H.R. 440 (112th): To provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia.

Introduced:
Jan 25, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Rep. Frank Wolf [R-VA10]
Status:
Died (Passed House)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as H.R. 301 on Jan 15, 2013. See H.R. 301 for current action on this subject.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

(About Ads | Go Ad-Free for $5)
Status

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on July 29, 2011 but was never passed by the Senate.

Progress
Introduced Jan 24, 2011
Referred to Committee Jan 25, 2011
Passed House Jul 29, 2011
Votes

House Vote on Passage
Jul 29, 2011 3:46 p.m.
Passed 402/20

Cosponsors
80 cosponsors (44R, 36D) (show)
Committees

House Foreign Affairs

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Jul 29, 2011.
10 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

GovTrack gets most information from THOMAS, which is updated generally one day after events occur. Activity since the last update may not be reflected here.

Citation

Click a format for a citation suggestion:

GovTrack’s Bill Summary

We don’t have a summary available yet.

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

7/29/2011--Passed House amended.
Section 2 -
Directs the President to appoint a Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia within the Department of State.
Section 3 -
Requires the Special Envoy to:
(1) promote the right of religious freedom of religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and South Central Asia, denounce the violation of such right, and recommend appropriate U.S government responses to such violations;
(2) monitor and combat acts of religious intolerance and incitement targeted against such religious minorities;
(3) ensure that the needs of such religious minority communities are addressed, including economic and security needs directly tied to religious-based discrimination and persecution;
(4) work with foreign governments of such countries to address inherently discriminatory laws; and
(5) coordinate and assist in the preparation of specified reports required by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
Section 4 -
Authorizes the Special Envoy, subject to direction by the President and the Secretary of State, to represent the United States in matters and cases relevant to religious freedom in: (1) contacts with foreign governments, intergovernmental organizations, and specialized agencies of the United Nations (U.N.), the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, and other international organizations; and (2) multilateral conferences and meetings relevant to religious freedom.
Section 5 -
Requires the Special Envoy to give priority to programs, projects, and activities for Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Section 6 -
Authorizes, from amounts available for Diplomatic and Consular Programs, $1 million to be appropriated each fiscal year from FY2011-FY2015. Provides that no additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for such Programs to carry out this Act. Directs the Secretary, unless otherwise authorized or required by law, to eliminate positions within the Department as necessary to offset the costs to be incurred for hiring staff, conducting investigations, and for the necessary travel to carry out this Act.
Section 7 -
Declares that this Act shall cease to be effective on October 1, 2015.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/112/1/hr440.

Summary

H.R. 440 would provide for the establishment of a Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia.  The bill would direct the president to appoint such an envoy consisting of individuals recognized with distinctions in the field of human rights and religious freedom. 

The bill would require the Special Convoy to carry out the following duties: 

  1. “Promote the right of religious freedom of religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia, denounce the violation of such right, and recommend appropriate responses by the United States Government when such right is violated;
  2. “Monitor and combat acts of religious intolerance and incitement targeted against religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia;
  3. “Work to ensure that the unique needs of religious minority communities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia are addressed, including the economic and security needs of such communities;
  4. “Work with foreign governments of the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia to address laws that are inherently discriminatory toward religious minority communities in such countries;
  5. “Coordinate and assist in the preparation of that portion of the report relating to the nature and extent of religious freedom of religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia; and
  6. “Coordinate and assist in the preparation of that portion of the report relating to the nature and extent of religious freedom of religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia.” 

H.R. 440 would require that in carrying out their duties, the Special Envoy must, to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate with the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the Department of State, the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and other relevant federal agencies and officials.

The bill would authorize the Special Envoy to represent the United States in matters and cases relevant to religious freedom in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia in contacts with foreign governments, intergovernmental organizations, and specialized agencies of the United Nations, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, and other international organizations of which the United States is a member; and multilateral conferences and meetings relevant to religious freedom in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia.

H.R. 440 would require the Special Envoy to consult with domestic and international nongovernmental organizations and multilateral organizations and institutions, as the Special Envoy considers appropriate to fulfill their purposes.

The bill would require that of the amounts made available for “Diplomatic and Consular Programs” for fiscal years 2011 through 2015, $1,000,000 be made available to the Special Envoy for each such fiscal year for the hiring of staff, for the conduct of investigations, and for necessary travel to carry out the provisions of this Act.

H.R. 440 would also define "Near East" as Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and including the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  The bill would also define "South Central Asia" as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Cost

At press time, the Congressional Budget Office has not produced a score for H.R. 440.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)