II 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 440 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 29, 2011 
Received 
DECEMBER 17, 2011 
Read the first time 
AN ACT 
To provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to 
Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in 
the Near East and South Central Asia. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Seven Baha’i leaders in Iran have been 
wrongfully imprisoned since 2008. 
(2) In May 2010, suspected terrorists attacked 
two 
mosques 
in 
Pakistan 
belonging 
to 
the 
Ahmaddiya minority Muslim sect, killing at least 80 
people. Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim, but 
Pakistani law does not recognize them as such. 
(3) Said Musa, an Afghan Christian convert, 
was arrested in May 2010 on charges of apostasy, 
a crime which can carry the death sentence, and was 
released in February 2011 only after sustained 
international pressure. 
(4) On October 31, 2010, gunmen laid siege on 
Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, Iraq kill-
ing at least 52 police and worshipers, including two 
priests, making it the worst massacre of Iraqi Chris-
tians since 2003. 
(5) Iraq’s ancient and once vibrant Christian 
population that numbered an estimated 1,500,000 
out of a total population in Iraq of 30,000,000 in 
2003 has been reduced by at least one half, due in 
significant part to Christians fleeing the violence. 
(6) In November 2010, a Pakistani court sen-
tenced Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, to 
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death under the country’s blashphemy law for insult-
ing the Prophet Muhammad. 
(7) On New Year’s Eve 2010, 23 people were 
killed when a suicide bomber attacked a Coptic 
Christian church in Alexandria, Egypt. 
(8) On March 2, 2011, Pakistani Federal Mi-
norities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian 
member of the Cabinet, who was outspoken in his 
opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws was assas-
sinated by extremists. 
(9) The Department of State’s 2010 Inter-
national Religious Freedom Report stated that many 
religious minority groups in Uzbekistan ‘‘faced 
heavy fines and/or short jail terms for violations of 
restrictive religion laws’’. 
(10) The Special Envoy for Anti-Semitism, 
Hannah Rosenthal, has noted that Holocaust glorifi-
cation ‘‘is especially virulent in the Middle East 
media’’. 
(11) A number of countries in the Middle East 
have recently undergone popular revolutions which 
in some countries have left security vacuums making 
religious minorities especially vulnerable to violent 
attacks, such as— 
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(A) in March 2011, the Shahedin Church 
in Helwan province, Egypt, was torched, lead-
ing to protests which spurred sectarian clashes 
in the streets of Cairo; 
(B) on March 20, 2011, a group of 
Salafists in Upper Egypt cut off a Christian 
man’s ear and burned his home and car; and 
(C) news reports from April 2011 indicate 
that Salafi organizations in Egypt have been 
implicated in the destruction of Sufi shrines 
across the country fueling violent conflict. 
(12) Many of these ancient faith communities 
are being forced to flee the lands which they have 
inhabited for centuries. 
(13) The United States Commission on Inter-
national Religious Freedom has recommended that 
Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, 
and Uzbekistan be designated by the Department of 
State as Countries of Particular Concern in accord-
ance with the International Religious Freedom Act 
of 1998. 
(14) The situation on the ground in the region 
continues to develop rapidly and the United States 
Government needs an individual who can respond in 
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kind and focus on the critical situation of religious 
minorities in these countries. 
SEC. 2. SPECIAL ENVOY TO PROMOTE RELIGIOUS FREE-
DOM OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN THE 
NEAR EAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA. 
(a) APPOINTMENT.—The President shall appoint a 
Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious 
Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia (in 
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Special Envoy’’) within the 
Department of State. 
(b) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Special Envoy should be 
a person of recognized distinction in the field of human 
rights and religious freedom and with expertise in the 
Near East and South Central Asia regions. The Special 
Envoy shall have the rank of ambassador and shall hold 
the office at the pleasure of the President. 
(c) PROHIBITION.—The person appointed as Special 
Envoy may not hold any other position of Federal employ-
ment for the period of time during which the person holds 
the position of Special Envoy. 
SEC. 3. DUTIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Special Envoy shall carry out 
the following duties: 
(1) Promote the right of religious freedom of 
religious minorities in the countries of the Near 
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East and the countries of South Central Asia, de-
nounce the violation of such right, and recommend 
appropriate responses by the United States Govern-
ment when such right is violated. 
(2) Monitor and combat acts of religious intol-
erance and incitement targeted against religious mi-
norities in the countries of the Near East and the 
countries of South Central Asia. 
(3) Work to ensure that the unique needs of re-
ligious minority communities in the countries of the 
Near East and the countries of South Central Asia 
are addressed, including the economic and security 
needs of such communities to the extent that such 
needs are directly tied to religious-based discrimina-
tion and persecution. 
(4) Work with foreign governments of the coun-
tries of the Near East and the countries of South 
Central Asia to address laws that are inherently dis-
criminatory toward religious minority communities 
in such countries. 
(5) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of 
that portion of the report required by sections 
116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)) relating 
to the nature and extent of religious freedom of reli-
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gious minorities in the countries of the Near East 
and the countries of South Central Asia. 
(6) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of 
that portion of the report required by section 102(b) 
of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
(22 U.S.C. 6412(b)) relating to the nature and ex-
tent of religious freedom of religious minorities in 
the countries of the Near East and the countries of 
South Central Asia. 
(b) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the duties 
under subsection (a), the Special Envoy shall, to the max-
imum extent practicable, coordinate with the Bureau of 
Population, Refugees and Migration of the Department of 
State, the Ambassador at Large for International Reli-
gious Freedom, the United States Commission on Inter-
national Religious Freedom, and other relevant Federal 
agencies and officials. 
SEC. 4. DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION. 
Subject to the direction of the President and the Sec-
retary of State, the Special Envoy is authorized to rep-
resent the United States in matters and cases relevant to 
religious freedom in the countries of the Near East and 
the countries of South Central Asia in— 
(1) contacts with foreign governments, intergov-
ernmental organizations, and specialized agencies of 
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the United Nations, the Organization of Security 
and Cooperation in Europe, and other international 
organizations of which the United States is a mem-
ber; and 
(2) multilateral conferences and meetings rel-
evant to religious freedom in the countries of the 
Near East and the countries of South Central Asia. 
SEC. 5. PRIORITY COUNTRIES AND CONSULTATION. 
(a) PRIORITY COUNTRIES.—In carrying out this Act, 
the Special Envoy shall give priority to programs, projects, 
and activities for Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—The Special Envoy shall con-
sult with domestic and international nongovernmental or-
ganizations and multilateral organizations and institu-
tions, as the Special Envoy considers appropriate to fulfill 
the purposes of this Act. 
SEC. 6. FUNDING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts made available 
for ‘‘Diplomatic and Consular Programs’’ for fiscal years 
2011 through 2015, $1,000,000 is authorized to be appro-
priated for each such fiscal year for the hiring of staff, 
for the conduct of investigations, and for necessary travel 
to carry out the provisions of this Act. 
(b) FUNDING OFFSET.—To offset the costs to be in-
curred by the Department of State for the hiring of staff, 
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for the conduct of investigations, and for necessary travel 
to carry out the provisions of this Act for fiscal years 2011 
through 2015, the Secretary of State shall eliminate such 
positions within the Department of State, unless otherwise 
authorized or required by law, as the Secretary determines 
to be necessary to fully offset such costs. 
(c) LIMITATION.—No additional funds are authorized 
to be appropriated for ‘‘Diplomatic and Consular Pro-
grams’’ to carry out this Act. 
SEC. 7. SUNSET. 
This Act shall cease to be effective beginning on Octo-
ber 1, 2015. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 29, 2011. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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