United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2014 - Amends the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to reauthorize the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as an independent federal government advisory body through FY2019.
(Sec. 2) Requires USCIRF as a whole to have expertise on the variety of faiths practiced around the world.
Requires appointments to USCIRF to be made within 90 days of a vacancy. Removes authority under which a USCIRF member may serve after the expiration of that member's term until a successor has taken office.
(Sec. 3) Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to require the Secretary of State to receive assistance from USCIRF when establishing training for Foreign Service officers in the field of internationally recognized human rights, including instruction regarding the relationship between religious freedom and security, as well as the role of religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy.
(Sec. 4) Encourages the Department of State to allow classified information to be accessed by USCIRF Commissioners and staff with the appropriate security clearance.
Requires discrimination on the basis of religion to be treated as a category of employment discrimination for purposes of the employment protections for USCIRF employees.
(Sec. 5) Revises restrictions on USCIRF's acceptance of gifts and donations to permit sponsoring private parties to provide compensation and benefits to interns, fellows, and volunteers. Requires the number, duration, and funding source of any such internship, fellowship, or volunteer programs to be described in USCIRF's annual financial report.
(Sec. 6) Terminates USCIRF on September 30, 2019.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4653 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4653
To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 9, 2014
Mr. Wolf introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom, 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 ``United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION.
(a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 201 of the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended by inserting
before the period at the end the following: ``, which shall be an
independent Federal Government advisory body''.
(b) Membership.--Subsection (b)(3) of section 201 of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended
by striking ``The appointments required by paragraph (1) shall be made
not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.''
and inserting the following: ``The President and Members of Congress
are encouraged to appoint members of the Commission within 90 days of a
vacancy on the Commission.''.
(c) Vacancies.--Subsection (g) of section 201 of the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended by striking
the second sentence.
SEC. 3. TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.
Subsection (a) of section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980
(22 U.S.C. 4028) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1),
(A) by striking ``and the director'' and inserting
``the director''; and
(B) inserting ``and members of the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom,'' after
``Training Center,''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking ``and the various'' and inserting
``the various''; and
(B) by inserting ``, the relationship between
religious freedom and security, and the role of
religious freedom in United States foreign policy''
after ``violations of religious freedom''.
SEC. 4. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.
(a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 204 of the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is amended in the
second sentence, by inserting ``voting'' after ``nine''.
(b) Compensation.--Subsection (b) of section 204 of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is
amended by inserting ``voting members of the'' after ``The''.
(c) Security Clearances.--Subsection (e) of section 204 of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is
amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``The
Department of State is encouraged to allow Commissioners and Commission
staff with the appropriate security clearance access to classified
information, in order to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of
their positions.''.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Subsection (a) of section 207 of the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6435) is amended by striking ``2014''
and inserting ``2019''.
SEC. 6. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND DISCLOSURE.
Paragraph (2) of section 208(d)(2) of the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6435a(d)(2)) is amended by adding at the
end the following new subparagraph:
``(H) Intern, fellowship, and volunteer programs
that are primarily of educational benefit to the
intern, fellow, or volunteer. Sponsoring private
parties may provide compensation and benefits to
interns, fellows, and volunteers, provided that no
conflict of interest arises.''.
SEC. 7. TERMINATION.
Section 209 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22
U.S.C. 6436) is amended by striking ``September 30, 2014'' and
inserting ``September 30, 2019''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Unanimous Consent .
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Unanimous Consent.
Mr. Smith (NJ) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5836-5839)
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4653.
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H5836)
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5836)
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.