I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4543 
To express the policy of the United States to ensure the divestiture of 
United States pension plans or thrift savings plans and mutual funds 
sold or distributed in the United States in any bank or financial institu-
tion that directly or through a subsidiary has outstanding loans to 
or financial activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or its instrumental-
ities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 14, 2005 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself and Ms. BERKLEY) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in 
addition to the Committees on Government Reform and Education and 
the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To express the policy of the United States to ensure the 
divestiture of United States pension plans or thrift sav-
ings plans and mutual funds sold or distributed in the 
United States in any bank or financial institution that 
directly or through a subsidiary has outstanding loans 
to or financial activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
or its instrumentalities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not pro-
vide legal protection for freedom of religion because 
Salafi Islam is the official religion of the country. 
(2) The Mutawwa’in, or religious police, has en-
gaged in the persecution of non-Muslims in Saudi 
Arabia, most recently in the late May 2005 deten-
tion of seven Christians whose private security and 
property were violated. 
(3) The annual Department of State Report on 
International Religious Freedom states that citizens 
of Saudi Arabia are denied the freedom to choose or 
change their religion. Specifically, conversion by a 
Muslim to another religion is considered apostasy, a 
crime punishable by death if the accused does not 
recant. 
(4) Sunni Muslims are discriminated against in 
government employment and higher education and 
there are still cases in textbooks and teachings of 
anti-Shi’a instruction. 
(5) Individuals of the Hindu and Sikh faiths 
are considered under Sharia law to be polytheists 
and are therefore permitted in accidental death or 
injury compensation to be allowed only 1⁄16 of the
amount a male Muslim receives in compensation in 
similar instances. 
(6) Saudi Arabia continues to prohibit non- 
Muslim clergy to enter the country and conduct reli-
gious services, which particularly affects religious be-
lievers such as Catholics and Orthodox Christians 
who require religious clergy and services regularly as 
part of their faith. 
(7) Many Christians in Saudi Arabia have been 
detained and deported for praying or for other prac-
tices relating to the expression of their faith. 
(8) Saudi Arabia law requires Saudi citizens to 
carry an Iqamas, or a legal resident identity card, 
which contains designation for ‘‘Muslim’’ and ‘‘non- 
Muslim’’, which leads to discrimination by the police 
of non-Muslims. 
(9) The Government of Saudi Arabia continues 
to violate freedom of speech, as exhibited in the No-
vember 2003 case of Mansur al-Noqaidan who criti-
cized the Saudi Government’s response to religious 
extremism in an editorial in The New York Times 
and was subsequently sentenced to lashings for in-
cendiary comments. 
(10) As compiled in an extensive report by 
Freedom House, it was found that Saudi Arabia’s