I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5846 

To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to improve 

the ability of the United States to protect religious freedom globally 

through enhanced diplomacy, training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance efforts, and through stronger and more timely and flexible political responses to religious freedom violations worldwide, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2014 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees 

on Financial Services and Oversight and Government Reform, 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 

A BILL 

To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 

to improve the ability of the United States to protect 

religious freedom globally through enhanced diplomacy, 

training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance efforts, 

and through stronger and more timely and flexible political responses to religious freedom violations worldwide, 

and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Frank R. Wolf Inter3 national Religious Freedom Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; POLICY. 

5 Section 2 of the International Religious Freedom Act 

6 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (4), in the fourth sen9 tence, by inserting ‘‘prohibitions on ritual ani10 mal slaughter, male infant circumcision, censor11 ship of religious content, or worship on the 

12 Internet,’’ after ‘‘confiscations of property,’’; 

13 (B) in paragraph (5), by amending the sec14 ond sentence to read as follows: ‘‘In many coun15 tries, religious believers are forced to meet se16 cretly, and religious leaders and believers are 

17 targeted by national security forces, violent 

18 nonstate actors, and hostile mobs.’’; 

19 (C) by redesignating paragraph (7) as 

20 paragraph (9); and 

21 (D) by inserting after paragraph (6) the 

22 following new paragraphs: 

23 ‘‘(7) There is growing evidence that dem24 onstrates a connection between the absence of reli25 gious freedom and increased levels of persecution of 

26 religious minorities, religiously motivated conflict, 


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1 violent extremism, and terrorism, including the kind 

2 of terrorism that has reached the United States. 

3 ‘‘(8) It is increasingly clear that understanding 

4 religion and the political and security implications of 

5 religious motivation and conviction is critical to the 

6 success of United States diplomacy and foreign pol7 icy initiatives as there are studies that show— 

8 ‘‘(A) 75 percent of the world’s population 

9 lives in countries where the right to the freedom 

10 of religion and belief is severely restricted, ei11 ther by the government or violent nonstate ac12 tors; and 

13 ‘‘(B) 84 percent of the world’s population 

14 identifies strongly with a specific religious 

15 group.’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

17 following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(6) Because the promotion of international re19 ligious freedom is a foreign policy strategy that pro20 tects other, related human rights, advances democ21 racy abroad, and is linked directly to United States 

22 interests in stability, security, and development glob23 ally, the promotion of international religious freedom 

24 requires new and evolving policies, religion engage25 ment strategies, and diplomatic responses that are 


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1 drawn from the expertise of the national security 

2 agencies, the diplomatic services, Congress, and 

3 other governmental agencies and nongovernmental 

4 organizations, and are coordinated across and car5 ried out by the entire range of Federal agencies that 

6 are engaged with or conduct negotiations or United 

7 States Government funded programs with govern8 ments or violent nonstate actors that engage in or 

9 tolerate violations of religious freedom.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 Section 3 of the International Religious Freedom Act 

12 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6402) is amended— 

13 (1) by amending paragraph (12) to read as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(12) SENIOR DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Senior 

16 Director’ means the Senior Director for Global Reli17 gion Engagement and International Religious Free18 dom Promotion described in section 101 of the Na19 tional Security Act of 1947.’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end, the following new 

21 paragraphs: 

22 ‘‘(14) SPECIAL WATCH LIST.—The term ‘Spe23 cial Watch List’ means the Special Watch List de24 scribed in section 102(b)(1)(F)(iii). 


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1 ‘‘(15) VIOLENT NONSTATE ACTOR.—The term 

2 ‘violent nonstate actor’ means a nonsovereign entity 

3 or group that exercises significant political power or 

4 influence at a national or international level and 

5 which, through violence or the threat of violence, de6 stabilizes existing government structures or gains 

7 defacto or actual control over large territories within 

8 existing countries and which engages in or tolerates 

9 violations of religious freedom. 

10 ‘‘(16) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

11 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

12 meaning given that term in section 101 of the High13 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)’’. 

14 SEC. 4. OFFICE ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM; 

15 AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR INTER16 NATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. 

