II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 653 

To provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to Promote Religious 

Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2013 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to 

Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in 

the Near East and South Central Asia. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Near East and South 

5 Central Asia Religious Freedom Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SPECIAL ENVOY TO PROMOTE RELIGIOUS FREE2 DOM OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN THE 

3 NEAR EAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA. 

4 (a) APPOINTMENT.—The President may appoint a 

5 Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious 

6 Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia (in 

7 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Special Envoy’’) within the 

8 Department of State. The Special Envoy shall have the 

9 rank of ambassador and shall hold the office at the pleas10 ure of the President. 

11 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Special Envoy should be 

12 a person of recognized distinction in the field of human 

13 rights and religious freedom and with expertise in the 

14 Near East and South Central Asia. 

15 SEC. 3. DUTIES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Special Envoy shall carry out 

17 the following duties: 

18 (1) Promote the right of religious freedom of 

19 religious minorities in the countries of the Near 

20 East and the countries of South Central Asia, de21 nounce the violation of such right, and recommend 

22 appropriate responses by the United States Govern23 ment when such right is violated. 

24 (2) Monitor and combat acts of religious intol25 erance and incitement targeted against religious miVerDate Mar 15 2010 18:02 Mar 29, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S653.IS S653

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1 norities in the countries of the Near East and the 

2 countries of South Central Asia. 

3 (3) Work to ensure that the unique needs of re4 ligious minority communities in the countries of the 

5 Near East and the countries of South Central Asia 

6 are addressed, including the economic and security 

7 needs of such communities. 

8 (4) Work with foreign governments of the coun9 tries of the Near East and the countries of South 

10 Central Asia to address laws that are discriminatory 

11 toward religious minority communities in such coun12 tries. 

13 (5) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of 

14 that portion of the report required by sections 

15 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act 

16 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)) relating 

17 to the nature and extent of religious freedom of reli18 gious minorities in the countries of the Near East 

19 and the countries of South Central Asia. 

20 (6) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of 

21 that portion of the report required by section 102(b) 

22 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 

23 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)) relating to the nature and ex24 tent of religious freedom of religious minorities in 


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1 the countries of the Near East and the countries of 

2 South Central Asia. 

3 (b) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the duties 

4 under subsection (a), the Special Envoy shall, to the max5 imum extent practicable, coordinate with the Assistant 

6 Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migra7 tion, the Ambassador at Large for International Religious 

8 Freedom, the United States Commission on International 

9 Religious Freedom, and other relevant Federal agencies 

10 and officials. 

11 SEC. 4. DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION. 

12 Subject to the direction of the President and the Sec13 retary of State, the Special Envoy is authorized to rep14 resent the United States in matters and cases relevant to 

15 religious freedom in the countries of the Near East and 

16 the countries of South Central Asia in— 

17 (1) contacts with foreign governments, intergov18 ernmental organizations, and specialized agencies of 

19 the United Nations, the Organization of Security 

20 and Cooperation in Europe, and other international 

21 organizations of which the United States is a mem22 ber; and 

23 (2) multilateral conferences and meetings rel24 evant to religious freedom in the countries of the 

25 Near East and the countries of South Central Asia. 


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1 SEC. 5. CONSULTATIONS. 

2 The Special Envoy shall consult with domestic and 

3 international nongovernmental organizations and multilat4 eral organizations and institutions, as the Special Envoy 

5 considers appropriate to fulfill the purposes of this Act. 

6 SEC. 6. FUNDING. 

7 Of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made 

8 available to the Secretary of State for ‘‘Diplomatic and 

9 Consular Programs’’ for fiscal years 2013 through 2017, 

10 the Secretary of State is authorized to provide to the Spe11 cial Envoy $1,000,000 for each such fiscal year for the 

12 hiring of staff, the conduct of investigations, and nec13 essary travel to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

Æ 


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