Title: Saudi Educational Transparency and Reform Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Saudi Educational Transparency and Reform Act
This bill directs the Department of State to report to Congress annually on educational materials published by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Education, which are used both inside and outside Saudi Arabia.
The report shall detail whether such educational materials include content that could be seen as encouraging violence and intolerance toward religious groups, including Muslims who hold dissenting views. The report shall also discuss related subjects, including the extent such materials are exported and efforts by the Saudi government to remove the intolerant content.
The State Department shall issue such reports for 10 years, unless the State Department determines that the intolerant content has been completely removed. If such content is still included in Saudi Arabia's educational materials after 10 years, the State Department shall continue reporting to Congress for another 5 years.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 357 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 357

  To require annual reports on religious intolerance in Saudi Arabian 
             educational materials, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 6, 2019

   Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Markey) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require annual reports on religious intolerance in Saudi Arabian 
             educational materials, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Saudi Educational Transparency and 
Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for more 
        than 15 years has made incremental progress in removing 
        intolerant content in state-published textbooks.
            (2) Saudi Arabia has committed to educational reforms 
        through its Vision 2030 and National Transformation Program, 
        and is an important partner of the United States in combating 
        terrorism and violent extremism.
            (3) The 2006 ``confirmation of policies'' negotiated by the 
        United States and Saudi Arabia stated that textbooks would be 
        revised within one or two years ``to remove remaining 
        intolerant references that disparage Muslims or non-Muslims or 
        that promote hatred toward other religions or religious 
        groups.''.
            (4) According to the Department of State's August 2017 
        International Religious Freedom Report, ``[t]he government 
        continued to distribute revised textbooks, although some 
        intolerant material remained in circulation, particularly at 
        the high school level, including content justifying the 
        execution of `sorcerers''' and social exclusion of non-Muslims.
            (5) Saudi textbooks have been exported internationally, 
        including to countries in the Middle East, Africa, South, 
        Central, and South East Asia, and parts of Europe and North 
        America.
            (6) The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
        requires the President to designate countries in which 
        violations of religious freedom are ``systematic, ongoing, 
        [and] egregious'' as countries of particular concern.
            (7) The President has designated Saudi Arabia as a country 
        of particular concern since 2004, pursuant to the International 
        Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and a waiver of further action 
        has been in place since 2006.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that, in spite of some progress, Saudi 
Arabia has not yet sufficiently met its commitments for eliminating all 
forms of incitement from its educational materials and curriculum in 
line with its commitments to combat terrorism and violent extremism.

SEC. 4. REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--Subject to subsection (d), not later than 120 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act and every year thereafter 
within 90 days of the start of the new school year in Saudi Arabia for 
the next ten years, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report reviewing 
educational materials published by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Education 
that are used in schools both inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and at 
schools throughout the world.
    (b) Consultation.--Not later than 30 days after the submission of a 
report under subsection (a), the Secretary of State shall consult with 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on the contents of 
each such report.
    (c) Contents.--The reports required under subsection (b) should 
include the following:
            (1) A detailed determination regarding whether all 
        intolerant content has been removed from educational materials 
        published by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Education that are used 
        in schools both inside the Saudi Arabia and at schools 
        throughout the world, including full quotations of all passages 
        that could be seen as encouraging violence or intolerance 
        towards adherents of religions other than Islam or towards 
        Muslims who hold dissenting views.
            (2) A detailed assessment of the global exportation of such 
        materials, including the extent to which such materials are 
        used in privately funded educational institutions overseas.
            (3) A detailed summary of actions the Saudi Government has 
        taken to retrieve and destroy materials with intolerant 
        material.
            (4) A detailed assessment of the Saudi Government's efforts 
        to revise teacher manuals and retrain teachers to reflect 
        changes in educational materials and promote tolerance.
            (5) A detailed determination regarding whether issuing a 
        waiver regarding Saudi Arabia as a country of particular 
        concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
        furthers the purposes of such Act or is otherwise in the 
        important national security interests of the United States.
    (d) Termination.--
            (1) Before ten years.--If at any time after submission of a 
        report required under subsection (a) but before the expiration 
        of the 10-year period referred to in such subsection, the 
        Secretary of State determines that intolerant religious content 
        has been removed completely from Saudi Arabia's education 
        materials, the requirement to submit any remaining reports 
        under such subsection shall not apply.
            (2) At ten years.--If at the end of the 10-year period 
        referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of State 
        determines that intolerant religious content remains in Saudi 
        Arabia's education materials, the termination of the 
        requirement to submit reports under such subsection shall not 
        apply and such reports shall be submitted for a further five 
        years.
    (e) Form.--Reports under this section shall be submitted in an 
unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex.

SEC. 5. TRANSPARENCY.

    Not later than 60 days after the submission of the annual reports 
required under section 4, the Secretary of State shall make copies of 
reviewed Saudi educational materials publicly available on a website of 
the Department of State.
                                 <all>