17 Section 101 of the International Religious Freedom 

18 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6411) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

20 following new sentence: ‘‘The Office shall be located 

21 in the Office of the Secretary of State.’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

23 before the period the following: ‘‘, and shall report 

24 directly to the Secretary of State.’’; 

25 (3) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘responsibility’’ and in3 serting ‘‘responsibilities’’; 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘shall be to advance’’ 

5 and inserting the following: ‘‘shall be to— 

6 ‘‘(A) advance’’; 

7 (iii) in subparagraph (A), as so added, 

8 by striking the period at the end and in9 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (iv) by adding at the end the following 

11 new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(B) integrate United States international 

13 religious freedom policies and religious engage14 ment strategies into democracy, civil society, 

15 conflict prevention and mitigation, and develop16 ment efforts funded by the United States and 

17 into the counterterrorism policies of Federal 

18 agencies, including the Department of Defense, 

19 the Department of Homeland Security, the De20 partment of State, and the Department of the 

21 Treasury.’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘a prin23 cipal adviser’’ and inserting ‘‘the principal ad24 viser’’; 

25 (C) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

4 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

5 and’’; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(C) contacts with nongovernmental orga9 nizations that have an impact on the state of 

10 religious freedom in their respective societies or 

11 regions, or internationally.’’; 

12 (D) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

13 paragraph (5); and 

14 (E) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

15 following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION RESPONSIBILITIES.—In 

17 order to promote religious freedom as an interest of 

18 United States foreign policy, the Ambassador at 

19 Large shall seek to coordinate religious freedom poli20 cies and religious engagement strategies across all 

21 programs, projects, and activities of the United 

22 States, including the programs, projects, and activi23 ties of the Department of Defense, the Department 

24 of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the 


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1 Department of the Treasury, and the United States 

2 Agency for International Development.’’; and 

3 (4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘staff for the 

4 Office’’ and all that follows through the period at 

5 the end and inserting ‘‘individuals to fill at least 15 

6 full-time equivalent staff positions, under the direct 

7 supervision of the Ambassador at Large, including a 

8 senior advisor, for the Office, for the conduct of in9 vestigations by the Office, and for necessary travel 

10 to carry out the provisions of this section. The Sec11 retary of State shall also provide to the Ambassador 

12 at Large representation funds equal to the amount 

13 of representation funds provided to other Ambas14 sadors at Large in the Department of State.’’. 

15 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS 

16 FREEDOM. 

17 Paragraph (1) of section 102(b) of the International 

18 Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)) is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

21 (A) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

22 end; 

23 (B) in clause (iv), by striking the period at 

24 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

2 clause: 

3 ‘‘(v) any action taken by a govern4 ment or other entity to censor religious 

5 content, communications, or worship activi6 ties online, including descriptions of the 

7 targeted religious group, the content, com8 munication, or activities censored, the 

9 means used, and government or other enti10 ty engaged in such online censorship activi11 ties.’’; 

12 (2) in subparagraph (B), in the matter pre13 ceding clause (i)— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘persecution of lawyers, 

15 politicians, or other human rights advocates 

16 seeking to defend targeted religious groups or 

17 highlight religious freedom violations, prohibi18 tions on ritual animal slaughter or male infant 

19 circumcision,’’ after ‘‘entire religions,’’; and 

20 (B) by inserting ‘‘policies that ban or re21 strict the public manifestation of religious belief 

22 and the peaceful involvement of religious groups 

23 or their members in the political life of each 

24 such foreign country,’’ after ‘‘such groups,’’; 

25 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘A description’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘A comprehensive description’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘policies in support’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘religious engagement policies in sup5 port’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end before the period 

7 the following: ‘‘, and a unique, comprehensive, 

8 and country-specific analysis of the impact of 

9 actions by the United States on the status of 

10 religious freedom in each such country.’’; and 

11 (4) in subparagraph (F), by adding at the end 

12 the following new clause: 

13 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL WATCH LIST.—A list, 

14 to be known as the ‘Special Watch List’, 

15 which shall identify any country or violent 

16 nonstate actor that has engaged in or tol17 erated systematic, egregious, or ongoing 

18 violations of religious freedom during the 

19 previous reporting year but which the Sec20 retary determines does not meet, at the 

21 time of the publication of the Annual Re22 port, the criteria for designation as a coun23 try of particular concern for religious free24 dom under section 402(b)(1).’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS; RE2 PORT. 

3 (a) AMENDMENT TO FOREIGN SERVICE ACT OF

4 1980.—Section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 

5 (22 U.S.C. 4028) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

7 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; 

8 (2) in subsection (d), as redesignated, by strik9 ing ‘‘The Secretary of State’’ and inserting ‘‘REFU10 GEES.—The Secretary of State’’; 

11 (3) in subsection (e), as redesignated, by strik12 ing ‘‘The Secretary of State’’ and inserting ‘‘CHILD

13 SOLDIERS.—The Secretary of State’’; 

14 (4) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT OF CURRICULUM.—The Sec17 retary of State, with the assistance of other relevant offi18 cials, including the Ambassador at Large for International 

19 Religious Freedom appointed under section 101(b) of the 

20 International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the Director 

21 of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training 

22 Center, and other Federal officials as appropriate, and in 

23 consultation with the United States Commission on Inter24 national Religious Freedom established in section 201(a) 

25 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, shall 

26 develop a curriculum for training United States Foreign 


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1 Service officers in the meaning and strategic value of reli2 gious freedom, how violations of religious freedom harm 

3 fundamental United States interests, how the advance4 ment of religious freedom can advance such interests, how 

5 United States international religious freedom policy 

6 should be carried out in practice by United states dip7 lomats and other Foreign Service officers, and the rel8 evance and relationship of religious freedom to United 

9 States defense, diplomacy, development, and public affairs 

10 efforts. 

