II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2711 

To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious 

Freedom, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2014 

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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 Reform and Re6 authorization Act of 2014’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION. 

8 (a) LEADERSHIP.—Subsection (d) of section 201 of 

9 the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 

10 U.S.C. 6431(d)) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(d) ELECTION OF CHAIR.—At the first meeting of 

2 the Commission after May 30 of each year, a majority of 

3 the Members of the Commission present and voting shall 

4 elect the Chair and Vice Chair of the Commission, subject 

5 to the following requirements: 

6 ‘‘(1) INITIAL ELECTIONS.—At the first meeting 

7 of the Commission after May 30, 2015, the Members 

8 of the Commission shall elect as Chair a Commis9 sioner appointed by an elected official of the political 

10 party that is not the political party of the President, 

11 and as Vice Chair a Commissioner appointed by an 

12 elected official of the political party of the President. 

13 ‘‘(2) FUTURE ELECTIONS.—At the first meet14 ing of the Commission after May 30, 2016, the 

15 Members of the Commission shall elect as Chair a 

16 Commissioner appointed by an elected official of the 

17 political party of the President, and as Vice Chair 

18 a Commissioner appointed by an elected official of 

19 the political party that is not the political party of 

20 the President. Thereafter, positions of Chair and 

21 Vice Chair shall continue to rotate on an annual 

22 basis between Commissioners appointed by elected 

23 officials of each political party. 

24 ‘‘(3) TERM LIMITS.—No Member of the Com25 mission is eligible to be elected as Chair of the ComVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:53 Aug 07, 2014 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2711.IS S2711

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1 mission for a second term, and no Member of the 

2 Commission is eligible to be elected as Vice Chair of 

3 the Commission for a second term.’’. 

4 (b) ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS OF AMBASSADOR AT

5 LARGE FOR INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.— 

6 Subsection (f) of such section (22 U.S.C. 6431(f)) is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The Ambas8 sador at Large shall be given advance notice of all Com9 mission meetings and may attend all Commission meet10 ings as a non-voting Member of the Commission.’’. 

11 (c) APPOINTMENTS IN CASES OF VACANCIES.—Sub12 section (g) of such section (22 U.S.C. 6431(g)) is amended 

13 by striking the second sentence. 

14 SEC. 3. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

15 Section 203(e) of the International Religious Free16 dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432a) is amended to read 

17 as follows: 

18 ‘‘(e) VIEWS OF THE COMMISSION.—The Members of 

19 the Commission may speak in their capacity as private 

20 citizens. Statements on behalf of the Commission shall be 

21 issued in writing over the names of the Members. Mem22 bers of the Commission shall make every effort to reach 

23 consensus on all statements on behalf of the Commission, 

24 including testimony, press releases, and articles by Com25 missioners or Commission staff. When a statement supVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:53 Aug 07, 2014 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2711.IS S2711

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1 ported by all Commissioners is not possible, the Commis2 sion shall issue a statement only if such statement is ap3 proved by an affirmative vote of at least six of the nine 

4 Members of the Commission and each Member of the 

5 Commission may include the individual or dissenting views 

6 of the Member. The Commission shall in its written state7 ments clearly describe its statutory authority, distin8 guishing that authority from that of appointed or elected 

9 officials of the United States Government. Oral state10 ments, where practicable, shall include a similar descrip11 tion.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

13 (a) STAFF DIRECTORS.—Section 204 of the Inter14 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 

15 6432b) is amended by striking subsections (a), (b), and 

16 (c) and inserting the following new subsections: 

17 ‘‘(a) COMMITTEE FUNCTIONS.—Subject to sub18 section (c), the Commission may appoint and fix the pay 

19 of such staff personnel as it deems desirable. All decisions 

20 pertaining to the hiring, firing, and fixing of pay of per21 sonnel of the Commission shall be by an affirmative vote 

22 of at least six of the nine Members of the Commission, 

23 except that— 

24 ‘‘(1) Members of the Commission appointed by 

25 an elected official of the political party of the PresiVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:53 Aug 07, 2014 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2711.IS S2711

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1 dent, by a majority vote thereof, shall be entitled to 

2 appoint, terminate, and fix the pay of a Majority 

3 Staff Director and shall have the authority to ap4 point, terminate, and fix the pay of three profes5 sional staff members who shall be responsible to the 

6 Members of the Commission of the political party of 

7 the President; and 

8 ‘‘(2) Members of the Commission appointed by 

9 an elected official of the political party that is not 

10 the political party of the President, by a majority 

11 vote thereof, shall be entitled to appoint, terminate, 

12 and fix the pay of a Minority Staff Director and 

13 shall have the authority to appoint, terminate, and 

14 fix the pay of three professional staff members who 

15 shall be responsible to the Members of the Commis16 sion of the political party that is not the political 

17 party of the President. 

18 ‘‘(b) STAFF APPOINTMENTS AND COMPENSATION.— 

19 All staff appointments shall be made without regard to 

20 the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 

21 53 of title 5 relating to classification of positions and Gen22 eral Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for 

23 the Majority Staff Director, Minority Staff Director, and 

24 other personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level 


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1 V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such 

2 title. 

3 ‘‘(c) QUALIFICATIONS OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF.— 

4 The Commission shall ensure that the professional staff 

5 of the Commission consists of persons with expertise in 

6 areas relevant to the issue of international religious free7 dom, including foreign affairs, direct experience abroad, 

8 human rights, and international law.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subsection (e) of 

10 such section (22 U.S.C. 6432b(e)) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘The Executive Director’’ both places it appears and in12 serting ‘‘The Majority Staff Director and the Minority 

13 Staff Director’’. 

14 SEC. 5. REPORT OF COMMISSION. 

15 (a) REPORT PUBLICATION DATE.—Section 205(a) of 

16 the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 

17 U.S.C. 6433(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘Not later than 

18 May 1 of each year’’ and inserting ‘‘Each year, not earlier 

19 than 30 days after, and not later than 90 days after, the 

20 publication of the Department of State’s Annual Report 

21 on International Religious Freedom’’. 

22 (b) CONSENSUS ON REPORTS.—Section 205(c) of the 

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

24 6433(c)) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(c) INDIVIDUAL OR DISSENTING VIEWS.—Members 

2 of the Commission shall make every effort to reach con3 sensus on the report. When a report supported by all Com4 missioners is not possible, the report shall be approved by 

5 an affirmative vote of at least six of the nine Members 

6 of the Commission and each Member of the Commission 

7 may include the individual or dissenting views of the Mem8 ber.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 Section 207(a) of the International Religious Free11 dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6435(a)) is amended by strik12 ing ‘‘2014’’ and inserting ‘‘2016’’. 

13 SEC. 7. TERMINATION. 

14 Section 209 of the International Religious Freedom 

15 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6436) is amended by striking 

16 ‘‘September 30, 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 

17 2016’’. 

Æ 


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