I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2037 

To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious 

Freedom, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2015 

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

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Commis5 sion on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization 

6 Act of 2015’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 201 of 

9 the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 

10 U.S.C. 6431) is amended by inserting before the period 


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1 at the end the following: ‘‘, which shall be an independent 

2 Federal Government advisory body’’. 

3 (b) SELECTION.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

4 201(b)(2) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 

5 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431(b)(2)) is amended by inserting at 

6 the end the following new sentence: ‘‘The Commission as 

7 a whole shall also have expertise on the variety of faiths 

8 practiced around the world.’’. 

9 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—Subsection (b)(3) of section 201 

10 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 

11 U.S.C. 6431) is amended by striking ‘‘The appointments 

12 required by paragraph (1) shall be made not later than 

13 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.’’ 

14 and inserting the following: ‘‘An appointment required by 

15 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) should be made within 

16 90 days of a vacancy on the Commission.’’. 

17 (d) VACANCIES.—Subsection (g) of section 201 of the 

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

19 6431) is amended by striking the second sentence. 

20 SEC. 3. TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS. 

21 Subsection (a) of section 708 of the Foreign Service 

22 Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4028) is amended— 

23 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘and the director’’ and in25 serting ‘‘the director’’; and 


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1 (B) inserting ‘‘and members of the United 

2 States Commission on International Religious 

3 Freedom,’’ after ‘‘Training Center,’’; and 

4 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘and the various’’ and in6 serting ‘‘the various’’; and 

7 (B) by inserting ‘‘, the relationship be8 tween religious freedom and security, and the 

9 role of religious freedom in United States for10 eign policy’’ after ‘‘violations of religious free11 dom’’. 

12 SEC. 4. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 204 of 

14 the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 

15 U.S.C. 6432b) is amended in the second sentence, by in16 serting ‘‘voting’’ after ‘‘nine’’. 

17 (b) COMPENSATION.—Subsection (b) of section 204 

18 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 

19 U.S.C. 6432b) is amended by inserting ‘‘voting members 

20 of the’’ after ‘‘The’’. 

21 (c) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—Subsection (e) of sec22 tion 204 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 

23 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following new sentence: ‘‘The Department of State is 

25 encouraged to allow Commissioners and Commission staff 


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1 with the appropriate security clearance access to classified 

2 information, in order to fulfill the duties and responsibil3 ities of their positions.’’. 

4 (d) APPLICATION OF ANTIDISCRIMINATION LAWS.— 

5 Subsection (g) of section 204 of the International Reli6 gious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is amended 

7 by inserting ‘‘, including discrimination on the basis of re8 ligion’’ after ‘‘employment discrimination’’. 

9 SEC. 5. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND DISCLOSURE. 

10 Paragraph (2) of section 208(d)(2) of the Inter11 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 

12 6435a(d)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing new subparagraph: 

14 ‘‘(H) Intern, fellowship, and volunteer pro15 grams that are primarily of educational benefit 

16 to the intern, fellow, or volunteer. Sponsoring 

17 private parties may provide compensation and 

18 benefits to interns, fellows, and volunteers, pro19 vided that no conflict of interest arises. The 

20 number, duration, and funding source of any 

21 such internship, fellowship, or volunteer pro22 grams shall be described in the annual financial 

23 report required by subsection (e).’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. EXTENSION AND TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

2 The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a) of section 207 (22 U.S.C. 

5 6435), by striking ‘‘2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2021’’; 

6 and 

7 (2) in section 209 (22 U.S.C. 6436), by striking 

8 ‘‘September 30, 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘September 

9 30, 2021’’. 

Æ 


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