11 ‘‘(b) TRAINING PROGRAM.—Not later than the date 

12 that is one year after the date of the enactment of the 

13 Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 

14 2014, the Director of the George P. Shultz National For15 eign Affairs Training Center shall begin mandatory train16 ing on religious freedom for all Foreign Service officers, 

17 including all entry level officers and all outgoing deputy 

18 chiefs of mission and ambassadors. Such training shall, 

19 at minimum, be a separate, independent, and required 

20 segment of each of the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) The A–100 course attended by all Foreign 

22 Service officers. 

23 ‘‘(2) The courses required of every Foreign 

24 Service officer prior to a posting outside the United 

25 States, with segments tailored to the particular reliVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Dec 19, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5846.IH H5846

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1 gious demography, religious freedom conditions, and 

2 United States strategies for advancing religious free3 dom, in each receiving country. 

4 ‘‘(3) The courses required of all outgoing dep5 uty chiefs of mission and ambassadors. 

6 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION SHARING.—The curriculum and 

7 training materials developed pursuant to subsections (a) 

8 and (b) shall be shared with the United States Armed 

9 Forces and intelligence community to provide training and 

10 particularized instruction on United States religious free11 dom policies, religious traditions, and religious and cul12 tural issues for the countries the Armed Forces and intel13 ligence community are responsible.’’. 

14 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, with 

16 the assistance of the Ambassador at Large for Inter17 national Religious Freedom, and the Director of the 

18 George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Cen19 ter, shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

20 the House of Representatives and the Committee on For21 eign Relations of the Senate a report containing a com22 prehensive plan for undertaking training for Foreign Serv23 ice officers as required under section 708 of the Foreign 

24 Services Act of 1980, as amended by subsection (a) of this 

25 section. 


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1 SEC. 7. PRISONER LISTS AND ISSUE BRIEFS ON RELIGIOUS 

2 FREEDOM CONCERNS. 

3 Section 108 of the International Religious Freedom 

4 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6417) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘SENSE OF

7 THE CONGRESS’’ and inserting ‘‘INCREASED

8 DIPLOMATIC ADVOCACY’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘it is the sense of the Con10 gress that officials of the executive branch of 

11 Government should promote’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘appropriate officials of the executive branch, 

13 including the Secretary of State, the Ambas14 sador at Large for Religious Freedom, and 

15 State Department officials from regional bu16 reaus, shall promote’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘, as appro18 priate, provide’’ and insert ‘‘make available’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub20 section: 

21 ‘‘(d) VICTIMS LIST MAINTAINED BY THE COMMIS22 SION.—The Commission shall compile, maintain, and 

23 make publicly available online and in official publications, 

24 regularly updated lists of persons it determines are impris25 oned, detained, disappeared, placed under house arrest, 

26 tortured, or subject to forced renunciations of faith by a 


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1 foreign government that the Commission recommends for 

2 designation as a country of particular concern for religions 

3 freedom under section 402(b) or a violent nonstate actor 

4 and include information on the conditions and cir5 cumstances of such individuals. In compiling such lists, 

6 the Commission shall exercise appropriate discretion, in7 cluding consideration of the safety and security of, and 

8 benefit to, the persons who may be included on the lists 

9 and their families.’’. 

10 SEC. 8. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL 

11 RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. 

12 Subsection (a) of section 202 of the International Re13 ligious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

16 striking ‘‘responsibility’’ and inserting ‘‘responsibil17 ities’’; 

18 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

19 end; 

20 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

21 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

22 (4) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraphs: 

24 ‘‘(3) by making annual recommendations on 

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1 priate, which commit particularly severe violations of 

2 religious freedom and issuing reports on any other 

3 countries and violent nonstate actors that the Com4 mission believes to have engaged in or tolerated vio5 lations of religious freedom; and 

6 ‘‘(4) recommending specific policy responses or 

7 actions that may be taken under section 405(a), in8 cluding any commensurate actions that may be 

9 taken.’’. 

