(c) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—Chapter 213 of title 
18, United States Code is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘§ 3302. Religious persecution 
‘‘No person may be prosecuted, tried, or punished for 
a violation of section 2443 unless the indictment or the 
information is filed not later than 10 years after the com-
mission of the offense.’’. 
(d) CLERICAL
AMENDMENTS.—Title 18, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in the table of sections for chapter 118, by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘2443. Religious persecution.’’; 
and 
(2) in the table of sections for chapter 213, by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘3302. Religious persecution.’’. 
SEC. 5. REFORM AND REAUTHORIZATION OF UNITED 
STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL 
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION.— 
(1) LEADERSHIP.—Section 201(d) of the Inter-
national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 
6431(d)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) ELECTION OF CHAIR.—At the first meeting of 
the Commission after May 30 of each year, a majority of 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:47 Jul 27, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00026
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3194.IH
H3194
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
the members of the Commission present and voting shall 
elect the Chair and Vice Chair of the Commission, subject 
to the following requirements: 
‘‘(1) INITIAL ELECTIONS.—At the first meeting 
of the Commission after May 30, 2016, the members 
of the Commission shall elect— 
‘‘(A) as Chair, a member of the Commis-
sion who was appointed by an elected official of 
the political party that is not the political party 
of the President; and 
‘‘(B) as Vice Chair, a member of the Com-
mission who was appointed by an elected offi-
cial of the political party of the President. 
‘‘(2) FUTURE ELECTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) NEXT ELECTION.—At the first meet-
ing of the Commission after May 30, 2017, the 
members of the Commission shall elect— 
‘‘(i) as Chair, a member of the Com-
mission who was appointed by an elected 
official of the political party of the Presi-
dent; and 
‘‘(ii) as Vice Chair, a member of the 
Commission who was appointed by an 
elected official of the political party that is 
not the political party of the President. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:47 Jul 27, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00027
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3194.IH
H3194
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS.—After the 
election described in subparagraph (A), the po-
sitions of Chair and Vice Chair shall continue 
to rotate on an annual basis between members 
of the Commission appointed by elected officials 
of each political party. 
‘‘(3) TERM LIMITS.—No member of the Com-
mission is eligible to be elected as— 
‘‘(A) Chair of the Commission for a second 
term; or 
‘‘(B) Vice Chair of the Commission for a 
second term.’’. 
(2) ATTENDANCE
AT
MEETINGS
OF
AMBAS-
SADOR AT LARGE FOR INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS 
FREEDOM.—Section 201(f) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 
6431(f)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘The Ambassador at Large shall be given 
advance notice of all Commission meetings and may 
attend all Commission meetings as a nonvoting 
member of the Commission.’’. 
(3) APPOINTMENTS IN CASES OF VACANCIES.— 
Section 201(g) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 6431(g)) is 
amended by striking the second sentence. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:47 Jul 27, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00028
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3194.IH
H3194
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(b) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.—Section 203(e) 
of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 
U.S.C. 6432a(e)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(e) VIEWS OF THE COMMISSION.— 
‘‘(1) PRIVATE SPEECH.—Members of the Com-
mission may speak in their capacity as private citi-
zens. A member of the Commission may be identi-
fied as a member of the Commission when making 
oral or written statements in their private or other 
professional capacity if the member states clearly 
that the statement— 
‘‘(A) is not on behalf of the Commission; 
and 
‘‘(B) does not necessarily reflect the views 
of the Commission. 
‘‘(2) OFFICIAL STATEMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) WRITTEN
STATEMENTS.—All state-
ments on behalf of the Commission shall be 
issued in writing over the names of the mem-
bers of the Commission. 
‘‘(B) 
STATUTORY
AUTHORITY.—In 
its 
written statements, the Commission shall clear-
ly describe its statutory authority, distin-
guishing that authority from that of appointed 
or elected officials of the United States Govern-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:47 Jul 27, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00029
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3194.IH
H3194
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
ment. Oral statements of the Commission shall 
include a similar description, to the extent prac-
ticable. 
‘‘(C) CONSENSUS.—Members of the Com-
mission shall make every effort to reach con-
sensus on all oral or written statements on be-
half of the Commission. 
‘‘(D) APPROVAL.—All views of the Com-
mission on pending legislation or any other 
matter under the jurisdiction of the Commis-
sion shall be approved by an affirmative vote of 
at least 6 of the 9 members of the Commission. 
Each member of the Commission may include 
the individual or dissenting views of the mem-
ber. 
‘‘(E) ACCURACY.—All oral or written 
statements by members or staff of the Commis-
sion on behalf of the Commission, including tes-
timony, press releases, articles, and public or 
private correspondence, shall accurately reflect 
approved views of the Commission in accord-
ance with subparagraph (D).’’. 
(c) COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.—Section 
204 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
(22 U.S.C. 6432b) is amended— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:47 Jul 27, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00030
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3194.IH
H3194
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
whose pay is disbursed by the Secretary of the Sen-
ate or the Chief Administrative Officer of the House 
of Representatives shall be deemed to recognize dis-
crimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gen-
der identity as forms of discrimination on the basis 
of sex and shall treat such discrimination in the 
same manner as discrimination on the basis of sex.’’. 
(d) REPORT OF COMMISSION.—Section 205 of the 
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 
6433) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Not later 
than May 1 of each year,’’ and inserting ‘‘Each 
year, between 30 and 90 days after the publication 
of the Department of State’s Annual Report on 
International Religious Freedom,’’; and 
(2) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(c) INDIVIDUAL OR DISSENTING VIEWS.—Members 
of the Commission shall make every effort to reach con-
sensus on the report under this section. When such con-
sensus is not possible, the report shall be approved by an 
affirmative vote of at least 6 of the 9 members of the Com-
mission. Each member of the Commission may include the 
individual or dissenting views of the member in the re-
port.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:47 Jul 27, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00033
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3194.IH
H3194
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(e) APPLICABILITY OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMA-
TION ACT.— 
(1) Section 206 of the International Religious 
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6434) is amend-
ed— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(a) FEDERAL ADVISORY 
COMMITTEE ACT.—’’ before ‘‘The’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) FREEDOM
OF INFORMATION ACT.—Notwith-
standing section 551 of title 5, United States Code, the 
Commission shall be considered to be an agency for pur-
poses of section 552 of such title.’’. 
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 
207(a) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 
1998 (22 U.S.C. 6435(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘2015’’ 
and inserting ‘‘2017’’. 
(g) TERMINATION.—Section 209 of the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6436) is 
amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2015’’ and inserting 
‘‘September 30, 2017’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:47 Jul 27, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00034
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H3194.IH
H3194
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS