{"id":17375,"date":"2016-12-14T23:03:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T23:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/major-religious-freedom-law-might-get-a-christmas-upgrade-97836\/"},"modified":"2016-12-14T23:03:00","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T23:03:00","slug":"major-religious-freedom-law-might-get-a-christmas-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/12\/major-religious-freedom-law-might-get-a-christmas-upgrade\/","title":{"rendered":"Major religious freedom law might get a Christmas upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Washington D.C., Dec 14, 2016 \/ 04:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- After almost 20 years, a landmark religious freedom bill may finally be getting a big upgrade.<\/p>\n

And it wouldn\u2019t come too soon, said Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-sponsor of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act. \u201cFrom China and Vietnam to Syria and Nigeria, we are witnessing a tragic, global crisis in religious persecution, violence and terrorism, with dire consequences for religious believers and for U.S. national security,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAncient Christian communities in Iraq and Syria are on the verge of extinction, and other religious minorities in the Middle East face a constant assault from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act passed the House on Tuesday afternoon and will be heading to the president\u2019s desk to be signed. It is bipartisan, with Rep. Smith, chair of the House Global Human Rights subcommittee, and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) as the co-sponsors.<\/p>\n

The legislation upgrades the original 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, which helped make promotion of religious freedom a larger part of stated U.S. foreign policy.<\/p>\n

Former Congressman Frank Wolf \u2013 \u201ca tireless champion for the rights of the poor and the persecuted globally,\u201d Rep. Smith called him \u2013 sponsored that bill, and is now honored in the new one.<\/p>\n

\u201c18 years ago, he had the foresight to make advancing the right to religious freedom a high U.S. foreign policy priority.\u00a0 It is largely because of his efforts that religious freedom is taken seriously as a foreign policy issue,\u201d Rep. Smith said.<\/p>\n

The original law created the office of Ambassador at-Large for International Religious Freedom at the State Department to push other countries to honor freedom of religion, and monitor human rights abuses that are related to religious freedom. The new bill ensures that the ambassador reports directly to the Secretary of State.<\/p>\n

The State Department since then has also published an annual report on the state of religious freedom by country. It deems certain countries \u201ccountries of particular concern,\u201d (CPC) where the worst abuses of religious freedom are perpetrated by the government or without the government stopping them.<\/p>\n

The new bill adds to this CPC list, creating a lower-tier \u201cSpecial Watch List\u201d for countries with poor records on respecting religious freedom.<\/p>\n

Also, given that recent reports have emphasized the rise of \u201cnon-state actors\u201d like terrorist groups, they get a special designation \u201cEntity of Particular Concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new bill also mandates creation of a \u201ccomprehensive religious prisoners list.\u201d<\/p>\n

Globally, the state of religious freedom is dire and deserves special attention by the U.S., Rep. Smith insisted. \u201cThe freedom to practice a religion without persecution is a precious right for everyone, of whatever race, sex, or location on earth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis human right is enshrined in our own founding documents, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and has been a bedrock principle of open and democratic societies for centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Washington D.C., Dec 14, 2016 \/ 04:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- After almost 20 years, a landmark religious freedom bill may finally be getting a big upgrade.<\/p>\n

And it wouldn’t come too soon, said Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-sponsor of the Frank R. W…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nMajor religious freedom law might get a Christmas upgrade<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Dec 14, 2016 \/ 04:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- After almost 20 years, a landmark religious freedom bill may finally be getting a big upgrade. And it wouldn’t come too soon, said Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-sponsor of the Frank R. 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