10 SEC. 9. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL 

11 RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. 

12 Subsection (a) of section 205 of the International Re13 ligious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6433) is amended 

14 to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) not later than 180 days after the date of 

17 the submission of the report required of the Sec18 retary of State under section 102(b), submit an an19 nual report to the President, the Secretary of State, 

20 and the appropriate congressional committees set21 ting forth its recommendation for United States pol22 icy options based on evaluations of country condi23 tions under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 

24 202(a); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) submit recommendations required under 

2 paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 202(a) sufficiently 

3 prior to the annual designation of each country of 

4 particular concern for religious freedom under sec5 tion 402(b) to allow for presidential consideration of 

6 such recommendations.’’. 

7 SEC. 10. SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR GLOBAL RELIGION EN8 GAGEMENT AND INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS 

9 FREEDOM PROMOTION; INTERAGENCY POL10 ICY COMMITTEES. 

11 (a) AMENDMENTS TO NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF

12 1947.—Section 101 of the National Security Act of 1947 

13 (50 U.S.C. 3021) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (k)— 

15 (A) in the first sentence, 

16 (i) by striking ‘‘It is the sense of that 

17 there should be’’ and inserting ‘‘The Presi18 dent shall appoint’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘Special Adviser to the 

20 President on International Religious Free21 dom’’ and inserting ‘‘Senior Director for 

22 Global Religion Engagement and Inter23 national Religious Freedom Promotion’’; 

24 and 


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1 (B) by striking the second and third sen2 tences and inserting the following: ‘‘The Senior 

3 Director, shall develop and coordinate religious 

4 freedom policies and religion engagement strat5 egies throughout the Executive Branch, serve 

6 as a resource for executive branch officials, 

7 compile and maintain information on the facts 

8 and circumstances of violations of religious free9 dom, assist in coordinating all programs, 

10 projects, and activities of the United States to 

11 promote religious freedom and religious engage12 ment outside the United States, and make pol13 icy recommendations relevant to the programs, 

14 projects, activities of the Department of De15 fense, the Department of Homeland Security, 

16 the Department of State, the Department of 

17 the Treasury, and the United States Agency for 

18 International Development, and carry out all 

19 other applicable duties, responsibilities, and co20 ordination activities enumerated in the Inter21 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The 

22 Senior Director shall serve as liaison with the 

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1 scribed in the International Religious Freedom 

2 Act of 1998, Congress, religious and nongovern3 mental organizations, and, as appropriate, Cab4 inet-level agencies.’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end, the following new sub6 sections: 

7 ‘‘(m) INTERAGENCY POLICY COMMITTEE ON RELI8 GIOUS FREEDOM AND ENGAGEMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

10 within the National Security Council a permanent 

11 interagency policy committee to be known as the 

12 ‘Interagency Policy Committee on Religious Free13 dom and Engagement’ (in this subsection referred to 

14 as the ‘Committee’). 

15 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be 

16 co-chaired by the Senior Director for Global Religion 

17 Engagement and International Religious Freedom 

18 Promotion and the Ambassador at Large for Reli19 gious Freedom described in section 101 of the Inter20 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998. 

21 ‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS.—The Committee shall de22 velop a religion engagement strategy globally and co23 ordinate international religious freedom policy across 

24 the Executive Branch. 


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1 ‘‘(n) INTERAGENCY POLICY COMMITTEE ON RELI2 GION, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND NATIONAL SECURITY.— 

3 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

4 within the National Security Council a permanent 

5 interagency policy committee to be known as the 

6 ‘Interagency Policy Committee on Religion, Human 

7 Rights, and National Security’ (in this subsection re8 ferred to as the ‘Committee’). 

9 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be 

10 chaired by the Deputy National Security Advisor, 

11 the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, 

12 Human Rights, and Labor, and the Ambassador at 

13 Large for Religious Freedom described in section 

14 101 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 

15 1998. 

16 ‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS.—The Committee shall coordi17 nate policy on the intersection of religion, human 

18 rights, and United States interests in preventing ter19 rorism, countering violent extremism, and mitigating 

20 and preventing conflict.’’. 

21 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall pro23 mulgate regulations to carry out subsections (k), (m), and 

24 (n) of section 101 of the National Security Act of 1947 

25 as amended by subsection (a) of this section. 


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1 SEC. 11. PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO VIOLA2 TIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. 

3 Section 401(b) of the International Religious Free4 dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6441(b)) is amended, 

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Special Ad6 viser’’ and inserting ‘‘Senior Director’’; and 

7 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol8 lows: 

9 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR ACTIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

11 subparagraph (B), not later than 90 days after 

12 the date on which each of the Annual Reports 

13 is submitted under section 102(b), the Presi14 dent shall take 1 or more of the actions re15 ferred to in section 405(a) or a commensurate 

16 action with respect to each foreign country and 

17 violent nonstate actor that has engaged in or 

18 tolerated violations of religious freedom at any 

19 time since the previous such report was sub20 mitted. 

21 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITE.—The 

22 President may not take any of the actions de23 scribed in paragraphs (9) through (15) of sec24 tion 405(a) or a commensurate action with re25 spect to a foreign country or violent nonstate 

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1 quirements under sections 403 and 404 have 

2 been satisfied with respect so such country or 

3 actor.’’. 

4 SEC. 12. PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO PAR5 TICULARLY SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF RELI6 GIOUS FREEDOM. 

7 Section 402 of the International Religious Freedom 

8 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) by amending subparagraph (A) to 

12 read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

14 days after the date on which each Annual Re15 port is submitted under section 102(b), the 

16 President shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) review the status of religious free18 dom in each foreign country to determine 

19 whether the government of that country 

20 has engaged in or tolerated particularly se21 vere violations of religious freedom in each 

22 such country during the preceding 12 

23 months or longer; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) designate each country the gov25 ernment of which has engaged in or tolerVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Dec 19, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5846.IH H5846

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1 ated violations described in clause (i) as a 

2 country of particular concern for religious 

3 freedom under section 402(b).’’; and 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

5 ‘‘prior to September 1 of the respective 

6 year’’ and inserting ‘‘before the date on 

7 which each Annual Report is submitted 

8 under section 102(b)’’; 

9 (B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(3) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Presi13 dent designates a country as a country of par14 ticular concern for religious freedom under 

15 paragraph (1)(A), the President shall, not later 

16 than 120 days after the designation is made, 

17 transmit to the appropriate congressional com18 mittees— 

19 ‘‘(i) the designation of the country, 

20 signed by the President; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the identification, if any, of re22 sponsible parties determined under para23 graph (2); and 

24 ‘‘(iii) a description of the actions 

25 taken under subsection (c), the purposes of 


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1 the actions taken, and the effectiveness of 

2 the actions taken. 

3 ‘‘(B) REMOVAL OF DESIGNATION.—A 

4 country that is designated as a country of par5 ticular concern for religious freedom under 

6 paragraph (1)(A) shall retain such designation 

7 until the President determines and reports to 

8 the appropriate congressional committees that 

9 the country should no longer be so designated. 

10 ‘‘(C) EXPLANATION FOR NONDESIGNA11 TION.—If the President does not designate a 

12 country as a country of particular concern for 

13 religious freedom under paragraph (1)(A) after 

14 the Commission has recommended such des15 ignation, the President shall provide an expla16 nation for the nondesignation to the appro17 priate congressional committees.’’; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end, the following 

19 new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(4) TREATMENT OF COUNTRIES ON SPECIAL

21 WATCH LIST.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall 

23 designate as a country of particular concern for 

24 religious freedom under paragraph (1)(A) any 


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1 country that appears on the Special Watch 

2 List— 

3 ‘‘(i) in more than 2 consecutive An4 nual Reports; 

5 ‘‘(ii) in any 4 Annual Reports; 

6 ‘‘(iii) in more than 1 Annual Report 

7 after the expiration of a waiver issued 

8 under subparagraph (B); and 

9 ‘‘(iv) in more than 1 Annual Report if 

10 the President has previously designated 

11 such country as a country of particular 

12 concern for religious freedom under para13 graph (1)(A). 

14 ‘‘(B) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

15 The President may waive the application of 

16 clauses (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A) with re17 spect to a country for up to 2 years if the 

18 President certifies to the appropriate commit19 tees of Congress that— 

20 ‘‘(i) the country has entered into an 

21 agreement with the United States to carry 

22 out specific and credible actions to improve 

23 religious freedom conditions and end reli24 gious freedom violations; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the country has entered into an 

2 agreement with the United Nations, the 

3 European Union, or other ally of the 

4 United States, to carry out specific and 

5 credible actions to improve religious free6 dom conditions and end religious freedom 

7 violations; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) waiver is in the national security 

9 interests of the United States. 

10 ‘‘(C) EFFECT ON DESIGNATION AS COUN11 TRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.—The presence 

12 or absence of a country from the Special Watch 

13 List in any given year shall not preclude the 

14 designation of such country as a country of par15 ticular concern for religious freedom under 

16 paragraph (1)(A) in any such year.’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (c)(5), in the second sentence, 

18 by inserting ‘‘and include a description of the impact 

19 of the designation of such sanction or sanctions that 

20 exist in each country’’ after ‘‘determines satisfy the 

21 requirements of this subsection’’. 

22 SEC. 13. CONSULTATIONS. 

23 Subsection (a) of section 403 of the International Re24 ligious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6443) is amended 


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1 by striking ‘‘As soon as practicable’’ and inserting ‘‘Not 

2 later than 90 days’’. 

