114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1150 
AN ACT 
To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
to improve the ability of the United States to advance 
religious freedom globally through enhanced diplomacy, 
training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance efforts, 
and through stronger and more flexible political re-
sponses to religious freedom violations and violent extre-
mism worldwide, 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. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings; Policy. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF STATE ACTIVITIES 
Sec. 101. Office on International Religious Freedom; Ambassador at Large for 
International Religious Freedom. 
Sec. 102. Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. 
Sec. 103. Training for Foreign Service officers; report. 
Sec. 104. Prisoner lists and issue briefs on religious freedom concerns. 
TITLE II—NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL 
Sec. 201. Special Adviser for International Religious Freedom. 
TITLE III—PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS 
Sec. 301. Non-state actor designations. 
Sec. 302. Presidential actions in response to particularly severe violations of re-
ligious freedom. 
Sec. 303. Report to Congress. 
Sec. 304. Presidential waiver. 
Sec. 305. Publication in the Federal Register. 
TITLE IV—PROMOTION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
Sec. 401. Assistance for promoting religious freedom. 
TITLE V—DESIGNATED PERSONS LIST FOR PARTICULARLY 
SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
Sec. 501. Designated Persons List for Particularly Severe Violations of Reli-
gious Freedom. 
TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 601. Miscellaneous provisions. 
Sec. 602. Clerical amendments. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; POLICY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Section 2(a) of the International Re-
ligious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401(a)) is 
amended—
(1) in paragraph (3), by inserting immediately 
prior to the penultimate sentence the following new 
sentence: ‘‘The freedom of thought, conscience, and 
religion is understood to protect theistic and non- 
theistic beliefs as well as the right not to profess or 
practice any religion.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (6)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘and the specific targeting 
of non-theists, humanists, and atheists because 
of their beliefs’’ after ‘‘religious persecution’’; 
and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘and in regions where 
non-state actors exercise significant political 
power and influence’’ after ‘‘religious majori-
ties’’. 
(b) POLICY.—Section 2(b) of the International Reli-
gious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401(b)) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) Because the promotion of international re-
ligious freedom protects human rights, advances de-
mocracy abroad, and advances United States inter-
ests in stability, security, and development globally, 
the promotion of international religious freedom re-
quires new and evolving policies, and diplomatic re-
sponses that are drawn from the expertise of the na-
tional security agencies, the diplomatic services, and 
other governmental agencies and nongovernmental 
organizations, and are coordinated across and car-
ried out by the entire range of Federal agencies.’’. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 3 of the International Religious Freedom Act 
of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6402) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (13)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by redesignating clauses (iv) and 
(v) as clauses (v) and (vi), respectively; 
and 
(ii) by inserting after clause (iii) the 
following: 
‘‘(iv) not professing a particular reli-
gion, or any religion;’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (B)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘conscience, non-the-
istic views, or’’ before ‘‘religious belief or 
practice’’; and 
(ii) by inserting after ‘‘forced religious 
conversion’’ the following: ‘‘, forcibly com-
pelling non-believers or non-theists to re-
cant their beliefs or to convert’’; and
(2) by adding at the end, the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(14) SPECIAL WATCH LIST.—The term ‘Spe-
cial Watch List’ means the Special Watch List as 
contained in the Executive Summary to the Annual 
Report and described in section 102(b)(1)(F)(iii). 
‘‘(15) NON-STATE ACTOR.—The term ‘non-state 
actor’ means a nonsovereign entity that exercises 
significant political power and is able to exert influ-
ence at a national or international level but does not 
belong to or ally itself to any particular country and 
often employs illegal violence in pursuit of its objec-
tives. 
‘‘(16) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 
The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 101 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)’’. 
TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF 
STATE ACTIVITIES 
SEC. 101. OFFICE ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREE-
DOM; AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR INTER-
NATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101 of the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6411) is 
amended—
(1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end be-
fore the period the following: ‘‘, and shall report di-
rectly to the Secretary of State’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘responsibility’’ and in-
serting ‘‘responsibilities’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘shall be to advance’’ 
and inserting the following: ‘‘shall be to— 
‘‘(A) advance’’; 
(iii) in subparagraph (A) (as so 
added), by striking the period at the end 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(iv) by adding at the end the following 
new subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) integrate United States international 
religious freedom policies and strategies into 
the foreign policy efforts of the United States.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘the 
principal adviser to’’ before ‘‘the Secretary of 
State’’; 
(C) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end;
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 
and’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) contacts with nongovernmental orga-
nizations that have an impact on the state of 
religious freedom in their respective societies or 
regions, or internationally.’’; 
(D) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 
paragraph (5); and 
(E) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) 
COORDINATION
RESPONSIBILITIES.—In 
order to promote religious freedom as an interest of 
United States foreign policy, the Ambassador at 
Large— 
‘‘(A) shall coordinate international reli-
gious freedom policies across all programs, 
projects, and activities of the United States; 
and 
‘‘(B) should participate in any interagency 
processes on issues in which the promotion of 
international religious freedom policy can ad-
vance United States national security interests,
including in democracy promotion, stability, se-
curity, and development globally.’’; and 
(3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘staff for the 
Office’’ and all that follows through the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘individuals to fill at least 25 
full-time equivalent staff positions, and any other 
temporary staff positions as needed to compile, edit, 
and manage the Annual Report under the direct su-
pervision of the Ambassador at Large, and for the 
conduct of investigations by the Office and for nec-
essary travel to carry out the provisions of this Act. 
The Secretary of State should also provide to the 
Ambassador at Large funds that are sufficient to 
carry out the duties described in this section, includ-
ing as necessary representation funds, in amounts 
comparable to those provided to other Ambassadors 
at Large in the Department of State.’’. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—Because international re-
ligious freedom is a vital foreign policy interest and one 
that needs coordination across many regional bureaus and 
among Special Envoys and Special Representatives with 
overlapping mandates, the Secretary of State should con-
sider elevating the office of International Religious Free-
dom and the position of the Ambassador at Large for 
International Religious Freedom to the Office of the Sec-
retary, similar to other Ambassador at Large positions 
that now report directly to the Secretary. Providing the 
Office of International Religious Freedom with additional 
resources and status will demonstrate both the strategic 
importance of international religious freedom policy within 
the State Department bureaucracy and show persecuted 
religious groups globally that the United States gives pri-
ority to the protection and promotion of international reli-
gious freedom as mandated by the International Religious 
Freedom Act of 1998. 
SEC. 102. ANNUAL REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS 
FREEDOM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(b)(1) of the Inter-
national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 
6412(b)(1)) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 
by striking ‘‘September 1’’ and inserting ‘‘May 1’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (A)— 
(A) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause 
(vii); and 
(B) by inserting after clause (iii) the fol-
lowing new clauses: 
‘‘(iv) particularly severe violations of 
religious freedom in that country in the 
case of a foreign country with respect to
which a government does not exist or the 
government does not control its territory; 
‘‘(v) an identification of prisoners in 
that country pursuant to section 108; 
‘‘(vi) any action taken by the govern-
ment of that country to censor religious 
content, communications, or worship activi-
ties online, including descriptions of the 
targeted religious group, the content, com-
munication, or activities censored, and the 
means used.’’; 
(3) in subparagraph (B), in the matter pre-
ceding clause (i)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘persecution of lawyers, 
politicians, or other human rights advocates 
seeking to defend the rights of members of reli-
gious groups or highlight religious freedom vio-
lations, prohibitions on ritual animal slaughter 
or male infant circumcision,’’ after ‘‘entire reli-
gions,’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘policies that ban or re-
strict the public manifestation of religious belief 
and the peaceful involvement of religious groups 
or their members in the political life of each 
such foreign country,’’ after ‘‘such groups,’’;
(4) in subparagraph (C)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘A description’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘A comprehensive description’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘policies in support’’ and 
inserting ‘‘diplomatic and political coordination 
efforts, and other policies in support’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end before the period 
the following: ‘‘, and a comprehensive and coun-
try-specific analysis of the impact of actions by 
the United States on the status of religious 
freedom in each such country’’; and 
(5) in subparagraph (F)— 
(A) in clause (i)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘section 402(b)(1)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘section 402(b)(1)(B)(i)’’; 
and 
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘Any country in which a non-state 
actor designated as an entity of particular 
concern for religious freedom under section 
301 of the Frank R. Wolf International 
Religious Freedom Act is located shall be 
included in this section of the report.’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: