It is an important and vital first step to combat a growing problem - a problem which is an affront to people of conscience everywhere and a threat to human dignity. Following are the major elements of H.R. 2431 as it was voted on. Establishes the Office on Religious Persecution Monitoring at the State Department. The ORPM must examine every country listed in the State Department's Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices as violating religious freedom, but only those with peersecution of the kind above can be designated as violators. A finding on persecution can be withdrawn if the President certifies to Congress that the country has substantially eliminated persecution.
Sanctions apply primarily to the government of Sudan.
Sanctions include a ban on the export of computers and computer equipment, a ban on financial transactions with the government of Sudan, a ban on flights to and from Sudan, a ban on the promotion of U.S. tourism in Sudan, a ban on U.S. depository institutions holding deposits for the government of Sudan, a ban on U.S. government procurement from Sudan. As amended by the Ways and Means Committee, the bill does not ban imports from the government of Sudan.