3 SEC. 14. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

4 Subsection (a) of section 404 of the International Re5 ligious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6444) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘decides to take action under 

8 section 401’’ and inserting ‘‘takes action under sec9 tion 401’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘decides to take action under 

11 paragraphs’’ and inserting ‘‘takes the required ac12 tion under paragraphs’’; and 

13 (3) in paragraph (4)(A)— 

14 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

15 striking ‘‘Special Adviser’’ and inserting ‘‘Sen16 ior Director’’; 

17 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

18 end; 

19 (C) in clause (iii), by striking the period at 

20 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

22 clause: 

23 ‘‘(iv) the impact on other policy tools, 

24 and a description of policy tools being ap25 plied in the country, including programs 


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1 that target democratic stability, economic 

2 growth, and counterterrorism.’’. 

3 SEC. 15. PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER. 

4 Section 407 of the International Religious Freedom 

5 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6447) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘, for a 180- 

7 day period beginning on the date of the initial des8 ignation,’’ after ‘‘may waive’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that ongoing and persistent waivers for any country 

13 designated as a country of particular concern for religious 

14 freedom under section 402(b) for engaging in particularly 

15 severe violations of religious freedom do not fulfill the pur16 poses of this Act, and, given that promotion of religious 

17 freedom is a compelling United States foreign policy pri18 ority, the President, the Secretary of State, and other ex19 ecutive branch officials, in consultation with Congress, 

20 should seek to find ways to address existing violations, on 

21 a country-by-country basis, through the actions specified 

22 in section 405 or other commensurate actions, possibly in23 cluding through the actions described in section 605, or 

24 by some other action that addresses the specific religious 

25 freedom violations of each country designated.’’. 


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1 SEC. 16. TERMINATION OF PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS. 

2 Section 409 of the International Religious Freedom 

3 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6449) is amended to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 409. TERMINATION OF PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS. 

6 ‘‘Any Presidential action taken under this Act with 

7 respect to a foreign country shall terminate after a deter8 mination by the President, in consultation with the Com9 mission, and written certification to Congress that the for10 eign government has ceased or taken substantial and 

11 verifiable steps to cease the particularly severe violations 

12 of religious freedom’’. 

13 SEC. 17. COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN DESIGNA14 TION FOR VIOLENT NONSTATE ACTORS. 

15 Title IV of the International Religious Freedom Act 

16 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6441 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

17 after section 405 the following new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 405A. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING COUNTRY OF 

19 PARTICULAR CONCERN DESIGNATION FOR 

20 VIOLENT NONSTATE ACTORS. 

21 ‘‘It is the sense of Congress that the country of par22 ticular concern for religious freedom designation described 

23 in section 402(b) and the Presidential actions described 

24 in 405 should be applicable to violent nonstate actors. The 

25 President should include, in the report to Congress re26 quired by section 404, any reasons why such violent 


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1 nonstate actors were not so designated (if the Council rec2 ommended doing so) and whether any presidential actions 

3 described in section 405 were taken against such violent 

4 nonstate actors’’. 

5 SEC. 18. ASSISTANCE FOR PROMOTING RELIGIOUS FREE6 DOM. 

7 Section 501 of the International Religious Freedom 

8 Act of 1998 is amended by adding at the end the following 

9 new subsections: 

10 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Of the amounts 

11 made available for fiscal years 2016 through 2021 for the 

12 Human Rights and Democracy Fund established under 

13 section 664 of the Freedom Investment Act of 2002 (sub14 title E of title VI of Public Law 107–228), the Secretary 

15 of State shall provide to the Office— 

16 ‘‘(1) not less than 5 percent of such amounts 

17 for each such fiscal year for the promotion of inter18 national religious freedom through groups that are 

19 able to develop legal protections or promote cultural 

20 and societal understanding of international norms of 

21 religious freedom and groups that seek to address 

22 and mitigate religiously motivated and sectarian vio23 lence; and 


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1 ‘‘not less than 1 percent of such amounts for 

2 each such fiscal year for the Religious Freedom De3 fense Fund established under subsection (d). 

4 ‘‘(d) RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DEFENSE FUND.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

6 the Department of State a fund to be known as the 

7 ‘Religious Freedom Defense Fund’ (referred to in 

8 this subsection as the ‘Fund’) which shall be admin9 istered by the Ambassador at Large. 

10 ‘‘(2) AMOUNTS.—The Fund shall consist of 

11 amounts made available under subsection (c)(2). 

12 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUND.—The Ambassador at 

13 Large shall use amounts in the Fund to issue grants 

14 for the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) Victims of religious freedom abuses 

16 and their families to cover legal and other ex17 penses that may arise from detention, imprison18 ment, torture, fines, and other restrictions. 

