Congress Passes Bill Aimed at Addressing Worldwide Religious Persecution

The House Tuesday passed the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, a bill designed to “advance religious freedom globally,” following approval by the Senate last week and is now headed to the president’s desk.

The bipartisan bill, authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), aims to “advance religious freedom globally through enhanced diplomacy, training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance efforts, and through stronger and more flexible political responses to religious freedom violations and violent extremism worldwide.”

The legislation requires that the secretary of state “establish and maintain a list of foreign individuals to whom a consular post has denied a visa on the grounds of particularly severe violations of religious freedom” or “who are subject to financial sanctions or other measures for particularly severe violations of freedom religion.”

 

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