Simon Cox Blog: Congrats, Frank Wolf: Obama Approves Expansion of International Religious Freedom Act

Friday, 16 December 2016

Congrats, Frank Wolf: Obama Approves Expansion of International Religious Freedom Act

Law gives State Department new tools to protect Christians (and others) persecuted by ISIS.

President Obama has approved legislation promoted by religious freedom advocates that should strengthen the United States’ effort to combat persecution of Christians and other faith minorities.

The House of Representatives approved the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), H.R. 1150, on December 13 to complete congressional action on the proposal. That action came only three days after the Senate amended and passed an earlier House-approved version. Both the House and Senate endorsed the amended bill without opposition.

Bill supporters were optimistic that Obama would sign the measure, named in honor of Congress’ longtime top religious freedom advocate, into law. He did so on Friday.

H.R. 1150 serves as an update of the 1998 bill that established a religious freedom office in the State Department and an independent watchdog panel, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Wolf, the since-retired congressman from Virginia who championed global religious liberty, sponsored the original IRFA 18 years ago.

The new legislation is designed to improve the federal government's effectiveness in promoting religious liberty by, among other measures:

Requiring the ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom to report directly to the secretary of State;
Establishing an "entities of particular concern" category—a companion to the "countries of particular concern" classification used for nearly 20 years by the State Department—for non-government actors, such as the Islamic State (IS) and the Nigerian terrorist organization Boko Haram.
Instituting a "designated persons list" for individuals who violate religious freedom and authorizing the president to issue sanctions against those who participate in persecution.