19 ‘‘(B) Projects to help create and support a 

20 new generation of defenders of religious free21 dom, including legal and political advocates, 

22 and civil society projects which seek to create 

23 advocacy networks, train and educate new reli24 gious freedom defenders, and build the capacity 

25 of religious communities and rights defenders to 


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1 protect against religious freedom violations, sec2 tarian violence, or legal or other restrictions of 

3 the right to the freedom of religion and belief. 

4 ‘‘(4) PREFERENCE.—In issuing grants under 

5 paragraph (3), the Ambassador at Large shall, as 

6 appropriate, give preference to projects targeting re7 ligious freedom violations in countries designated as 

8 countries of particular concern for religious freedom 

9 under section 402(b) and those included on the Spe10 cial Watch List. 

11 ‘‘(e) CONSULTATION.—The Ambassador at Large 

12 should consult, in developing priorities and policies for dis13 bursing the funds referred to in subsection (c), including 

14 grant policies and the identification of potential grantees, 

15 with other Federal agencies, including the Commission, 

16 and the International Republican Institute, the National 

17 Democratic Institute, the National Endowment for De18 mocracy and, as appropriate, other nongovernmental orga19 nizations.’’. 

20 SEC. 19. ACTIONS AGAINST PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR 

21 COMMITTING PARTICULARLY SEVERE VIOLA22 TIONS OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREE23 DOM. 

24 Title VI of the International Religious Freedom Act 

25 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6471 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 605 as section 606; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 604 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 605. ACTIONS AGAINST PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR 

6 COMMITTING PARTICULARLY SEVERE VIOLA7 TIONS OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREE8 DOM. 

9 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO SANCTION PERSONS RESPON10 SIBLE FOR COMMITTING OR ORDERING PARTICULARLY

11 SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS

12 FREEDOM.—Notwithstanding section 202 of the Inter13 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

14 1701), the President may exercise the authority specified 

15 in section 203 of such Act with respect to— 

16 ‘‘(1) any person that the President determines 

17 plays a role in committing, ordering, or materially 

18 supporting particularly severe violations of religious 

19 freedom; or 

20 ‘‘(2) any person that the President determines 

21 to be providing material or other assistance sup22 porting violent religious extremism. 

23 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IDENTIFICATION AND

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1 LARLY SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL RELI2 GIOUS FREEDOM.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon exercising the au4 thority described in subsection (a) with respect to a 

5 person, the President shall submit to the appropriate 

6 congressional committees a report— 

7 ‘‘(A) identifying the persons that the 

8 President determines to be subject to action 

9 under subsection (a) and the basis for such de10 termination; and 

11 ‘‘(B) describing the actions carried out 

12 against such persons pursuant to subsection 

13 (a). 

14 ‘‘(2) REPORT ON REMOVAL OF SANCTIONS.— 

15 Upon suspending or terminating any action imposed 

16 on a person under the authority of subsection (a), 

17 the President shall submit to the appropriate con18 gressional committees written notification of such 

19 suspension or termination. 

20 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMA21 TION.—Reports submitted under this subsection 

22 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 

23 contain a classified annex.’’. 


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1 SEC. 20. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

2 Title VII of the International Religious Freedom Act 

3 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6481 et seq.) is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following new sections: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 702. CODES OF CONDUCT FOR UNITED STATES INSTI6 TUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION OUTSIDE 

7 THE UNITED STATES. 

8 ‘‘(a) FINDING.—Congress recognizes the enduring 

9 importance of United States institutions of higher edu10 cation worldwide both for their potential for shaping posi11 tive leadership and new educational models in host coun12 tries and for their emphasis on teaching universally recog13 nized rights of free inquiry and academic freedom. 

14 ‘‘(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that United States institutions of higher education 

16 operating campuses outside the United States or estab17 lishing any educational entities with foreign governments, 

18 particularly with or in countries the governments of which 

19 engage in or tolerate severe violations of religious freedom 

20 as identified in the Annual Report and the annual report 

21 of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, 

22 should adopt a code of conduct— 

23 ‘‘(1) upholding the right of freedom of religion 

24 of their employees and students, including the right 

25 to manifest that religion peacefully as protected in 

26 international law; 


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1 ‘‘(2) ensuring that the religious views and 

2 peaceful practice of belief in no way affect, or be al3 lowed to affect, the status of a worker’s or faculty 

4 member’s employment or a student’s enrollment; and 

5 ‘‘(3) affirming that all negotiations, contracts, 

6 or memoranda of understanding engaged in or con7 structed with a foreign government to establish any 

8 educational entity, shall be open, transparent, and 

9 made available for public inspection before conclu10 sion and that any such agreement shall affirm, at all 

11 times, academic freedom and universal rights to the 

12 freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, and associa13 tion. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 703. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING NATIONAL SE15 CURITY STRATEGY TO PROMOTE RELIGIOUS 

