Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act

Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act

This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should seek to reverse the policy of a country that routinely denies religious worker visa applications by reviewing the bilateral relationship between such country and the United States.

The Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom shall coordinate U.S. international religious freedom policies.

The Annual Report on International Religious Freedom shall include information about:

• severe violations of religious freedom in a country where a government does not function or does not control its territory,
• identification of prisoners in a country,
• action taken by a government to censor religious activities,
• persecution of human rights advocates, and
• country-specific analysis of the impact of U.S. actions on religious freedom.

Executive summaries of such report shall include information about countries in which a non-state actor is designated as an entity of particular concern for religious freedom.

The George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center shall conduct training on religious freedom for all Foreign Service officers and all outgoing deputy chiefs of mission and ambassadors.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom shall make publicly available lists of persons who are imprisoned disappeared, tortured, or subject to forced renunciations of religious faith by the government of a foreign country or by a non-state actor that the commission recommends for designation as a country or entity of particular concern for religious freedom.

The President shall: (1) concurrent with the annual review of the status of religious freedom in foreign countries, identify any non-state actors operating in a reviewed country or surrounding region that have engaged in particularly severe violations of religious freedom; (2) designate each such non-state actor as an entity of particular concern for religious freedom; and (3) determine the specific officials or members of such a non-state actor who are responsible for such violations.

The President's report on action taken in response to violations of religious freedom or on designation of a country as a country of particular concern for religious freedom shall include an evaluation of the impact of such action or designation on the advancement of U.S. interests in democracy, human rights, and security.

The bill limits a waiver of specified presidential actions subsequent to the designation of a country as a country of particular concern for religious freedom to 180 days.

The President shall publish in the Federal Register: (1) any designation of a non-state actor as an entity of particular concern for religious freedom, and (2) the identities of responsible individuals.

The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President should request sufficient appropriations to promote international religious freedom, and (2) preference should be given to projects in countries that are included in the watch list or that are designated as countries of particular concern for religious freedom.

The State Department shall establish the Designated Persons List for Particularly Severe Violations of Religious Freedom of foreign individuals who are sanctioned for ordering particularly severe violations of freedom religion.

The bill express the sense of Congress that: (1) U.S. institutions of higher education operating campuses outside the United States or establishing educational entities with foreign governments should adopt a voluntary code of operating conduct that upholds religious freedom; and (2) the President's annual national security strategy report should promote international religious freedom as a foreign policy and national security priority and should be a guide for the strategies and activities of relevant federal agencies, including the Department of Defense's quadrennial defense review.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov