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sponsible for preparing refugee case files for use by
the Immigration and Naturalization Service during
refugee adjudications. These procedures should ensure,
to the extent practicable, that case files prepared by
such entities accurately reflect information provided
by the refugee applicants and that genuine refugee
applicants are not disadvantaged or denied refugee
status due to faulty case file preparation.
(d) ANNUAL CONSULTATION.—The President shall in-
clude in each annual report on proposed refugee admissions
under section 207(d) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(d)) information about religious persecu-
tion of refugee populations eligible for consideration for ad-
mission to the United States. The Secretary of State shall
include information on religious persecution of refugee pop-
ulations in the formal testimony presented to the Commit-
tees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and
the Senate during the consultation process under section
207(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1157(e)).
SEC. 603. REFORM OF ASYLUM POLICY.
(a) GUIDELINES.—The Attorney General and the Sec-
retary of State shall develop guidelines to ensure that per-
sons with potential biases against individuals on the
grounds of religion, race, nationality, membership in a par-
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ticular social group, or political opinion, including inter-
preters and personnel of airlines owned by governments
known to be involved in practices which would meet the
definition of persecution under international refugee law,
shall not in any manner be used to interpret conversations
between aliens and inspection or asylum officers.
(b) TRAINING FOR ASYLUM AND IMMIGRATION OFFI-
CERS.—The Attorney General, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of State, the Ambassador at Large, and other rel-
evant officials such as the Director of the National Foreign
Affairs Training Center, shall provide training to all offi-
cers adjudicating asylum cases, and to immigration officers
performing duties under section 235(b) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)), on the nature of
religious persecution abroad, including country-specific
conditions, instruction on the internationally recognized
right to freedom of religion, instruction on methods of reli-
gious persecution practiced in foreign countries, and appli-
cable distinctions within a country in the treatment of var-
ious religious practices and believers.
(c) TRAINING FOR IMMIGRATION JUDGES.—The Exec-
utive Office of Immigration Review of the Department of
Justice shall incorporate into its initial and ongoing train-
ing of immigration judges training on the extent and na-
ture of religious persecution internationally, including
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country-specific conditions, and including use of the An-
nual Report. Such training shall include governmental and
nongovernmental methods of persecution employed, and dif-
ferences in the treatment of religious groups by such perse-
cuting entities.
SEC. 604. INADMISSIBILITY OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OF-
FICIALS WHO HAVE ENGAGED IN PARTICU-
LARLY SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM.
(a) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS OR ADMISSION.—Section
212(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subparagraph:
‘‘(G) FOREIGN
GOVERNMENT
OFFICIALS
WHO HAVE ENGAGED IN PARTICULARLY SEVERE
VIOLATIONS
OF
RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM.—Any
alien who, while serving as a foreign government
official, was responsible for or directly carried
out, at any time during the preceding 24-month
period, particularly severe violations of religious
freedom, as defined in section 3 of the Inter-
national Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and the
spouse and children, if any, are inadmissible.’’.
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall apply to aliens seeking to enter the United
States on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 605. STUDIES ON THE EFFECT OF EXPEDITED RE-
MOVAL PROVISIONS ON ASYLUM CLAIMS.
(a) STUDIES.—
(1) COMMISSION REQUEST FOR PARTICIPATION
BY EXPERTS ON REFUGEE AND ASYLUM ISSUES.—If
the Commission so requests, the Attorney General
shall invite experts designated by the Commission,
who are recognized for their expertise and knowledge
of refugee and asylum issues, to conduct a study, in
cooperation with the Comptroller General of the
United States, to determine whether immigration offi-
cers described in paragraph (2) are engaging in any
of the conduct described in such paragraph.
(2) DUTIES OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The
Comptroller General of the United States shall con-
duct a study alone or, upon request by the Commis-
sion, in cooperation with experts designated by the
Commission, to determine whether immigration offi-
cers performing duties under section 235(b) of the Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b))
with respect to aliens who may be eligible to be grant-
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ed asylum are engaging in any of the following con-
duct:
(A) Improperly encouraging such aliens to
withdraw their applications for admission.
(B) Incorrectly failing to refer such aliens
for an interview by an asylum officer for a de-
termination of whether they have a credible fear
of persecution (within the meaning of section
235(b)(1)(B)(v) of such Act).
(C) Incorrectly removing such aliens to a
country where they may be persecuted.
(D) Detaining such aliens improperly or in
inappropriate conditions.
(b) REPORTS.—
(1) PARTICIPATION BY EXPERTS.—In the case of
a Commission request under subsection (a), the ex-
perts designated by the Commission under that sub-
section may submit a report to the committees de-
scribed in paragraph (2). Such report may be submit-
ted with the Comptroller General’s report under sub-
section (a)(2) or independently.
(2) DUTIES
OF
COMPTROLLER
GENERAL.—Not
later than September 1, 2000, the Comptroller Gen-
eral of the United States shall submit to the Commit-
tees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
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and the Senate, the Committee on International Rela-
tions of the House of Representatives, and the Com-
mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report
containing the results of the study conducted under
subsection (a)(2). If the Commission requests des-
ignated experts to participate with the Comptroller
General in the preparation and submission of the re-
port, the Comptroller General shall grant the request.
(c) ACCESS TO PROCEEDINGS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), to facilitate the studies and reports, the At-
torney General shall permit the Comptroller General
of the United States and, in the case of a Commission
request under subsection (a), the experts designated
under subsection (a) to have unrestricted access to all
stages of all proceedings conducted under section
235(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not
apply in cases in which the alien objects to such ac-
cess, or the Attorney General determines that the secu-
rity of a particular proceeding would be threatened
by such access, so long as any restrictions on the ac-
cess of experts designated by the Commission under
subsection (a) do not contravene international law.
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TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS
SEC. 701. BUSINESS CODES OF CONDUCT.
(a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDING.—Congress recognizes
the increasing importance of transnational corporations as
global actors, and their potential for providing positive
leadership in their host countries in the area of human
rights.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress
that transnational corporations operating overseas, par-
ticularly those corporations operating in countries the gov-
ernments of which have engaged in or tolerated violations
of religious freedom, as identified in the Annual Report,
should adopt codes of conduct—
(1) upholding the right to freedom of religion of
their employees; and
(2) ensuring that a worker’s religious views and
peaceful practices of belief in no way affect, or be al-
lowed to affect, the status or terms of his or her em-
ployment.
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to express
United States foreign policy with respect to, and to
strengthen United States advocacy on behalf of, individ-
uals persecuted in foreign countries on account of reli-
gion; to authorize United States actions in response to
violations of religious freedom in foreign countries; to es-
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tablish an Ambassador at Large for International Reli-
gious Freedom within the Department of State, a Com-
mission on International Religious Freedom, and a Spe-
cial Adviser on International Religious Freedom within
the National Security Council; and for other purposes.’’.
Attest:
Secretary.