16 FREEDOM THROUGH UNITED STATES FOR17 EIGN POLICY. 

18 ‘‘It is the sense of Congress that— 

19 ‘‘(1) the annual national security strategy re20 port of the President required by section 108 of the 

21 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3043) 

22 should promote international religious freedom as a 

23 foreign policy and national security priority and 

24 should articulate that promotion of the right to free25 dom of religion or belief is a strategy that protects 


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1 other, related human rights, and advances democ2 racy outside the United States, and make clear its 

3 importance to United States foreign policy goals of 

4 stability, security, development, and diplomacy; 

5 ‘‘(2) the national security strategy report 

6 should be a guide for the strategies and activities of 

7 relevant Federal agencies and inform the Depart8 ment of Defense quadrennial defense review under 

9 section 118 of title 10, United States Code, and the 

10 Department of State Quadrennial Diplomacy and 

11 Development Review; and 

12 ‘‘(3) in order to support the development of a 

13 national security strategy that emphasizes the chal14 lenges of integrating religious freedom into United 

15 States foreign policy at all levels, the President 

16 should consider— 

17 ‘‘(A) adopting a whole-of-government ap18 proach to promote international religious free19 dom by creating senior policy positions and 

20 committees at the National Security Council, 

21 chaired by the Senior Directors of the National 

22 Security Council and the Ambassador at Large, 

23 and implemented through specific policy direc24 tives that guide the actions of other Federal 

25 agencies; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) requesting a national intelligence esti2 mate on international religious freedom by the 

3 National Intelligence Council or any other intel4 ligence agency as appropriate, which that ana5 lyzes conditions and trends of international reli6 gious freedom and identifies potential national 

7 security risks related to the absence of religious 

8 freedom, including threats to stability from au9 thoritarian governments, terrorism, violent reli10 gious extremism, sectarian violence, and laws 

11 that restrict religious freedom. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 704. REPORT ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CONDITIONS 

13 IN NIGERIA, PAKISTAN, AND VIETNAM. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

15 date of the enactment of Frank R. Wolf International Re16 ligious Freedom Act of 2014, the Comptroller General of 

17 the United States shall submit to the appropriate congres18 sional committees a report on whether religious freedom 

19 conditions are such that the countries of Nigeria, Paki20 stan, and Vietnam meet the criteria for designation as 

21 countries of particular concern for religious freedom under 

22 section 402(b). 

23 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—The Comptroller General 

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1 mental and nongovernmental organizations for the pur2 poses of preparing the report required by subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(c) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re4 quired by subsection (a) shall include the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) A multiyear comparison of country reports 

6 on Nigeria, Pakistan, and Vietnam in the Annual 

7 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the 

8 Annual Reports described in section 102(b), and the 

9 annual reports of the Commission. 

10 ‘‘(2) A comparison of reports and publications 

11 on religious freedom conditions in Nigeria, Pakistan, 

12 and Vietnam issued by foreign governments, non13 governmental organizations, and academic entities, 

14 to the findings of the reports issued by the United 

15 States. 

16 ‘‘(3) Discussions with current and former 

17 United States officials, including Members of Con18 gress, Commissioners, and staff of the Commission, 

19 about religious freedom conditions in Nigeria, Paki20 stan, and Vietnam, the requirements of this Act, and 

21 United States national interests in such countries. 

22 ‘‘(4) Discussions with current and former 

23 United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Religion and 

24 Belief and their staffs, about religious freedom con25 ditions in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Vietnam. 


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1 ‘‘(5) Discussions with academic and other ex2 perts, including representatives of religions and eth3 nic minority groups, about religious freedom condi4 tions in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Vietnam, the effect 

5 of United States advocacy for religious freedom in 

6 such countries, and United States national interests 

7 in such countries.’’. 

8 SEC. 21. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 

9 The table of contents of the International Religious 

10 Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 note) is amended— 

11 (1) by inserting after the item relating to sec12 tion 405 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 405A. Sense of Congress regarding country of particular concern designation for violent nonstate actors.’’; 

13 (2) by striking the item relating to section 605 

14 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 606. Studies on the effect of expedited removal provisions on asylum 

claims.’’; 

15 (3) by inserting after the item relating to sec16 tion 604 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 605. Actions against persons responsible for committing particularly severe violations of international religious freedom.’’; 

17 and 

18 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘Sec. 702. Codes of conduct for United States institutions of higher education 

operating outside the United States. 

‘‘Sec. 703. Sense of Congress regarding national security strategy to promote 

religious freedom through United States foreign policy. 


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‘‘Sec. 704. Report on religious freedom conditions in Nigeria, Pakistan, and 

Vietnam.’’. 

Æ 


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