•HCON 262 IH 
lating to religious practice and tolerance, and has not 
been transparent in the implementation of such policies; 
Whereas USCIRF found that the Government of Saudi Ara-
bia permits the public practice of only one interpretation 
of Islam in Saudi Arabia and requires public behavior to 
conform to this interpretation, thereby violating stand-
ards of universal human rights and resulting in discrimi-
nation and human rights violations against members of 
indigenous Muslim communities who follow other inter-
pretations of Islam, such as Shi’as, Ismailis, and noncon-
forming Sunnis; 
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia’s harsh enforce-
ment of its interpretation of Islam adversely affects the 
human rights of women in Saudi Arabia, including free-
doms of speech, movement, association, and religion, free-
dom from coercion, access to education, and full equality 
before the law; 
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia’s harsh enforce-
ment of its interpretation of Islam also adversely affects 
the human rights of both Muslim and non-Muslim expa-
triate workers; 
Whereas between two million and three million non-Muslim 
workers, including Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and 
others, reside in Saudi Arabia for temporary employment; 
Whereas labor contracts in Saudi Arabia often include provi-
sions requiring expatriate workers to conform to Saudi 
religious customs and traditions, thereby violating the ex-
patriate workers’ human rights; 
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia’s Commission to 
Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice exercises largely un-
checked power to curtail the freedoms of speech, assem-
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•HCON 262 IH 
bly, and association, and the courts in Saudi Arabia offer 
neither due process to protect the individual nor effective 
remedies for violations of such rights; 
Whereas official school textbooks in Saudi Arabia have pre-
viously included language encouraging violence that ad-
versely affects the interests of the United States; 
Whereas several studies, including studies by Saudi experts, 
point to serious concerns that language encouraging vio-
lence toward others misguides students into believing that 
in order to safeguard their religion, they must violently 
repress, and even physically eliminate, the ‘‘other’’; 
Whereas a 2006 report by the Center for Religious Freedom 
and the Gulf Institute analyzing several Saudi textbooks 
from the 2005–2006 school year found that ‘‘a ninth 
grade Saudi textbook on Hadith teaches teenagers in 
apocalyptic terms that violence towards Jews, Christians 
and other unbelievers is sanctioned by God’’; 
Whereas such textbook states, ‘‘the hour [of judgment] will 
not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill 
them’’; 
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia claimed publicly 
that it revised its textbooks and removed language that 
promotes intolerance and encourages violence; 
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia, despite repeated 
requests by the Secretary of State and Members of Con-
gress over a period of several years, has failed to make 
a complete set of its current textbooks available to sup-
port its claim that such language has been eliminated; 
Whereas, in June 2007, during its visit to Saudi Arabia, 
USCIRF found evidence that intolerant and inflam-
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•HCON 262 IH 
matory text remains in textbooks provided by the Govern-
ment of Saudi Arabia; 
Whereas Saudi textbooks are used outside Saudi Arabia, in-
cluding in the United States; 
Whereas the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA), with campuses in 
Alexandria and Fairfax, Virginia, is the only school in the 
United States that operates with the direct authority of 
the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia; 
Whereas the ISA operates on two northern Virginia prop-
erties owned or leased by the Royal Embassy of Saudi 
Arabia, with property being leased by ‘‘the Royal Em-
bassy of Saudi Arabia d/b/a (doing business as) the Is-
lamic Saudi Academy’’; 
Whereas Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States is 
the chairman of the ISA’s board of directors, which, ac-
cording to the ISA’s Web site, ‘‘oversees the educational 
and administrative operation’’ and ‘‘provides direction 
and guidance to every aspect of’’ the ISA’s operations; 
Whereas the ISA is funded by the Government of Saudi Ara-
bia, and, on numerous occasions, officials from the Royal 
Embassy of Saudi Arabia have spoken to the press on the 
ISA’s behalf, including in response to inquiries about the 
ISA’s curriculum; 
Whereas the ISA uses the Government of Saudi Arabia’s 
‘‘curriculum, syllabus, and materials’’ in the portion of 
its programming taught in Arabic; 
Whereas USCIRF has recommended that the Secretary of 
State open diplomatic talks with the Government of 
Saudi Arabia in order to obtain official Saudi textbooks 
used at the ISA; and 
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•HCON 262 IH 
Whereas USCIRF recommends that the ISA should be closed 
until the official Saudi textbooks used at the ISA are 
made available for comprehensive public examination and 
are found to be consistent with the Government of Saudi 
Arabia’s commitment to revise such textbooks to remove 
intolerant and violent references: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the Secretary of State, as the President’s 
designee, should continue to designate Saudi Arabia 
as a ‘‘country of particular concern’’ under the 
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 
U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) for engaging in systematic, on-
going, and egregious violations of religious freedom; 
(2) the Secretary of State should create a for-
mal mechanism to monitor implementation of the 
Government of Saudi Arabia’s July 2006 policies re-
lating to religious practice and tolerance as part of 
every meeting of the United States-Saudi Arabia 
Strategic Dialogue, and ensure that United States 
representatives to each relevant working group of 
such Strategic Dialogue, after each session, or at 
least every six months, submit to Congress a report 
on their findings; 
(3) the Secretary of State should submit to 
Congress a report on progress by the Government of 
Saudi Arabia toward implementing its July 2006 
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•HCON 262 IH 
policies relating to religious practice and tolerance, 
including— 
(A) the transparency of the Government of 
Saudi Arabia toward the implementation of 
such policies; and 
(B) any benchmarks or timetables estab-
lished for implementation of such policies; 
(4) the Secretary of State should immediately 
begin diplomatic discussions with the Government of 
Saudi Arabia with the goals of— 
(A) having the Government of Saudi Ara-
bia close the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) 
until such time as the official Saudi textbooks 
used at the ISA are made available for com-
prehensive public examination in the United 
States; and 
(B) ensuring a verifiable prohibition of any 
scheme aimed at continuing funding by the 
Government of Saudi Arabia to the ISA 
through other indirect means; 
(5) the Secretary of State should conclude such 
discussions not later than 90 days after the date of 
the adoption of this concurrent resolution, and, while 
the discussions are ongoing, the Secretary should 
also be preparing to take action under title II of the 
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•HCON 262 IH 
State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 
U.S.C. 4301 et seq.) (relating to authorities relating 
to the regulation of foreign missions), if such action 
becomes necessary; and 
(6) at the conclusion of the 90-day period, the 
Secretary of State should submit to Congress a re-
port on the results of such discussions, including— 
(A) if the Secretary secured the release of 
the Saudi textbooks used at the ISA for com-
prehensive public examination, and if the Sec-
retary has determined that such textbooks con-
tain language encouraging violence, what ac-
tions the Secretary plans to take in response 
under applicable United States laws, including 
under title II of the State Department Basic 
Authorities Act of 1956; and 
(B) if the Secretary did not secure the re-
lease of the Saudi textbooks, what actions the 
Secretary plans to take under title II of the 
State Department Basic Authorities Act of 
1956 to close the ISA on the grounds that the 
nondiplomatic activities of the ISA cannot be 
conducted by and through an embassy, and be-
cause significant concerns remain about wheth-
er what is being taught at the ISA promotes re-
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•HCON 262 IH 
ligious intolerance and may adversely affect the 
interests of the United States. 
Æ 
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