Whereas a growing body of academic research, including the 

work of the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation, 

demonstrates that the absence of religious freedom contributes to persecution of minorities, religious extremism, 

terrorism, and instability; 

Whereas this research also shows that where religious freedom is protected and advanced as a universally recognized human right there is greater peace, political and social stability, economic development, democratization, 

women’s empowerment, and less violent religious extremism; and 

Whereas Congress recently recognized, with broad bipartisan 

support, in 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: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

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1 (1) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

2 States to promoting religious freedom globally and 

3 calls on the President and the Secretary of State, in 

4 accordance with the International Religious Freedom 

5 Act of 1998, as amended by the Frank R. Wolf 

6 International Religious Freedom Act of 2016 (Public 

7 Law 114–281), to strengthen United States religious 

8 freedom diplomacy on behalf of individuals facing re9 strictions, imprisonment, and violence in foreign 

10 countries on account of their religious belief or prac11 tice; 

12 (2) calls on the President to appoint a new Am13 bassador-at-Large for International Religious Free14 dom at the Department of State and to name a Spe15 cial Advisor for International Religious Freedom at 

16 the National Security Council, as urged by section 

17 201 of the Frank Wolf International Religious Free18 dom Act (Public Law 114–281); 

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

20 State, and the Ambassador-at-Large for Inter21 national Religious Freedom to develop a national se22 curity strategy on international religious freedom 

23 and to integrate that strategy into United States 

24 diplomatic, development, and national security strat25 egies, including by incorporating international relimstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

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1 gious freedom policy into the strategic plans of all 

2 executive agencies with foreign policy responsibil3 ities, including the Department of Defense Quadren4 nial Defense Review; 

5 (4) urges the President to incorporate the na6 tional security strategy on international religious 

7 freedom into the National Security Strategy of the 

8 United States; 

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

10 and the Ambassador-at-Large for International Reli11 gious Freedom to provide strong support for inter12 national religious freedom in existing United Na13 tions institutions that have a specialized expertise on 

14 the issue and leverage the growing network of for15 eign international religious freedom focused institu16 tions including such bodies as the International Con17 tact Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the 

18 Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief 

19 at the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and 

20 Human Rights, the European Parliament Intergroup 

21 on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tol22 erance, the International Panel of Parliamentarians 

23 for Freedom of Religion or Belief, and the Common24 wealth Initiative for Freedom of Religion or Belief; 

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1 (6) calls on the President, in collaboration with 

2 the Secretary of State, the Ambassador-at-Large for 

3 International Religious Freedom, and the Adminis4 trator of the United States Agency for International 

5 Development, in accordance with section 106 of the 

6 International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 

7 U.S.C. 6415), to develop a strategic plan for United 

8 States diplomatic missions to promote and protect 

9 international religious freedom and to direct grants 

10 to civil society, nongovernmental organizations, and 

11 both majority and minority religious groups that are 

12 engaged in innovative programs to build and 

13 strengthen pluralistic societies, protect the univer14 sally guaranteed right to the freedom of religion, re15 duce conflict, and counter violent religious extre16 mism and terrorism; 

17 (7) urges the Secretary of State to implement 

18 the requirements of section 103 of the Frank Wolf 

19 International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 

20 114–281) and develop a training curriculum for all 

21 American diplomats in international religious free22 dom policy; 

23 (8) calls on the President, in collaboration with 

24 the Secretary of State, the Ambassador-at-Large for 

25 International Religious Freedom, the Chief Execumstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

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1 tive Officer of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, 

2 and the Administrator of the United States Agency 

3 for International Development, to develop a com4 prehensive and multiyear strategy that partners with 

5 civil society, businesses, key technology industries, 

6 religious leaders, and human rights defenders to 

7 achieve rapid levels of closed society access to the 

8 Internet in promotion of democracy and human 

9 rights, including religious freedom; 

10 (9) urges that not less than 5 percent of funds 

11 appropriated for the Broadcasting Board of Gov12 ernors is used to support Internet firewall and cen13 sorship circumvention activities; 

14 (10) urges the President, the Secretary of 

15 State, the Secretary of Defense, and other relevant 

16 agencies to develop a comprehensive response to pro17 tect the victims of genocide, crimes against human18 ity, and war crimes and to provide humanitarian, 

19 stabilization, and recovery assistance to all individ20 uals from religious and ethnic groups so effected in 

21 Iraq and Syria; and 

22 (11) urges the Secretary of State to reestablish 

23 the Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group 

24 within the Department of State’s Federal Advisory 

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1 tion, bringing together experts from government, 

2 universities, religious and other nongovernment or3 ganizations to develop an effective multiyear plan to 

4 address religious persecution globally and protect 

5 and promote international religious freedom. 

Æ 

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